The Thumb Rule
In
my earlier blog titled “ Me – A Selfie “ ( 6th October 2014),
I wrote about the nose as a unique human
organ performing the life sustaining function of breathing in and out and yet differing
in shape, size and style from individual to individual.
In this piece, I take the human Thumb – an
organ our evolutionary ancestors, the chimpanzees had but not used for
functions of the hand like throwing and clubbing. Our grip of objects would
have been weak were it not for the thumb. Some infants are given to sucking the
thumb and in some cases this habit grows even into their childhood.
The Thumb comes as a single organ, one in
each palm. It juts out from other fingers perhaps to show its indispensability
and versatility in most functions of the hand. Even so sometimes we refer to an
uncomfortable situation as like a sore thumb. Very rarely an extra thumb is
seen in some persons, providing a matter of curiosity for the rest of us but
not of any bother to the person.
Palmistry attaches a lot of importance to the
length, contour and the lines of the thumb as revealing the characteristics of
the person like stubbornness, pliability etc. A palmist , after examining the shape and stiffness
of my thumb prophesised that I
would be an unyielding husband which was totally disproved after my wedding
Even
today after dramatic increase in literacy, there are persons who use the thumb
impression as substitute for their signatures in all papers including legal documents.
The Aadhaar card scheme owes a great deal
to the thumb as a biometric input.
In the
past when typewriters were in use, the thumb had no role in composing texts as
the key board was operated with the four fingers of each hand. However in modern
times, the thumb has become indispensable in composing text messages in mobile
/ smart phones. The modern youth, male and female, have become equidexterous
using both the right and left thumbs to write messages on their mobile phones. I tried writing texts on my phone but my thumb
being short and fat proved a handicap.
Its
functional use apart, the thumb has given rise to some meaningful literary
expressions.
Thumbs Up was a brand of cola in India introduced
in 1977 to offset the withdrawal of Coca Cola. It then was bought by Coca Cola
and relaunched to compete against Pepsi. The Thumbs Up sign is indication of “
All Clear “ “ OK Go Ahead “ and “ I agree/ endorse “ etc.
The Thumb Rule is an expression for easily
learned and easily applied procedure or standard based on practical experience
rather than theory. In some families this is used for enforcing some family practices like”
Early to bed and early to rise” as promoting discipline among children.
Another expression is the Thumbnail Sketch
which is quick abbreviated drawings, usually done very rapidly and with no
corrections. The famous cartoonist R.K
Laxman was a past master in this art form with his eponymous Common Man.
Readers are welcome to give the Thumbs Up
or Thumbs Down grading for this blog.
