They say human thought is constantly evolving. Since the age of the cavemen, humans have always sought out newer, better, more efficient ways to do things. But the source of these innovations has never been limited to a specific group of people. Not all marvels of engineering come from Germany, the greatest performing artists are not all from the Americas, the Italians are not the only purveyors of fine art, and the best cuisine is certainly not always French. But that is what makes learning about different countries and cultures so fascinating – it allows the opportunity to experience a different perspective, which may otherwise not present itself in our routine lives.
I spent most of my childhood in Dubai, which has always held a noteworthy reputation of being one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world. This was none more evident than the representation that made up our neighbourhood soccer team. Each of us brought a unique playing style to the team, some which were more difficult to decipher than others. We nicknamed our Sri Lankan striker ‘The Wildcat’ – not because of the Lion in the Sri Lankan national flag, but because of his uncanny ability to emerge out of nowhere and strike with calculated precision. Our Sudanese defender was the ‘Ninja’ of the group, who despite his unassuming build, could pull off kicks that defied the very laws of physics, while denying the opposition any means of penetrating the penalty box. He was assisted in his campaign by the ‘Monk’ from Nepal, whose sorcerous footwork could hoodwink the best even on their finest day. Not to be discounted, our Midfielders too had their own unique ability of communicating without words, and were collectively referred to as ‘The Spy Network’ because of how they could covertly convey their intentions to infiltrate, claim the tactical advantage and destroy the opposition. But it was really our camaraderie off the field that gave substance to our gameplay while on it.
Our Egyptian striker introduced me to Arab musicians like Amr Diab and Khaled, and inspired me to expand my musical repertoire outside of the usual Bollywood fare I was used to. Our Iranian midfielder with the big screen TV hosted us when we wanted to watch the big Pro wrestling pay-per-view between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, but it was his intricate Persian rug that caught my eye – teaching me about how to appreciate different forms of art besides Sports cars and Speed bikes. During the month of Ramadan, my Pakistani team-mate knowing how much I loved his mother’s cooking, would invite me to join them when breaking fast, and even though I am Indian and our countries have never had the best of relationships with each other, never once did either of our families treat the other with disrespect. This taught me the lesson of Humanity – to value not only the people who agree with your opinion, but also those whose opinions may differ from your own. Our friendship outside of the game did help with our gameplay, but if it weren’t for these interactions with people of different ethnicities during our growing years, we wouldn’t have been anywhere as prepared for civilized life as we are today.
Many of my experiences with different cultures have shaped my individuality, however I can’t help but imagine that there is still a lot of uncharted territory to cover when it comes to learning from the cultures of every country and their people. But these are unprecedented times, when bias, hate, prejudice and discrimination overshadow the lasting collaborations that can actually bring about evolution. And we have nobody to blame but ourselves. With all the social movements that have come about in recent times – be it Black Lives Matter, Stop Asian Hate, Me Too – It is apparent from these that we as a civilization have failed to recognize the invaluable contributions that the people from each of these groups have made to improve our daily lives. But in order to elevate ourselves as a species, we need to open ourselves to different ways of doing things – Dismissing the involvement of those different from us, those who actually have an alternative perspective to offer, will only impede our progress. There is an abundance of intelligence that we can gather by travelling to, experiencing and acknowledging the facets of every country – the languages, the traditions, the cuisines, the sciences, the people, and so much more! We speak of establishing contact with extra-terrestrial life, so that we can learn about their sciences and integrate that into technology of our own – Why not start by learning about all that our world has to offer first?