Two sides of a story!

Hey Good Morning! To communicate the title idea, let me introduce two characters, Sara and Shruti. And hey, they are purely fictional!😀

A story often has many shades to it. A story could be an opinion on someone's character, narration of an incident or interpretation of a life situation. Many of you would have already pondered on this. So, this is no new gyaan, its something which you already know. May be this will add more shades to your insight, or may be this will remind you something which you already know.

Stories on a person

Let's take yourself as an example and assume I don't know you. If I ask 10 people, I will probably get at least 3 different visual images or character representations of you. Depending on each individual's interactions with you, experiences with you, conditioning of their mind and intellect, their opinion on you could be poles apart. 

For the sake of discussion, consider your relationship with your friends. Suppose, you are someone who is always there to support, stay with and help your friends emotionally and physically. When your friends or well wishers do something small but good, you tap their back and say well done. You appreciate them for small achievements, join them during little happy moments and stay with them during their tough times. However, when you see them engaging in something wrong, you are someone who points out their mistake, correct them and give suggestions.

Few of your friends may take this positively, like Sara. Sara's opinion on you will be like, "oh she is so genuine, supportive and caring. She not only praise me for my good acts but is my best critic as well". On the other hand, Shruti does not welcome any kind of criticism. She feels she is right all the time.

Now, If I ask  Sara, I will get the impression that you are a caring and genuine friend, an honest human being. However, if I talk only to Shruti, you are someone demotivating, negative and dominating. Who is right here, Sara or Shruti. Or may be both are right in their own ways. Its important to note that you treat both of them equally, in this example.

Now, what's the takeaway. Isn't it the best if your opinion on someone is purely based on your interaction and experiences with him/her. You are welcome to listen to stories from others, but those are just stories right. Your opinion on someone shall be purely based on your story, your experience. Isn't it that simple. What are your views on this?

Stories on an incident

Now, let's visit an incident. Suppose Sara says "Shruti physically and verbally abuse me so often". And as per Shruti, "I have never done something like that, Sara has something against me and she is just creating stories". Now who is right here?  May be one of them is lying. May be both are partially lying. May be both are partially right based on their own interpretation of the incident. Now, as a third person what will be your interpretation of this incident. If Sara is closer to you, you may treat her story as a reality. But how sure are you? Is it right to Judge Shruti negatively. Until you have an exact idea of what happened or unless you saw what happened, how to derive a conclusion! I am definitely not imposing my views here. You may ask yourselves.

Stories on a Life Situation

Lets move on to a Life Situation. Suppose Sara and Shruti got recruited to a reputed firm. Everything is good about the firm, the primary policy being that top performers will be promoted each year end based on performance. In Sara's words "the firm is too good, there is tremendous growth opportunity and hard work will be rewarded". She has only good to say about the company. But as per Shruti, "there is too much politics involved in promotions and salary hikes". Did she give this feedback simply because she is a mediocre performer. But may be she is right as well. The specific department in which she work could be influenced by politics from colleagues and seniors. Now, if you get an offer letter for appointment to this company and ask for feedback and suggestion from both Sara and Shruti, you will get 2 different stories. What to believe, what not to believe.

There are many including me who ask for suggestion from 10 different people before taking a life decision. But the fact is that suggestion from each individual would be biased upon on his/her life situation and conditioning of mind. What is applicable to him may not be applicable for you. Don't you feel you should take your own life decisions based on your own experiences. You may collect information from as many people but the decision shall be yours. 

Final Thoughts

After reading this, do you feel that every story has two or more sides to it. Every story is to an extent biased. Can you draw conclusion unless you have a personal experience with the subjects in the story? What's in your mind? Your views on this...