During my schooling days, I was surrounded by peers from only Gujarati culture. We would often celebrate our festivals together and it was always easier to communicate as well as connect with them. I never realized that I was missing something in my life until I entered college.
In my college all my peers were from completely different culture and religion. It was for the first time in my life I had friends outside my culture. Though it was fun to know about their culture, initially I wasn’t able to interact much with them. This was because of cultural barrier and the lack of knowledge I had about their traditions and emotions connected to them. It also made me realize the misconceptions I had built in my mind about various religions. I came to realize how judgement and irresponsible my behavior was all my school life.
The stereotypes which I had developed in my mind hindered me to communicate with them. But as time passed, I realized it was all in my head and indeed I started loving the various concepts of different religions and cultures. Also, now I try to celebrate all the festivals irrespective of the culture they belong to.
I understood that each religion has something to teach us. It is completely on an individual what they want to accept and learn and what they wish to ignore.
After this incident, I have always tried to change these stereotypes among people that are around me by trying to explain them. This was one of the highlight points of my life and I decided to stop judging any person without knowing the true matter. It made me feel much more connected to people around me and I ensured to always react by putting myself in their shoes and understanding their perspective.
TAPMI