In the world of I, Me, Myself – Let’s appreciate more

That was not much time back in Kolkata, the city which gifted the highest number of the Nobel Laureates to India.

One day, I went to visit Rabindranath Tagore’s birth house. He is the person who gifted the national anthem to India and is the first Nobel laureate of the country. There, the gate 1 was closed due to some inconvenience. So we asked for the direction of the alternative gate to three young people who gathered at a tea stall nearby for their evening gossip. They seemed to be well educated and probably from a business family as per their topic of discussion. But, to our surprise and disguise, neither those youngsters nor the tea stall owner could guide us. They just wondered blankly. Not because they didn’t know the direction, but because they don’t know who Rabindranath Tagore is. Anyway, eventually, other people helped us out with the 2 minutes’ walk.

Now, what was that? What made them so unaware of their surrounding (here, you may consider it to be around 100meters)? Who was responsible for the non-recognition?

Lack of awareness and eagerness.

And, who were those four men?

They were the representatives of each one of us- the busy us. Busy in our fast life, ignoring the simple things – people and culture around us.

Apart from migration or immigration, the world is now having a global exposure. People are no longer bound to opportunities due to location. In fact, with the coming days, such swap is inevitable.

But just like a shared tragedy, we find it a little offbeat to know and respect the history and heritage of that place, the living of the people. Because in this fast world, all we lack is time!

Staying and dealing (doing business) in a certain country, should we really bother to know much about it? We are anyway going to leave it with a better opportunity.

If my Facebook status says, “Checked in Louvre Museum,” do I necessarily need to go gaga over those genius artists and know every detail of their life and the art pieces? Can’t I cherish the experience in 221B Baker Street even without reading Sherlock Homes? Hey, I can definitely ride a Ford and never ever come across the word “Fordism” in my life. So what’s the need to know about people, places or things about which I’m not concerned since childhood? Those were after all, never in my textbook or the part of my childhood fables. You may think I’m disrespectful, but how does it matter in this world of ‘I, Me, Myself.’

Just the strange part is, it is neither religion nor country boundaries which are restricting us from knowledge. It is the mentality and lack of inclusiveness and culture.

We are being taught, always acknowledge our roots. But that doesn’t continue with, ignore others. We are unaware. That’s our flaw. Why not keep life simple! Appreciate the good, love the best. Let’s stop diluting the greatness or denying the excellence due to our reluctance. It won’t reduce one’s esteem by respecting another’s heritage. In fact, it would rather enrich our experience, furnish our knowledge. It is definitely not compulsory but advantageous for our existence.