Man vs NatureMan prefers the Right while Nature apparently favours the Left

Professor Dhaneshwar Moirangthem
Contd from prev issue
Now the question of Nature being Left-handed has gained some relevance. The combination of molecules of like nature (getting on well with one another) is not confined to chemical reactions only; it is also observed in our day today life. People of similar religious faiths are grouped together as the Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, etc. even though they belong to the same race, “Homo Sapiens”.
We often talk of like-minded parties among different political groups of different ideologies. Even though they are different in many respects, they sometimes go together because they unite for the sake of sharing power.
In our daily life, we come across many asymmetric objects also known as chiral objects. The word chiral comes from the Greek word “Cheir”, meaning hand. The hand is the most familiar asymmetric object- the fingers are different; the front palm is different from the back.
The left palm looks like a mirror image of the right palm. The right hand of one has some similarities with the right hand of another. We may call them two species of like nature. In stereochemical terms, they are said to be homochiral. Likewise two left hands are homochiral, so also the right foot and the right shoe. Now, two homochiral units can easily combine, for instance, two right hands can easily shake hands, so also two left hands; the right foot can easily be put on the right shoe. But it will not be easy to put the right foot on the left shoe; it would also be odd to try to shake one’s right hand with the left hand of another. What is happening in Chemistry is happening in our daily life too.
Having made these observations, it is no longer surprising that the L-Amino acid helps the formation of another L-Amino acid. This leads us to believe that Nature favours the Left. In spite of the insistence of the parents and elders of the society to make the young children right-handed, a significant number (about 10%) of the population the world over, remain left-handed. Such persons may be dubbed natural left-handers. Such persons appear to possess naturally gifted talents. We find such naturally gifted left-handers shining in various fields- Arts, Science, Humanities, Politics and Sports. Some of the famous left-handed personalities are- Aristotle, Leonardo da Vinci, Napolean Bonaparte, Marie Curie, James Watson, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs.
 Many of the American Presidents are left-handed, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush. Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Harry Truman.
 Some of the Left-handed Hollywood celebrities are- Jennifer Lawrence, Tom Cruise, Robert de Niro, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie. Some of the Indian Greats who are left-handed: Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Ratan Tata, Narendra Modi, Sachin Tendulkar. Among the tennis legends who are left-handed: Rod Laver, Jimmy Connors, Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe, Monica Seles, Rafael Nadal.
Just like the naturally gifted left-handers, we come across naturally gifted left-footers; such persons exhibited stand-out performances in the World of Football (Soccer). S
ome of the great left-footed footballers are- Diego Maradona (Argentina, World Cup hero, 1986), Mario Kemps (Argentina, World Cup hero, 1978), Lionel Messi (Argentina, Copa America winner, 2021), Gareth Bale, David Silva, Arjen Robben, Johan Cruyff, Paolo Maldini, Roberto Carlos, Rivaldo, Marcello.
In view of the above observations, it is no longer advisable for the parents to try to influence the children to be right-handed. It is better to leave the children alone to develop their own handedness. If the child becomes a naturally left-handed person, he/she may become one of the most celebrated persons in the not-so-distant future. It is always better to go with nature.

The writer is a retired Professor from the Department of Chemistry, Manipur University (MU).