My wife has already started on her project for the 68th Indian Independence Day program in our town as well as the county. She is doing an amazing job convening the program with so many different volunteers and great helpers. Out of curiosity, I asked her the theme and her answer was "Of course, it's Diversity!" I started thinking the real meaning of the word diversity and its implications. Trust me it has been a very interesting journey through the thoughts.
Diversity means the state of being diverse or having variety to be precise. Variety can be in multiple forms – dresses, food, mannerisms, opinions and thoughts.
In the various interactions with people, systems and processes we all come across so many diversified characters on a daily basis. Yet we harp on the need to understand the diversity and understand it. This is what drive my curios and inquisitive mind to ponder. I believe diversity is a fact of life and nature. The Mother Nature supports so many living organisms – be it flora or fauna, so many non-living things, doesn't it offers diversity to us? I believe this is diversity in its fullest form. To help ourselves understand the various complex natural phenomenon, we tried to classify them in families and kingdoms. Interesting still, while we tried to study one phylum, we were still observing others and their effects. We applied the same classification (though modified) while understanding humans, their cultures and their societies. Then why did we forget the behavior and the impact of others as in plant or animal kingdoms?
Yes, diversity is not new. It has always existed and will always exist. We are just one very small miniscule creatures in the diversified nature. But what makes us superior to others is our ability to think and understand the differences. The same understanding and knowledge leads us to appreciate the capabilities of others and help us being sensitive towards others and their needs. The sensitivity leads to us being able to adjust and develop a cordial society for all to live together.
Of late many organizations have started training their staff on Diversity and Inclusion. The program is aimed at not only understanding that there may be people with diverse backgrounds but also with methods to include them all when working as a team and devising approaches to minimize the differences.
Some argue that this knowledge and the understanding came from the west. I recommend to visit the SriNathJi temple in Nathdwara, Rajasthan, India. SriNath Ji appears before the devotees 8 times a day for darshan. In each appearance he sports a new and a different outfit. All the year round, the dresses and Shriji's getup is never repeated. Quite a fashionable god? Yes he is. However, the point to note here is some of the various forms that ShriJi takes during the year include that of a 'Yavan', 'Mugal' and even 'maleccha' – forms that are not associated with Hinduism or are not viewed favorably. But look closely – the god himself is givin out the message of inclusion, sensitivity to others through the clothes he sports. When he can do so, how can we be so insolent?
Let's introduce another interesting twist to this whole paradigm – like the holy trinity of Hindu Gods – Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh; there is a holy trinity of Lakshmi, Durga and Saraswati – the female counterparts of Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. The three goddesses symbolize different types of wealth we can have - Lakshmi indicates the material wealth, Durga indicates the emotional wealth, and Saraswati indicated the wealth of knowledge. In our quest for materials, we are always trying to achieve our emotional quests, but somehow we forget the knowledge that gives us sensitivity towards self and others.
Hence, to really understand Diversity and Inclusion, one must try achieve knowledge of one's own culture and that of others'.
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