We are all humans...

Well everyday in your life you come across questions like who are you, what is your identity and how will you define yourself. Whether being a part of any nation, state, class or creed, or even identifying your own self, needs a lot of workout to actually answer these simple questions, believe me it does.

I still remember a conversation I once had with a British lady while I was traveling in a plane from Delhi to Srinagar. She was a sweet lady of about 35 to 40, pretty fair, slim figure and a lovely appearance as well. She was sitting besides me reading a newspaper. I too was busy reading out a sports magazine, as usual. Suddenly she said “hi” and I looked at her with a smile. She paused for a moment and then went on, “I am from Britain my name is Fabiana, just came to visit Kashmir, kind of a holiday.” I also introduced myself and we started chatting. She told me a lot about Britain and I told everything (very little I mean I know) about Kashmir.

As we were conversing, there was a question that suddenly grabbed my attention. I asked her that she introduced herself as a British first and then as Fabiana, why was it so? She kept mum for a second and then replied, “Because we have no more remained as ourselves. Even I say we haven’t been able to identify ourselves as humans. There is a very little portion of the whole populace who are known by what they are and the rest by their country, language, color, sex, etc. You might not like it at all but we consider all you as Asians and nothing more.”

Before I could say anything, we already had reached our destination. Though a very small conversation, but it does speak of an ill practice that all of us overlook. Even we feel proud to be called as Americans, Indians, Gujratis, Bengalis, and Kashmiris and so on. No doubt every nation or state has its importance in its own essence but that does not mean that we merely divide people on the basis of these demographic boundaries set by ‘we’ only. I still remember my first day in Hyderabad; I went to a Sify net café and the person there looked at me and said, “Sir, are you a Gujrati.” I laughed and said ,” I am a human being like you, born in the same way as you, live on the same earth, eat, breath and drink exactly like you, even I am going to die also like you, so where does Gujrati and other things come.”

Very little things like that might not matter much to people, but in the actual sense it makes all of us divided on the basis of nothing. Instead of trying to differentiate ourselves from others, cannot we look out for the similarities? After all we are nothing more or less than humans, isn’t it? Take every person as a human and believe me, you will see peace prevailing in the whole world.