I saw 'Paa' with a Pakistani friend. Incidentally in the morning we were discussing about our religions and how we were similar in most ways than not. The first scene in the movie showcased how Auro won the first prize when he depicted the globe as one entire nation without any boundaries.
I come from a country where we learned to live comfortably with different kinds of people from the very beginning. We went to a Christian school, had a Hindu teacher, made friends without even knowing the caste/culture/religion, celebrated eid, christmas, diwali and gurupurab with equal fervor and the works. As we grew up, we saw friends falling in love with the person and not the religion. Some are married now, some bowed down before the society.
Today I'm living in a country where we have people from almost every corner of the world. As always, the host nation is quite unfriendly to the vast majority of immigrants from the subcontinent. I don't blame them considering what was said about people who migrated from UP and Bihar to Mumbai. If tolerance is so weak within a nation, its unfair to expect anything from across borders. But I've noticed a silver lining in this whole Us v/s Them drama. The victims unite disregarding their nationality. So, between us, there is no India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka. Most of us like each other's company and are fascinated by the similarities between us. Language creates a wonderful bond and we find solace in knowing how we enjoy and dislike the same things. My Pakistani friend told me a lot of things about Islam and I shared my knowledge with her. And we both drew the obvious conclusion that its the extremists who plant seeds of hatred in us.
The idea of One-world, one-nation is possible only when we are not rigid in our minds.Considering the big divide between North Indians and South Indians within and outside the country, the one-nation theory sounds highly unrealistic. It can be the subject matter of great speeches and outstanding movies, but in practice it is hard to imagine.
Lets forget the technical problems that can arise, can you imagine us tolerating and accepting each other like we really are and removing all the barriers?
its one of the saddest things I noticed.. as a kid, I lived in Dubai and didnt understand what cultural differences were all about.. everyone and i mean everyone were friends.. no national boundaries.. after being in India now for nearly 2decades, there is no denying the way we are.. here, we cut up North and South, then within those , into states, then castes.. it doesnt change no matter how many years pass.. hopefully someday we'll get over this stupid nature of ours..
ReplyDeleteThe common man/woman has nothing to do with all these petty one up manship.
ReplyDeleteIts the politicians / sycophants / religious leaders who instigate the common man to think otherwise and lure them into the differences.
Its sad that some of fall victim to this.
so your thinking about all that you can...nice post..
ReplyDelete@Roshan: i agree with u.. its sad that instead of enjoying the differences we create boundaries out of them.
ReplyDelete@Haddock: and we blindly follow what people have to say without having the first hand experience.
@dream runner: oh its hard to think so much!!! its easier to write on loveee :)
we have two ways to advance in this directions as my little mind suggests.
ReplyDeleteone is to find out what are the common factors and start with them.
another is to find out what are the differences and we adopt to them.
today the world in my view is doing both.
So did you discuss with her about our hindu religion
ReplyDeleteIt's been a long time and I don't remember what I discussed with her. But it wouldn't have been too much since I'm not a fan of religion.
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