Left-Out Paru

Why is the word left associated with so many negative things? Gauche in French, sinistra in Italian, and of course, phrases in English like being left out, having two left feet … I could go on and on because there are just so many examples—dextrous, adroit, being right are all corollaries of the same thing.

And this brings me to Left-Out Paru, written by Bijal Vachharajani and illustrated by Rajiv Eipe. 

The protagonist of the story, Paru, is left-handed, and she is bullied for it, most particularly by her bench mate Nina. Other classmates soon join in the bullying, calling Paru names like ‘Scrammy Sinistral’ (I didn’t know the word sinistral, by the way, and I was happy to learn it!). Paru gets angrier and angrier, until one day, she decides to put the argument to rest with an arm-wrestling match—left-handed Paru vs right-handed Nina.

Left-Out Paru addresses so many ideas I thought about as a child and a teen! As a child, when I learned of the existence of left-handed scissors, I dreamed of creating a left-handed camera (where you would click with your left hand and focus with your right).
In college, I noticed how folding desks were designed for right-handed students, and left-handed students often needed two desks to be able to write comfortably.
Left-Out Paru addresses similar ideas, and more. There was so much to smile at right through. For instance, I found myself wondering, how would a right-handed person wrestle with one who is left-handed? 

Just like in Help! My Aai Wants to Eat Me, I enjoyed the little lists. While Avi makes lists of pros and cons, Paru makes other kinds of lists. My favourite, of course, was Paru’s three favourite left-handed writers, and top of that list was another writer I love—Lavanya Karthik!

Left-Out Paru is a funny, sweet book about differences and the idea of “normal”. It’s a conversation starter about what we notice, and what we take for granted. As a writer and language educator, I also enjoyed this story about language itself. Being “normal” by statistical, mathematical standards translates into what is acceptable socially, which of course, leads to so many questions. From it being rude to give and take money with your left hand, to being forced to eat with your right hand, who hasn’t noticed how society favours us dextrals? A light-hearted, fun book, I look forward to reading this one with a pair of left-handed twins at my book club very soon!