Unity in Diversity: An Article by Garima Sudan Kapoor

Since childhood I have heard the quote ‘Unity in diversity’ and always wondered the deep meaning embedded within the slogan. I was born and brought up in Patna in a North Indian, Punjabi family and a joint one as well. I belong to the old school category where we address our cousins as our own siblings.

I’m married to a South Indian guy, whose name is Deepak and he was born and brought up in Chennai. As North and South India have their own extreme different lifestyles, food and cultures, I too have experienced this as a huge difference after my marriage and got used to the southern culture as they truly believe in simplicity and high thinking. They are quite humble and grounded no matter what their social status or job profile is.

I was married to Deepak in 2007 February and moved to Bahrain, a middle-east country in the Gulf region. Being a teacher as my profession, I came across so many other nationalities in my workplace in Bahrain. So different nationalities speak more volume about various cultures and languages. While working in school in this island, whenever there are school events, with the duty and responsibility of showcasing the beautiful moral values in different cultures and religions from different nations, students and teachers get along to portray this through different programs in the event. There were such heartwarming moments during the preparations for the props of the respective programs that casually we teachers of different nationalities and religions used to arrange and handle each others’ things. During the decorations of the stage was also like learning experience for all of us be it the students, non-teaching staff and the teachers. The involvement and mutual acceptance of each others’ culture is clearly seen behind the programs and variations of different cultures are shown on the stage as well.

Each one present there was an integral part of this grand event that taught so many things about each culture and religion bonded with mutual respect and love. That’s where the unity naturally will follow. I felt and experienced a much wider aspect of this quote ‘Unity in diversity’.