Two Kinds of People I See Around Me

People are so different and yet so alike. We try to find mutual likes and dislikes with each other and yet want to be different from everyone else. We want to identify with others and yet want others to identify us as unique. As I thought more about it, I decided to categorise the people I have seen in my life. There are all sorts of people in my life (just like how there are in your life) and the traits are so many in number to even list them out. But it would not be wrong to say there are broadly two kinds of them, the one kind which consists of people who accept new ideas and thoughts and the other which comprises people who live in a comfort zone built by some others before them. These two classes of people have opinions on matters though the latter’s opinions are rarely original. However, there is a third category of people who don’t really have an opinion on things. They are inclined neither towards doubt and questioning nor towards certitude. They just live. I like them. But since they have no opinions, they rarely cross my thoughts. It’s the first and second types that I frequently think about.

Of the two categories left, my vote goes for the former. They have their own opinions on things and people and are receptive to those coming from others, which is a very attractive trait. The scientifically inclined, the artistically talented and others come under this category and I love them. That being said, among them, my absolute favourites are the artists. I am drawn to weirdness. I find weirdness endearing. I love it when people display their bizarre and unique traits and quirks. This explains why I love art and artists of all kinds. I love anything that crosses the borders of ordinary. People who love poetry and paintings move me. People who have a way with words, or can paint their own worlds are my favourite kind of people. I admire and adore them. Orators, painters, poets, story tellers, singers, dancers are the best sort of people one can surround oneself with. Every conversation with these artists will bring new insights and newer dimensions of viewing things.

That brings me to the second and my least favourite kind of people: the ones who cannot think outside the boxes of religion or any other similar system moulded centuries ago. The world from where they stand is defined by edges and boundaries and say what you may, they will never look beyond the box they are in. They are the ones who try in vain to explain art and science in religion. Certitude is the mark of this sort of people and they are averse to weirdness. To them, aberration is unhealthy and sometimes even 'sinful'. You are bound by the rules written by people who lived and died centuries ago. Go beyond these rules and you’re a heretic, an infidel. Aberration is abhorred. Blind acceptance is hailed. This is why I don't think highly of them or the theories they preach. There is no space for critical thinking and appreciation of differences.

Would you rather be in the company of the former or the latter? On one side, you have the artists who find beauty in everything; those who create, read and proliferate ideas of love, beauty, freedom and peace. On the other, there are the self-proclaimed righteous ones who adhere to antiquated books and try to fit the ever growing world into their confined space?