We, human beings, are very good at differentiating things around us based on the various characteristics that those things might possess. The bad part is that this differentiation is not limited to just things. It tends to overflow to human beings as well, whom we tend to differentiate based on race, caste, colour, sex etc.

It is not only when Indians go abroad, are they differentiated, but also within India we have a tendency to differentiate based on regions. Our attitudes in turn get reflected in our behaviours towards them.

We tend to forget every virtue that tolerance teaches us. We tend to be so engrossed in taking judgements and attributing characteristics to a person, based on our biases that we forget to give the person a benefit of doubt that he or she might be different from the others belonging to the same group.

I used to think that such differentiation is followed only amongst human beings or the living creatures around. But the other day, when I was having a conversation with one of my doctor friends, I couldn’t believe that it is not only the humans who are good at differentiating but also the diseases, especially cancer, which is supposed to be one of the most dreaded disease with no cure what so ever, once a person tends to cross a particular stage.

The conversation went something like this:

“The one thing that I am very curious about is why people have not been able to find a cure for cancer.”—-Me

“Well, first of all you cannot alter the genes, and if you can, it is only upto a certain extent. Secondly, the cancer might be caued due to diet, environment or the lifestyle in general. As far as cure is concerned, it depends on how early it is diagnosed and whether the radiotherapy or the chemotherapy is conducted at the right time.”—Dr.

“But are there chances that it might recurr?”–Me

“It totally depends on how many times the cells have divided and there are always chances that such a thing might recurr. That’s why regular follow-up is very essential.”—Dr.

“We see so many different kinds of cancers that have been detected in humans. Is it true that some are found only in certain countries and not the others?”—Me

“Adeno carcinoma is found commonly in developed countries where as in India, you usually get to see squamous cell cancer.”–Dr.

“Hmm, even the cancer differentiates. I wonder whether the cancer is racist too.”–Me

“🙂 …well cancer is a disease which sucks the life out of you. And so is racism and its consequences.”—Dr.

That was the end of conversation about cancer and the diseases. We could have gone on and on talking about racism, cancer etc. But one thing that we Indians should try to do is to go beyond talking.

We are very fond of table-talks which we don’t want to incorporate into our daily lives. When it comes to following the same, we end up finding it too much to do. We all want to do the easy and ignore what we find as tough or difficult.

Is this lethargy a part of our culture or is it because we have the genes which make us do so? I would want to believe that it is our own attitudes which influence our decisions to include such things in our way of life.

Personally, I think, if everyone would take a plegde to bring about that one important change that is needed in oneself, then the world would become a much better and happier place to live in.

The question, though is, are we ready to take that one important step towards improvement? Are we ready to take on our own lethargy head-on? Are we prepared to tread the tough path? Are we motivated enough not to think about just us but the entire society or the World? Are we inspired from the teachings of great men who gave up their lives to do what was right at that time? And do we have the intellect to understand what is right and what is wrong and if we have, then would we want to abide by what is right?

Nobody else but you can answer all the above. Only your heart knows what the truth is. Only you, yourself know, deep inside, what is wrong and what is right. The earlier we will start the better, for we don’t want to repent in the future thinking why we didn’t start early.

Source for Image: http://wonkette.com/487709/sarah-palin-will-no-longer-be-racist-as-soon-as-she-understands-what-racism-is, http://blogs.bgsu.edu/elements/tag/change/