I have always been a contrarian. From as far back as I can remember in my
conscious life, the opposite standpoint has always been my default stance. It did not matter whether the context was a
family discussion or a meeting or just ordinary conversations with friends and
associates. In my younger days, I often
was the ‘abenugan’ in many contexts and, in fairness, given my basic
impatient nature, too many times, I knew what was wrong with a position and
voiced it before I permitted myself to appreciate what was right about it. It requires no deep imagination to see that
it was not a position that endeared me to many nor was it one that enabled me
to make positive impressions on people at first meetings. Those with whom I have been priviledged to
have relations that survived my often brusque introductions to them have, over
the years, found me worthy of their friendship which means living with my
contrarian proclivities.
Have I always known that I was a contrarian? Absolutely no! Had I known that, I surely would have had a
less unhappy pubescence and early adulthood.
Only with the approach of middle age and the never-ceasing self-doubt
that is one of the hallmarks of a contrarian have I been able to come to an
awareness of, and be at peace with, being a denizen of the contrarian
community.
Needless to say, I cannot say that I became a contrarian
because I knew what being a contrarian is or how to become one. This is one situation where lived experience
led back to a concern with definitions; where the deed was enacted before it
was formulated in words.
Being at peace with always or most often being opposite,
fully aware of being in error on not a few occasions while being cognizant that
today’s wisdom might turn out to be next year’s folly, I propose to write a
column in which, my editors permitting, I share with my readers my opposite
takes on events, ideas, processes, practices, institutions, and
personalities. As should be obvious by
now, this column does not proceed from a need to be provocative. If what it offers is ever provocative, it is
not so by design. I call it as I see it
and, given the preceding rendering of who I am, it is to be expected that it
would often end up dancing to the beat of a different drummer.
I am fully aware that ours is not a society that is very
kind to heterodoxy or one that celebrates difference. If you often and unwaveringly oppose accepted
wisdom in our society, your associates—family, friends, coworkers, students—never
fail to remind you that the one whose head is used to crack the coconut never
gets to partake of it; that no one is an island; that the occasional opposition
is okay, and so on. Yet, we all know
that there is no instance in history where a society, culture, or civilization
has moved forward with widespread conformity.
Humanity has progressed thanks largely to its meager supply of
never-say-die oppositionists.
No, I do not seek to don the mantle of a
world-changer. But if what I write in
these pages forces even a handful of readers to become aware that more than one
road leads to the town square and be desirous of exploring those alternate
routes, my purpose shall have been served.
If in the process I lead my readers to some cul de sacs, I offer my
apologies in advance; but that will be par for the course. I can only hope that that does not happen too
often and when it does, dear readers, you can be sure that it is not part of
the plan.
For the rest, I look forward to a feast of ideas to
which my readers are expected to contribute even as they partake of what is on
offer.
