On this seventy-third Republic Day, this article makes us confront those who fan emotions by stressing that there are divisions on the basis of ethnicity and thought. Instead, we should veer towards inclusion rather than think in terms of exclusion, says ANCHAL SINHA
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if one was in a spacecraft filled with different species of wild animals from our planet, besides aliens from other planets, winged angels from heaven and a beautiful mermaid. Imagine that none of this motley group of creatures have a clue about what’s going on and are trying their best to stay calm to get through this unexpected journey.
If you were among this group, you would be swelling with curiosity and an urge to converse and verbalise your thoughts, fears and hopes. Assuming all creatures spoke and understood the same language, which creatures would you approach in the spacecraft? I imagine, it would be the mermaid, the only creature who is close to being human. On the contrary, if you were to meet the same mermaid at your office party, perhaps you would stare at her, possibly pass comments over drinks and share some jokes with your cronies and peers till she was around.
This is how our ultra-social and super-progressive species is wired. We gyrate towards those who feel are like our own. As for those who are not like us, we are quick to label them instead of attempting to even send a gentle humane gaze, their way.
Our world is made up of fragments of minorities, vast multicultural communities, differently abled communities and LGBTQ communities apart from others. Externally, people might seem as different from us as chalk from cheese. We are bewildered by others and tend to stick to our own types of people.
But the core of all religions profess the significance of love and inclusion. But it seems that most people in our societies and communities thrive more on exclusion, an emotion that is contrary to love. We are quick to judge the other human, who might be a colleague, a neighbour, sometimes even a sibling over intricate and trivial matters and are even more quicker to pull out labels from our dictionary and use them to describe these ‘others’. Is it our conditioning or do we do this consciously? Have you ever given a thought to this?
I am not great at statistics, but sometimes I think that if one was to take a simple tally of those who use these thoughts to place people in the acceptable versus the unacceptable category, then those in the second group would surely outnumber the first.
To a very large extent, the Western world has seemingly embraced this idea of inclusion and made amends in their laws and lifestyle to accommodate everyone. They seem to be comfortable attending a gay marriage and leaving parking bays empty that have been earmarked for the differently abled, among several other thoughtful actions. It seems as if life on the western side of our planet attempts to ‘embrace’ as opposed to disgracing human beings.
On the other hand, the East is also inching towards this phenomenon, albeit at a snail’s pace. Though the sun rises from the East and sets in the West, in this aspect, it seems to be more true of the other side – what I am saying is that this beautiful concept of loving inclusion has risen first in the West and, hopefully, the East will follow soon.
Anchal Sinha lives in Surrey, UK, with her family. She has previously worked for leading News TV Channels in India and is a distinction holder from the London School of Economics.
Featured Image by Capri23auto from Pixabay
Photo of differently abled man by Mikhail Nilov from Pexels
So true, we have to look at the west to reinvent the spirit of inclusion which as such lies at the core value of Sanatan Dharma replete in the Vedic prayer “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”, but we have estranged ourselves from it which lies at the foundation of our Dharma.
Thank you Anchal ji for this great reminder which we must heed to in letter and spirit both as the Nationals and as a Nation.