Today while having my lunch over at the cafeteria, I had this very interesting conversation with a Sociology student... which made me feel critically once more about how poorly the people out here are informed about the world which exists outside the US of A. So, this guy who is taking a class on religion starting discussing and asking me some questions regarding religion. When I told him that I was from India, the immediate reply I got after him going through his big textbook and class notes "ohh yeah... India... the country which strictly believes in Islam"... I was not at all offended by this and said "Yes... Its a secular country with Islam being a major religion, but predominantly there are Hindus". This is when he goes back to his notes and starts showing me the class notes he got. I was surprised to know that his professor said that Hinduism was derived from Islam... I went of and gave him a refresher course on all the world religions and how and when they came about.
The conversation made more sense after that as he kept asking about what do i think are the beliefs in each religion... while I tried to finish my lunch as quickly as possible!! I found it very hard to answer what makes one religion better than another, for to me all religions say similar things when it comes to showing compassion, kindness etc...
Then he looks back to his notes on India and says that his Professor told that India is the country where they blew up the Buddhist statues with tanks to show their intolerance to that sect. He was obviously referring to the "crazy people" in Afghanistan destroying the World Heritage site in Bamyan valley. I was appalled to hear that a Professor - the so called expert - would say something like that. So, once again I tried to correct him and gave him a religion for dummies talk on the various religious sects - the shias and sunnis and where they belong to and why they always fight. I had enough religion talk for a day, when he asks me where is Afghanistan and Iran on the map, and not surprisingly enough he couldn't find it on the map... I had to remind him that Afghanistan is the country in which he-who-should-not-be-named-unless-you-want-big-brother-knocking-at-your-door is in hiding, and then it made more sense to him.
Well if the Professors who are grooming tomorrow's nation builders don't have their facts right, how can one blame the people responsible for actually building the nation for their self-centric foreign policy. Their is a world outside of America as well... and its high time the people out here start noticing. It is as important for one to know about one's culture as it is to know about other cultures! Every country- big or small has something to offer to all of us, it is what makes us diverse, makes us feel proud about the human race.
