Conflict in the world has always bothered me. Be it bullying in our schools, Terrorists killing innocent civilians or hate crimes committed against people who look a certain way, the Iraq war, the Rwandan genocide in Africa or the Sikh genocide in India, ethnic cleansing of the Jews, gypsies and the Slavs . How can the human suffering to this extent not bother anyone ?
The Search for an answer recently took me to a Duke University course on International Relations. I learnt that a major source of conflict in this world is dwelling on differences, whether they are in religions, cultures or races. We somehow think that they are not us. They don’t need what we do, they don’t feel the way we do. The next is; the fear of the unknown that stems from ignorance.
So What do I do to change this ? Where do I start ? The course stressed on Dialogue or building Relations through communication.
And I thought, What better way to start this than with my own neighbors. I had to find out how they perceived of and processed someone with a different ethnicity and identity such as myself ? Does the conflict in the present day world bothered them as much as it does to me ? What did they feel as to what we as average humans can do to make this world a better place ?
With that in mind, I decided to reach out to my neighbors.
My mission – To celebrate the One Light that created us, that nurtures us and to break the walls of ignorance, fear and differences.
The Search for an answer recently took me to a Duke University course on International Relations. I learnt that a major source of conflict in this world is dwelling on differences, whether they are in religions, cultures or races. We somehow think that they are not us. They don’t need what we do, they don’t feel the way we do. The next is; the fear of the unknown that stems from ignorance.
So What do I do to change this ? Where do I start ? The course stressed on Dialogue or building Relations through communication.
And I thought, What better way to start this than with my own neighbors. I had to find out how they perceived of and processed someone with a different ethnicity and identity such as myself ? Does the conflict in the present day world bothered them as much as it does to me ? What did they feel as to what we as average humans can do to make this world a better place ?
With that in mind, I decided to reach out to my neighbors.
My mission – To celebrate the One Light that created us, that nurtures us and to break the walls of ignorance, fear and differences.
My inspiration – Guru Nanak who traveled 25,000 miles on foot and reached out millions of people to impart the message of One God, One Humanity.
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