2004 Winning Essays |
Sponsored by the InterFaith Forum of Rochester |  |
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Can we ever imagine, what it would be if all of us were to say "hello" into our telephones, exactly like everyone else's "hello". I don't know about you, but it would drive me crazy. God in His creative genius has made all originals. Added to this, are our differences 'of the world': geographic, religious, national... The outcome, an extravagant array of individuality. One, which at times is enriching, sometimes baffling, and most of the time full of strife. What in essence should set us free, binds us in chains, sometimes very hard to break through. When I recently came to Rochester, I was struck by the diversity of its people. Jews entering the synagogues; Christians ringing in the birth of Christ; Hindus celebrating their festival of lights, resplendent in their silks and brocade; Muslims fasting fervently during Ramadan; each in a world of their own. Then we have here people from all over the planet, such that the other day I was wondering if I had missed someone from the moon, especially with all that talk recently about men being from Mars and the ladies from Venus. Color: My school boasts of colors far more and far richer than the rainbow, from black to white and every color, hues and shades in- between. I would agree, Rochester is well endowed, or is it a pain that tears us apart? |
What if all these separate worlds left their thresholds, reached out and touched each other? What if we could look inside these differences and discover our oneness deep within? What if each of us brought all that was our own and made it 'ours'? Wouldn't each of us be richer by far? Bridging these differences is a very difficult task, one achieved only with great readiness and painstaking labor. What if when we saw a woman with her head covered, we stopped her and asked her the significance of it? What if we said hello and meant it, when we meet people of color, other than our own? What if we did not label whole communities with epithets such as 'nerds, driven, crafty....', and gossip about it? What if we did not shrink when someone confides is us, telling us that they are gay, and next day stay away? What if from personal to global levels, we sought to include and understand, rather than create barriers?
We could easily pass off our passion for this 'division' as human nature, and attribute it to our weakness and longing for only our very own. However, this indulgence comes at a great expense. 9/11 is a bruise so raw, that we will bleed well into the next century. No, we humans are doomed in our separateness. We will suffer unless we learn our lessons of unity, and learn them well. There will be much pain. A good example of this is in the movie "Miracle". The hockey coach everyday asks each player who they play for, and inevitably they all reply with the name of their hometown followed by the state. As time progresses and "bridges" were built, they realized what the coach was looking for. One day, a player answers for "The Team of US of A"; in that moment they realized and rejoiced in their being a team, one people joined together, under one sky!
Why is it then that we, the people of Rochester, find it so hard to cope with our differences? Why is it that we are like scattered puzzle pieces that cannot fit together, oblivious that together we can be a wonderful design. Within my school of Brighton alone, it is amazing to see so many diverse people, but we don't have a Reverend James A. Rice amidst us. No one to connect us together, no one to teach us how to build that bridge. No one willing to step up to the plate, in front of the crowd.
I, myself, being a minority feel saddened, when people fail to understand my simple self. Even when people see me for the first time, I see all their misconceptions of me, coming together nearly straight away, right then in the core of their eyes. They don't give me even that small chance, what we call the benefit of a doubt. Even though I read like a book, they still decide to read me backwards, complicating life that much more. Cruelly, I am many a times the butt of their jokes.
Being a Hindu, the question of worship of cows is inevitably asked; and even before I have a chance to breathe, they are laughing out aloud, to my horror, gathering a big crowd around. You try to stay away from the internal pain that is to follow, and gather yourself to say "Hindus believe that everything in this world is sacred, and that the universe pulsates with a divine presence", the reason as simple as this. But who is listening? What can be heard though is only laughter down the hallways. Would you care to wait and listen, for that matter even talk to me for a moment? Because, if you do, maybe I could make you believe too, that we can celebrate all our differences, and find utter joy and beauty in them.
Is there a recourse- a solution? Of course there is. A certain preparation, a readiness is required. A climate where these differences could be freely expressed, understood and pathways made to bring them together. An environment where each can appreciate the other, and ultimately come to see the grandeur of our diversity, and rejoice in its magical myriad unity. I have great plans for Rochester; for us all to come together.
For a start, I would request the Rabbi, the clergy and the priests, to permit all school children, with due permission from their parents, to visit their holy abodes, places so ample in our area. I would draw a curriculum, and present it to the school, for classes that will promote understanding beyond all frames of mind, and I will ask all teachers, and parents for their guidance and help in this endeavor. It would be thrilling to celebrate the Hindu festival of colors called Holi, and so many other delightful festivals such as Kwanza!
We could have a 'festival of cultures', and maybe get assistance from big corporations and libraries around the region. Each class in our school could have something like the twin city project, and bond with a class in the inner city school district. During Hanukkah, we in our house light the Menorah, soon I intend to fast during the month of Ramadan. Maybe, I could talk about it to my friends, and organize a forum for exchange of ideas, that will go beyond race, nationality, color, sexual orientation... A lot can be done, to bring us all together.
It is time that we connected as people. As for myself, I am ashamed that I still do not know the backgrounds of everyone even in my own history class. It is up to us to build our great community. John Fitzgerald Kennedy once said, "If we cannot end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity." This is our mandate, and maybe then you wont walk away laughing, before I can even answer your questions and then maybe we can be friends.
Vast diversities lie within each of us, and outside of ourselves. It is our life's journey to find that one 'Truth' that holds all these differences together, making the universe a unified whole. Each of us is essentially unique: physically, emotionally, mentally; we are different coming from different cultures, nationalities, religions, economic classes, social stratas, levels of education, professions, sexual orientation, color...from such big things to little small things like the way we walk, read a book, scream or even cry. A mesmerizing celebration of infinite notes, all captured together to create the most beautiful symphony, that we call 'life' on earth. A grand fusion.
Culture is the pure essence of which we live; it is who we are and where we belong. It is the identification in the context that we become lost or entangled with the unruly. Our pride stems from our culture, our background, our ethnicity--all of which should never be tampered with. Never should one have to create excuses for who he or she is; never should they be plagued with insults and battered with criticism because they choose to take pride in their heritage. Unfortunately, the diversified first generation teenagers of this country must face this harsh reality. They are being pressured day after day to give up what they have to follow in the path of those who don't. They are being teased and laughed at for their customs, and in turn are reaching out to drugs, crime, and alcohol for reassurance, solely for the confirmation that they are now one of the crowd. We must put an end to this ignorance and embrace our ethnically rich culture today. Through numerous experiences I have discovered this dilemma we are faced with, and I am all the more determined to let my voice be heard.
Every suburbia has a city, a downtown, the place held in disdain by the cushy upper class safe and warm in their country club homes. Reality must be faced. The downtown is probably the most diverse area in any city; every which way there seems to be another family of Hispanics, another Middle Eastern trying to earn a living, another lone black man humming a sorrowful tune. I myself am native to India, and I have childhood friends that attend schools in Greece, Brighton, and the downtown of Rochester. Unfortunately, these friends have no pride in who they are, they do not know their heritage nor do they desire the knowledge simply because they believe it's ludicrous. Is that really possible? In calling their motherland, their religion, their culture ludicrous they are calling themselves foolish, since India emanates from their very pores. These friends of mine do not remember the simplest of Hindu prayers, and cannot recall the most basic of the Hindu texts. Each and every one of them is involved in crime, drug use, and alcohol abuse. If they were to return to India at this very time and confess their sins, their fellow natives would refuse to believe a word they'd say because behavior like this is simply abhorred in the motherland. When I asked my friends how they ever became involved with illegal situations--considering the fact that they were taught the basics of Hindu culture from a very young age--they simply replied that Hinduism was all a lie, something to control the weak, and it wasn't "cool enough" to abide by in their society. Obviously I was stunned and disgusted. Hinduism isn't a tool of mind-control--peer pressure, drugs, drinking, and violence are. If these friends of mine had just taken some pride in their heritage, they wouldn't be in the situations they are in now. They would have followed the ethics laid down by their culture and would be living healthy lives at this point, instead of returning to rehabilitation sessions day after day.
About eleven months ago, a sweet, kind, and shy Puerto Rican girl moved to Webster and began to attend Schroeder High School; I noticed she sat alone during classes and lunches therefore I amiably befriended her. From my conversations with her I learned she came from a very conservative family whose ripe culture and fresh tradition were kept alive from generation to generation. She was an honor roll student and was extremely sensitive to the feelings of her peers--a characteristic that would haunt her and highly influence her future decision making. About a month after her first steps into Schroeder, I began to distinguish *Tina talking with the troublemakers and drug addicts of our school. Her clothing became scanty and her breath constantly reeked of alcohol and tobacco; obviously she did not heed my warnings and continued to mingle with that certain clique. She skipped classes and began to take on a more ghostly appearance from the drugs and liquor she was consuming. Close to three months after Tina's "transformation," I approached her and casually asked how her life had been going, and what in the world prompted her to affiliate with such a dirty crowd. She meekly replied that this is who she was, and this is how the Puerto Rican women of America were expected to behave. Is this is the message that is relayed by the teenagers of today, that all Hispanics were gang members? Tina was pressured by her peers and convinced to forget about her cultured past; none of her family's past influence mattered when it came to becoming just one of the crowd.
A problem has obviously arisen. The racially diverse teenage population of America is constantly being pummeled by the nasty remarks of their ignorant peers; they are giving in to the pressure and are reluctantly admitting that they do not feel pride for what they have and once loved. This is not only an issue concerning the victimized adolescents; the major controversy lies elsewhere, with the uncultured young people whose lack of knowledge leads them to degrade and harass races apart from their own. I believe our society needs to recognize the types of people with which we interact with day after day; this process must begin with the education of our high school teenagers. Programs should be set up and days dedicated to help our youngsters clear their vision and see what type of world they live in--a world dependent on each and every human being cooperating to become one. The entirety of gangs in our society would rapidly decrease if we simply recognized the capability and potential of our juveniles; after a certain point of degradation they firmly begin to believe that the only thing they can turn to is crime, drugs, and gangs. They trust that their gangs can support them in their times of need; why isn't it that we can't be their source of strength? I insist that something be done to inform the teenage population of the predicament at hand and exactly what they can do to resolve it. An after school program perhaps? Maybe a workshop could be set up or something as simple as a guest speaker brought in to begin the process of understanding. After all, they are our future, whether we like it or not. From my experiences I have learned the sensitivity needed when handling affairs dealing with emotionally downtrodden people, more often than not their esteem weakened by their ignorant peers.
Our nation is teeming with a breathtaking blend of races; everyday we expand in size to create room for another life born. We call ourselves the nation of the free, the brave; how our forefathers would be ashamed to learn of our lack to sustain this title. Oblivious to our actions, everyday we shove aside the problems and the silent cries of help emitted by our teenagers. With no way of knowing where to go or which turn to take, they make the same mistakes they have seen done numerous times before, believing that there is no other road to take. Our job is to inform them that it is perfectly normal to forge their own path, that there is no need to be tied down by race or culture. Culture is what makes life interesting and worth living, without it our community would be crammed with lost identities and people whose lives revolve around nothing. To bridge the gap between cultures in our teenage society we need to step up and move to enlighten those who know nothing about the world outside their dear America. We are all in this race together; victory is a sweet gift achieved only through understanding.
* Name replaced for privacy purposesIt is important to develop an understanding among people in the Rochester area with diverse backgrounds. It is difficult for people with economic differences to get along, but we can all overcome these differences and become one as a community. It is important to understand one another in order to get along peacefully. If someone attempts to become friends with a person who is different from themselves, then he has the opportunity to make the world a better place.
In Charlotte, my old community, there was a family who moved in down the street from me. The family had nothing but a house and the clothes on their backs, because they had moved to the United States from Afghanistan. The father of the family was blind. He and his wife had five young children. They did not speak much English or have much money. Very often, the family would be out walking looking for essential furnishings and clothing. They would go through garbage bags in the neighbors' yards and take any clothing or furniture they could find. Many of the clothes they were wearing had holes and rips in them. To see these poor children during the winter in worn out sandals or barefoot with no winter jackets made me feel horrible. I can't even imagine how the parent's felt to know they couldn't provide this for their children. They were not used to these harsh cold Rochester winters, for in their home country there were no cold winters. The children as well as the parents had little or no education when they came to America. Because of this, they could not get jobs. When people in the neighborhood would say hello or try talking to them, they could barely understand, and even if they could understand they couldn't reply back. They just had this helpless look on their faces and everyone wanted to help but no one knew how. The family was lost and confused in this new place that they were now supposed to call home, and no one could understand or know what they were feeling. Everything in the United States was very different from what the family was accustomed to in their native country. They didn't understand anything and our neighborhood could tell that this family was having trouble making the transition to this new and very different country.
Every person in our community wanted to help this family, but no one knew what to do so we decided to get together as a community and find a way to help. The turnout on the evening of the meeting was incredible and the community just making an effort to show up at the meeting gave me hope that there was some good in everybody. Thought that maybe we could change the world and overcome differences in our communities, starting with this family. We didn't know exactly how to communicate with them. Also, we didn't want them to feel like we were just giving away items for charity. We thought it may make them feel uncomfortable and worthless. If we gave them the items directly it could cause them to feel worse and not respected. We decided we had to indirectly give them the items. By the end of the night, we had reached a conclusion that we felt was the most realistic and accommodating to this family; we would leave some items at the garbage curb and let only this family take the items. The items we left, of course, would not be "garbage" but, items that were fairly new and in good condition. That night I went home from the meeting confident that we would be able to help this family. When I got home my family and I looked for some items that might be useful to the family. Various items my family and I put out to donate to this family were blankets, old clothing, winter coats, boats, gloves, sneakers, toys and books for the children, furniture, and many other times that were no longer useful to our family but could be very useful to this less fortunate family. A year after the family had learned English. Shortly after, the children started their schooling, very excited and craving knowledge. The parents could now get jobs which would be very helpful. The community could see the joy in the parents and the children's eyes and to know that our community helped to put that joy in their faces made us feel good. The family, now speaking English wanted to thank the community, realizing how much we had helped them. The first thing they said to us was, "Thank you so much, our community helped us during a time when we were feeling lonely. We are very grateful for everything you have done. It's true when people say your dreams come true in America, and this wonderful community has helped prove that to our family. We are so proud to be a part of this community and hope to help a family just like everyone helped ours."
It is amazing to see how one community can change the future of a family who had nothing to begin with. If more communities in the Rochester area would take into consideration that not every family was as fortunate as their own then, the poverty level could be decreased tremendously. Having the opportunity to participate in helping this family has changed my life forever. Being able to see the change that can take place and how successful one family can become by this little bit of help is truly a miracle. Helping families in the Rochester area would help to bring about a more positive attitude in the people of Rochester. We should be proud of the place we live and the actions we make. No one should every have to regret a choice they made because it was the wrong choice. When you make a good choice and help out in your community, not only do you make others feel good, but you feel good about yourself. We all have the power to be proud of the person we are and the community we live in. May we all take this power and use it to make good decisions that could forever affect a person's life.