Rafael Nadal (left) Vs Roger Federer (right)

There are few sights as beautiful as Roger Federer in full flow. At his best, he is a ballerina, stunning his opponents into submission on his way to 13 Grand Slam titles. He powered his way to the number one position early on in his career and there he stayed put for a record 237 consecutive weeks. “In an era of specialists — you’re either a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist or a hard court specialist... or you’re Roger Federer,” said tennis great Jimmy Connors. But that was till Rafael Nadal went on the rampage. The left-handed Spaniard took on the might of Federer and a new tennis star was born. If Rafa couldn’t chase it down, no one could. In a war of attrition, Nadal finally broke Federer’s supremacy in 2008. Rafa started by making the French Open his own, then snatched the Wimbledon crown and finally, by year end, the number one slot.

So who is greater? Mr Left seems to be doing it right now, but he has some distance to go before he convinces us he will be the greatest. After all, Fed is not just a winner; he is an artist.

Bill Clinton (left) Vs George W. Bush (right)

So what if he strayed a little? (Or a lot.) That can’t strip Bill Clinton of his formidable achievements during his eight-year tenure as America’s top dog. Economic prosperity, progressive policy and respectable presence on the world map ensured that the left-handed Clinton left office with an approval rating of 65 per cent, among the highest achieved by any US President.

But what makes the Clinton era look even better is the eight-year period that followed, with rightie George W. Bush taking over. We needn’t elaborate; it isn’t likely that his mess will be forgotten in a rush. In defence of right-handed people everywhere, we would like to stress that far more must have been wrong with Dubya than his (hand) orientation.

 

 

 

Amitabh Bachchan (left) Vs Rajesh Khanna (right)

The biggest Bollywood star ever and the man known as The Phenomenon. In the Sixties, romantic Rajesh Khanna captured the hearts of millions of cinegoers across the country. He was the undisputed king of the box office, smiling his way to many a silver jubilee hit. But that was till The Angry Young Man burst into Bollywood. The nation — and Rajesh Khanna — was swept away by the sheer power of his performances.

In the end, though, it is longevity that has definitively crowned one a winner and the other a pensioner. At 66, the left-handed Big B is still going strong on the big screen, while the out-of-work and out-of-public-eye Kakaji recently managed to embarrass himself (and us) with a showing in a Z-grade semi-pornographic film called Wafaa. Ouch!

 

 

Paul McCartney (left) Vs John Lennon (right)

The poet Vs the maestro. There is no question that John Lennon was a genius, with songs like Imagine and Working Class Hero to his credit, made all the more poignant by an untimely, tragic death. But how can you rate Sir Paul McCartney any lower, when he has Yesterday and Let it Be to his name?

Right-handed ringleader Lennon formed, along with McCartney, one of the most influential and successful bands the world has ever known, churning out some of the most popular music in rock and roll history. Lennon may have been the most popular of the Fab Four, but if it boils down to their legacy, if Lennon was unbeatable with his words, McCartney was unparalleled as a musician. Together the two were magic. It does take two hands to clap, after all.

 

Abhishek Bachchan (left) Vs Hrithik Roshan (right)

Left-handedness — if not the acting genes — may have been handed down from father to son, but with his versatility, commanding screen presence and choice of films, the right-handed Hrithik Roshan manages to score over Abhishek Bachchan — so far. If in doubt, watch Dhoom:2.

Hrithik considers an extra thumb on his right hand as his lucky charm. So there.

 

 

 

 

 

Sourav Ganguly (left) Vs Sachin Tendulkar (right)

In Tests, the Bandra boy beat the Behala boy hands down. But in ODIs, Maharaj ran the maestro much closer. 11,363 runs at an average of 41.02 for Sourav vs 16,427 runs at an average of 44.15 for Sachin. Of those runs, 5,308 were scored by the Sachin-Sourav partnership. A left-right legacy that has now passed on to Gambhir and Sehwag.

 

 

Tom Cruise (left) Vs Brad Pitt (right)

They have a lot in common — both are drop dead gorgeous. Both have millions of women (and many men) swooning over them. Both have impressed with their performances but are yet to take home an Oscar. There is very little to choose between the two, but with his wide repertoire of films — Fight Club to Legends of the Fall, Se7en to Babel and now ,

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — we have to say that the Pitt filmography reads better than that of the less experimental Cruise. And though Cruise’s ex-wife Nicole Kidman could have given Angelina Jolie a run for her pretty pout, Katie Holmes doesn’t quite cut it with the cute quota.

 

 

 

Scarlett Johansson (left) Vs Anne Hathaway (right)

Her big break came with Lost In Translation in 2003 and since then sexy Scarlett hasn’t looked back. With films like Match Point, Black Dahlia, The Prestige and more recently Vicky Cristina Barcelona under her belt, Scarlett — who is described as “left-handed and a natural red head”— is considered one of the most talented in the up-and-coming crop of actresses in Hollywood.

With her Julia Roberts smile, Anne Hathaway may be prettier and may well be in contention for an Oscar next month for Rachel Getting Married, but even with The Devil Wears Prada on her CV, Hathaway still has some distance to go before challenging Johansson’s hot spot.

 

 

 

Allan Border (left) Vs Sunil Gavaskar (right)

As batsmen, they were the run machines of an era. As captains, they led their respective teams with distinction. The Indian was the better batsman but the Aussie the better captain.

The greatest opening batsmen in Test history was the first to amass 10,000 runs. And who surpassed his record with 11,174 runs? The pugnacious middle-order man of course.

 

 

 

 

 

Monica Seles (left) Vs Steffi Graf (right)

In the 1990s, the two treated us to some exhilarating moments on the tennis court. Undisputed champion Steffi Graf found an able opponent in the form of left-handed Monica Seles, who grunted her way to Grand Slam glory. For a while, Seles became almost invincible, with Graf struggling to match up.

The rivalry became too hot to handle when a knife attack on court (by a Graf fan) tragically aborted Seles’s career. So history will judge Graf as the better player. She does have 22 Grand Slams — including the Golden Slam in 1988 — as opposed to Seles’s 10 Grand Slam wins. But some experts will still vote for Ms Left beating Ms Right on a day when both would be playing their best tennis.

Why are some people left-handed?

The right hemisphere of the brain controls the left part of our body while the left hemisphere controls the right side of the body. In the majority of us, the left hemisphere is dominant because of which as much as 90 to 93 per cent of the population is right-handed. Where the right hemisphere dominates, the person is found to be left handed. With the brain dividing the body’s duties between the left and the right hemispheres, it is claimed that left-handed people tend to be more talented, since the right hemisphere controls music, art, creativity, mathematics, perceptions and emotions. Traditionally, Indians have been weaned off left-handedism in early childhood; many people who may have been naturally left-handed were forced into right-handedness. It is unknown what effects this has on development, or creativity.