Essay competition winner at AIA-SJ on the topic of Mahatma Gandhi’s influence in the 21st century
Today, I choose to be a better representative of humanity. Our future depends on this.
Reading about Gandhi and watching his biographical movie, I was moved by the treatment of Indians and himself under British rule. I am not talking about India but about Nadal, South Africa. A young, open-minded, and passionate Indian who recently returned with a law degree from England, Gandhi was eager to represent his employer in various arbitration cases in South Africa. New to the country, Gandhi was immediately a witness and victim of the efforts by the British to disfranchise the Indians in South Africa. These incidents awakened an unknown fire within him to stand up and ask for justice and fairness for all humans, regardless of skin color. It is important to note that Gandhi was not looking out only for the plight of Indians but for all humanity. He called this “mutual tolerance.” While much has been said about his teachings on Truth, Spiritualism, and Ahimsa, I feel that his teachings on mutual tolerance are the foundation for all these other teachings.
You may ask, why is the principle of mutual tolerance of importance today? We live in a society where one’s opinions are of more value than one’s principles. The barrage informs our daily opinions of news on social media and our fast-paced interactions. We have come to let these opinions become the bedrock of our choices. While our opinions on which Zelda game is better (Breath of the Wild) do not impact our life, we have let opinions on social media determine how we interact with each other and respect our differences. While I agree we have opportunities to review different opinions, the sheer number of these differences has led us to seek shelter with those opinions that affirm our current point of view. We have let our opinions become our banner, not wanting to dig beyond the surface to understand other points of view. We have insulated ourselves from new experiences and input, comfortable in our blanket of indifference.
I believe that the future of humanity rests in coexistence based on respect for our differences and tolerance of each other. My challenge to myself and my peers is that if we are to lead our civilization into the future, we need to have thoughtful, meaningful, and deep conversations about why we should be tolerant of gender, race, skin color, and background. We have much to learn from each other, and the survival of our civilization depends not on our similarities but on our differences.
At the end of the day, while I may never accept another point of view on the best Zelda game, I genuinely believe that there can be other opinions, and I plan to accept these differences because I am not the sum of my views, but a product of my principles! Practicing the principle of mutual tolerance today will reap the benefits of a better tomorrow.
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