Filling out a form

Ironically, the more differences I observe in cultures and races, the more I am beginning to think they are all alike. There are certainly stereotypes that hold true but all of them are so superficial that they cannot dictate intellect, maturity or ability in any which way. In that respect, we really are all alike, brilliant, misguided and eventual mortals of the same kind.

However, it has taken me a long and arduous to reach such conclusions. Growing up in India meant I was disadvantaged right from the start. Living out of India for the last ten years has highlighted how terribly ignorant my home country really is. I am not all surprised to read articles from Africans about poorly they are treated in India while people crowd to pose from pictures with the Caucasian tourists.  Racism in India stems from ignorance and its insistence of not learning from it. Coupled with closet caste system, I was poised for failure. However, all throughout my teenage years, I always believed that something wasn’t right with what I was being told about how certain people were supposed to behave and how blanket statements could always hold true.

Moving to the United States in my early twenties allowed those hideous Indian learning to never cement in place. I was immediately placed in an environment where multiple races mingled, struggled and created beautiful things. Perhaps, what really opened my eyes is when I was on the other side of those stereotypes. I was the silent minority, the one to be chastised against. There would be endlessly tiring days where Americans would be shocked to see me eat meat, drink and be amazed at the fact I could speak fluent English with an understandable accent. And there would be terrifying days where I would be stopped at New York clubs despite the jacket and the tie or have a 17 year old tell me mockingly how he couldn’t understand me since he only spoke English. But there would also be days when I would tell people I am from Michigan and no one would prod further.

It is a disturbing experience to be on the other side. It makes you feel small, angry, sad and confused with bouts of anger, despair and doubt.  And yet, sub consciously we continue to segregate and assume. We judge, even when no one really has the authority to do so. But lately, I have been getting better at. I can now immediately recognize when I am falling in the trap of stereotyping and try to pull myself out of it as fast as possible. Mostly, I am successful.

In Germany, I observed something fairly different. Nestled in the heart of Europe, which similar to India, is a land of different languages and old cultures, stereotyping seemed to be normal here. There is plenty of it on TV and people are immediately classified based on the country they come from, regardless of what they might have experienced in their lives. You could have lived over twenty years in this country and speak grammatically perfect German, you would still struggle to pass of a German with a non conventional last name. The fact that this country has had such a rough past with regards to racism makes it even more astonishing. Until you travel a bit in Europe and you realize that others are categorizing the Germans just as equally!

I was initially disgusted by it but now I realize that there is a difference between categorizing a person based on his looks, language and place of birth and then assuming his ability on account of that. The line between the two actions is thin and easily crossed over. Nevertheless it is important to note that one action is a harmless observation and the other is just plain wrong with dire consequences. To deny observable differences between cultures and races would be a farce but to make extrapolations would be ghastly.

I wonder if such fundamental learning’s can be ever taught if they can only be slowly learned. Would there be a time when these barriers that hold us back and at the same time make us unique as species disappear from our horizons. Or like all science fiction writers predicted, would it need us to take to space to finally represent the human mankind as a single entity. And to go where no man has ever gone before?