Growing Up in the Indian Air Force
From the time I was born, my life has revolved around moving to different parts of India. My father’s job in the Indian Air Force involved relocating to new states every couple of years. I fell in love with this nomadic design of my life.
With each move came a change of school, teachers and friends. The Indian Constitution mentions that Hindi in Devanagari script is the official language. Yet, every region of India has its own vernacular language and rich cultural heritage.
Learning India’s Languages and Cultures
During my travels across the country, I picked up basic conversational skills in Punjabi, Gujarati, Assamese, Telugu and Dakhani. The charm of getting acquainted with a near-endless list of people who shaped my world with their language, culture, genius and experience was alluring.
Each person carried an experience that was distinctly theirs – one that I could love and celebrate, but never truly understand quite as they do. This cultural diversity became the foundation of my worldview.
Love Across Cultures
My dream of sharing love for diverse cultures came true when I met a gorgeous Tamilian girl with a beautiful soul. She accepted my proposal for marriage after a brief courtship. Growing up in the Western hemisphere, her career as a musician has taken her to every continent, and she has friends from all over the world.
Our shared love of travel and exploring culture through food, music, architecture and sports grows stronger with each passing day. This intercultural marriage has deepened my understanding of acceptance and human connection.
The Philosophy of Human Acceptance
Every day for the past three decades, my life has been profoundly influenced by people. I see them as human beings who can teach me something valuable. An innate curiosity and naive belief that there is more good in this world than negative has fueled this perspective.
Each human being is a gift of God. Our eyes and countenance constitute a minuscule part of knowing and understanding a fellow human being. To truly begin knowing someone, we need to listen and accept them for who they are in this world.
Acceptance is the ability to see that others have a right to be their own unique persons. A right to their own feelings, thoughts and opinions. When we accept people for who they are, we let go of our desire to change them.
We let them feel the way they want to feel and think differently from us. Once we understand this truth, we can stop trying to change them into the people we want them to be and start accepting them for who they are.
Understanding Without Agreement
Accepting people does not mean agreeing with them, approving of them, waiving our own rights, or downplaying their impact upon us. We can still take appropriate actions to protect and support ourselves and others. Or we can simply let people be.
Either way, we accept the reality of the other person. We may not like it, may not prefer it, and one may feel sad or angry about a person’s stance. However, at a deeper level, we can begin to be at peace with this reality. That alone is a blessing.
A Global Perspective
To sum up this piece, the picture above is from a party at the Siem Reap hostel I stayed at during my Southeast Asia backpacking trip in 2016. The group includes an Indian sales professional from Mumbai, an American teaching English in Japan, a Chinese-Singaporean serving in the Singapore Armed Forces, and an Eritrean-German IT consultant.
All of us were waiting for our Angkor beers – Cambodia’s leading beer brand. This moment perfectly captured my life’s journey: finding connection and shared humanity across all boundaries of race, nationality, and culture.