During the ongoing nationwide lockdown, whereas most are struggling to do away with their social life, it’s not quite difficult for someone like me. How often do we get time to stop pretending to be interested in having a blast at a bar on the weekends? I am in my comfort having enough time to explore the long-lost hobbies and discover the inner me. And that led me to think deeper about people like me ‘introverts’.
The modern world without pandemic and quarantines has always been biased against introverts. They have an obsessive need to see you talk and react. Overtime I have been judged for being an introvert, more likely for not being so talkative and not surrounded by tons of friends.
It took me nearly 25 years to embrace my introversion and stop thinking of it as a flaw in my character. Yes, people do treat it as a flaw. As, a child I was too quiet. Whenever I was asked to draw a natural landscape in my art class, I would draw one with only one bird flying around the sky. My teachers and my parents were really worried, but they didn’t really get what it was all about. When I reached senior school, I started finding difficulty in speaking up. It took a lot of me to approach someone. As much as I tried, I could not be the talkative and outspoken girl that all my teachers wanted me to be. I started avoiding my friends and enjoyed spending time alone. Until graduation, I had only one friend in my college. I never understood why people find it sad to have a single friend. It wasn’t sad, I didn’t want to make any more friends. Till then, I didn’t know species like me were called introverts.
After getting appointed as a teacher my introversion made me go through some of the worst scenarios. I was misjudged for my lack of social interaction and my silence. Most of my colleagues misinterpret the behaviour of the introverted students as shy, timid or reclusive personalities. They try to change their introverted students to something they are not. Unintentionally they enforce them to be extroverts. Give these students a chance to build their thoughts and engage in ways that they find meaningful.
Participation means more than just speaking. They are keen listeners. They need to ponder questions before answering them. Provide them alternate means to participate. Quiet, introverted students can be indulged in many other ways other than implementing the extroverted methodology to enhance their skills. Introverted students need to be encouraged and appreciated. Treating them otherwise can shake their confidence in some way or the other. This leads to restrictions in their thoughts as they find it difficult to speak their minds further. Amidst having varied personalities, they are equally gifted. The response of dopamine on their brains is behind the introvert’s uniqueness.
People assume that introverts lack qualities that make them great leaders. Many well known introverted personalities like Bill Gates, Hillary Clinton, Mark Zuckerberg have made significant contributions and are enormously successful in their respective fields. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” And yes he was right. You don’t always need to be the loudest or the noticeable ones to be a good leader. Quiet ones can be good leaders too. Their capabilities to focus and observe in this fast changing and preoccupied world makes them good leaders. Time has come when we should start appreciating these independent leaders of our future. These unique personalities need to be cherished not ignored.
When the pandemic gets over and everything falls back in place, I wish people’s perspective towards introvert’s way of living gets less judgemental. So next time when see your daughter being quite, your friend cancelling plans or your colleague lost in thoughts, believe me they are in a happier place.
Suman Lomga
Mazbat, Udalguri Assam
sumanlumga@gmail.com
