Last month, I happened to attend an Islamic speech at the local mosque. The speech in itself was beautiful, but the best part of the event for me was when halfway through the speech, the speaker asked all of us in the audience to stand up, turn towards someone we've never met before and tell them that we love them for the sake of God. This event started at midnight and many of us, in spite of how interesting the speech was, began to feel drowsy. However, once this announcement was made, the audience stood up in unison. I turned to my right and saw a woman who I've never met before. She greeted me with the brightest of smiles and hugged me tightly, like one would hug their sister or their best friend. I went home that day having learnt some important life lessons and touched by that little activity. That experience made me reflect upon the very basis of human nature, how we are all strikingly similar beneath our layers of differences.
On the days that followed the event, I began to think of that woman. I thought of how I knew nothing about her, her ethnicity, her educational qualifications, financial background or anything else about her. But sharing that smile and that hug with her was so easy! That was when I realized that the distinctions we have created for ourselves don't really matter if we are willing to look at the person underneath all that. When we identify ourselves with our nationality, race, religion, language, skin color, educational qualification, political affiliation and financial status, we lose our primary identification; that of being human. Come to think about it, all humans want the same things - food, shelter, security and society. Are these needs any different for a person belonging to a country other than yours or following a different religion than yours? I think not.
On the days that followed the event, I began to think of that woman. I thought of how I knew nothing about her, her ethnicity, her educational qualifications, financial background or anything else about her. But sharing that smile and that hug with her was so easy! That was when I realized that the distinctions we have created for ourselves don't really matter if we are willing to look at the person underneath all that. When we identify ourselves with our nationality, race, religion, language, skin color, educational qualification, political affiliation and financial status, we lose our primary identification; that of being human. Come to think about it, all humans want the same things - food, shelter, security and society. Are these needs any different for a person belonging to a country other than yours or following a different religion than yours? I think not.
I strongly believe that one must hold on to and take pride in their individual identities. Yet it is really heartbreaking to see that people think of their differences as reason to hate others. The death of a dear one, destruction of your house and property, having to live in fear and anticipation of death, all have the same effects on people irrespective of their nationality, religion or race. It seems like this fact is often forgotten or overlooked. People always find reasons to look down upon others. But in the process of building nations, humanity seems to have been forgotten. When people have differences, they seem to ignore the fact that the other person is not just someone who disagrees with you. That other person has a family, dreams, aspirations and ultimately, a life to live.
The beauty in living in a world with so much diversity is the variety that these differences in cultures, ideas and opinions bring to our lives. Why can't we use these differences to bring us all together? If only we could all look at others as individuals rather than categorizing them on the basis of the country or religion they belong to, maybe violence wouldn't have such a dominating presence in our world. If people could stop hating others just because they have different beliefs, some people in certain parts of the world wouldn't have to spend their lives in dread and fear. If we could only start appreciating the fact that the value of a human life is constant and doesn't change because of one's beliefs or identity, we could actually save some lives.
The beauty in living in a world with so much diversity is the variety that these differences in cultures, ideas and opinions bring to our lives. Why can't we use these differences to bring us all together? If only we could all look at others as individuals rather than categorizing them on the basis of the country or religion they belong to, maybe violence wouldn't have such a dominating presence in our world. If people could stop hating others just because they have different beliefs, some people in certain parts of the world wouldn't have to spend their lives in dread and fear. If we could only start appreciating the fact that the value of a human life is constant and doesn't change because of one's beliefs or identity, we could actually save some lives.
