Racism is a reality, not a show in the world.
Before the front teeth of Newyork fell in 2001, I used to work in broadsreet, next to Nassau and wallstreet. Early morning on cold chilly winters, I used to walk from home in Jersey city to board the path train to world trade center. Betwwen WTC and broadstreet. In the morning, good number of carts sell bagels and tea/coffee for breakfast. I used to enjoy the aroma as I walked past them to reach my broadstreet office. I used to work for a Stock management company as a software Architect.I had lot of yankee friends and during one of the luncheon discussions, I referred one day that, we Indians always relished cooked and freshly prepared food early in the morning for breakfast( steaming piped hot Idli or Paratha) and never had any thing like a cold bagel and coffee. Out came a comment saying it as a racist remark.
Racist remark! True it is as explained to me by my yankee friend that what we prefer may not be a thing soothing to others. We cannot state it aloud and it amounts to racist remark.
Back in India, every thing I heard was racist. We live with racist remarks all the time. We have lot of cultural differences within India. We never denounce ourselves dumping tonnes of plastics and making the land infertile. The tribals in the forest live a better life surrounded by nature, yet we look down upon them as uncivilized. Aren't we hypocrite?
We buy oxygenated water to drink and go to oxygen bars to rejuvenate ourselves, not concerned about what best nature can provide us. That is the way we live. I guess, raising pollutants in the air and increasing our estrogen levels and slowly turn us into weaker(st) sex?
Wayback in 1982 when I lived in switzerland in Appenzel area, Frequently young people used to ask me why we Indians eat with Hands?
I always used to say, if food can not be touched by hand, it is not food at all. well the answer may suit us Indians, but when we rethink, we will know what is the best way to eat food.
Questioning the way people do things or live is not right and it amounts to racist remarks. We need to exercise wisdom to put things across. Most of the times people will not identify themselvs in the similar situations you maybe familiar and would not understand the point.
It was very offending oneday when my son commented that how primitive way I lived listening to the whole movie on a radio for entertainment on a sunday afternoon. He never understood how people could live without remote in the hand switching channels.
Parasa
posted by Sreenivas @ 6:13 AM
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