It is intruiging to note how human beings, when placed in diverse surroundings,will grow a strong sense of good and bad based entirely upon their experiences without regard to the existence of the world that lies beyond their immediate lives.
Where diversity extends to narrower divisions of region, class and caste, this sensibility is much more pronounced, with bigotry and rigidity of belief taking the place of tolerant understanding. So a person from a certain region in the North can revere the customs and traditions of his native while despising the culture of say, a region in the West or South. And of course the vice versa would follow. The prejudice can encompass differences in rituals, dressing style, food, language, behaviour among others.In India, where states, regions, castes and classes abound, this strong attachment to one's native culture often exhibits as derision of the other, 'different' community.In Hinduism for instance, a woman in white is associated with widowhood; in Christianity, a woman is married in white. The color white does not proclaim its status to Hindus and Christains differently, it's how the two communities look at it. Their perception guided (or clouded?) by a belief handed down through years of customary practice. Appriciation or criticism would then be based upon this belief. The less tolerant of us would probably develop a deep dislike of this basically irrrelevant 'difference' of belief. The dislike would not be restricted to the single object that caused it but extend to the whole community practicing it. Thus deepening the divide further. The other community would be doing the same.If we try to make an effort to overcome that initial prejudice to anything 'different', we would probably realize that beyond the trivial and inconsequential ways of doing little things, there really is nothing different from what we are accustomed to. People in all societies will practice what they have been practising for years. It is nothing more than habit to them. But a habit to which they attach undue significance and look up to as the only good 'way'of living. Another 'way’ of living they know not and cannot understand. Fundamentally, however, their feelings, emotions, fears and aspirations remain the same. Only, the stage, the costumes, the 'settings' change. In that sense, that old cliche will hold good : All human beings are essentially the same.But to arrive at that thought the first step is to know, to understand and to accept with the knowledge that ultimately all things, good or bad, derive from the One Creator. And His creation can never be less worthy of our respect. He created the Jungle, with different species of creatures big and small, diverse flora and intended it to flourish as a whole,in complete harmony. That’s what it does, when left to itself. The animals do not make beliefs, they do not question why the lion should always kill the deer and not vice versa. They do not question God’s original design but simply adhere to His code. It is we humans who, in our eagerness to ‘improve’ upon nature, end up doing more harm than good. We begin to tamper with the forest, cut down some trees, kill some animals, destroying the ecological balance that was so intricately but delicately established by nature.
When we learn to truly attribute everyone and everything to His grand design, understanding and acceptance will flow through naturally, just like a river flows into the sea. With the broad outlook, that all differences are ultimately projections of our basic similarity, we would truly see the world as one big family. And feel like home in any place untravelled before…