THE GREAT DIVIDE

I watched closely, as an infant stepped into this world.  It fluttered its tiny blue eyes and greeted the world with a euphoric smile. Before it could properly adjust itself to this newness, the world had already planned its fate. Little did it know that although it had all the features resembling other newborns, it would be divided on many other grounds. I then pondered upon a simple thought. When we as humans do not have the power to choose the wombs we are born into, then how can we divide each other on the basis of it? To simply put, our religion or our identity is given to us by chance not choice.

In India, this divide is not limited only to religions. Even within religions the divide continues. For instance, Hinduism consists of four fundamental castes or classes, the Brahmana, the Kshatriya, the Vaishya, and the Shudra. The Shudras are considered to be most inferior and the Brahmanas enjoy superiority among all the classes. Further, this kind of classification is again not restricted only to Hinduism. If we look at other religions too, it will be apparent how mere interpretation of  holy texts and historic events leads to a formation of a completely different class within a religion. Is this classification needed in a society? In a multi-cultural and diverse society as ours, where each region may be considered as a separate country, this great divide creates complexities and has in many instances lead to loss of innocent lives due to riots. When a marriage is arranged in India, the first basic question generally asked is whether the bride or the bridegroom is from the same caste and religion. I wondered then, where is the question of those two respective people being compatible for each other or the fact that whether they can be happy with each other. The final goal, as I have come to understand, of each one of us, as he/she later realizes is his/her search for happiness. Aren’t we then with these categorizations only complicating what is a simple truth of life and searching for a power which clearly resides within us?

This great divide is omnipresent, as if to say humans are born to stereotype. But for a society to really evolve, these frivolous groupings need to come to an immediate end. The world has seen enough bloodshed based on religion and it is now time rise above these differences and to live with peace and tranquility. Nelson Mandela once said:

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite”.