Prerna Mistry
Don’t Judge Someone Just Because They Sin Differently Than You.
This famous saying is what you’d call #Relatable in today’s social media savvy age. As the world is shrinking, the overall scenario today is what you would call a ‘melting pot of cultures.’ And it is because of this right from fashion to music to even lifestyle; there is an overlapping of different cultural influences on everyone’s life on an everyday basis.
Besides this, today majority of people speak at least two languages which makes interaction easy. Before globalisation and the age of internet it was really hard, but now it is easier and convenient to communicate from one place to another. Thanks to the rise of social media it is also easier to meet more people who share your views and has also opened more platforms with regard to self expression. All this accelerates to the realisation that people are the same with similar human problems everywhere and that, extending communication helps to share cultural backgrounds and knowing more about different customs as well.
While all this would lead us to believe that it is the pathway to a unification of cultures of sorts, it is sadly not the case. Even today, despite having received education, there are many people who still possess a very narrow thought process as they stoop down to create judgements of their own when it is not their place to. Noting that, even a social media giant such as Facebook recently took action against controversial, hate comments on the site.
Whereas today, the world is evolving with people taking keen interests in other cultures and issues as well especially in pop culture with movies, food, fashion, lifestyle etc. Even in the world of music, the very recent rise of K-Pop with K-Pop artists such as BTS collaborating with artists of other countries as well is a fairly good example of people accepting and appreciating other cultures as well.
The culinary world also represents the harmonious melange of different worldly heritages as everyone loves food in any form! And just like how you mix and match ingredients, we often unknowingly mix and match techniques from other cultures to create our culinary masterpieces. Besides this, the same goes with fashion and lifestyle as well as we often take inspiration from platforms and people from all over the world.
While all this sounds great in context but the reality remains that it’s often just for show on social media and not really imbibed in real life. Worse still, people are often criticized for their choices as well. However the thing that we often forget is that instead of trying to ‘reprimand’ people and judge them for who they are or what they do, take a moment to reflect and ask yourself are the actions of the other people causing distress to society? Are they harming you in any way? If it isn’t the case, then Live and Let Live.
Even if it comes to people judging you for your choices, be confident in your choices as, as long as it doesn’t harm anybody including yourself, then You Do You. If you believe in your choices then be brave to go through with whatever you want to do and don’t let societal norms get you down. Even if you catch yourself judging someone else, it is okay as long as you immediately rectify yourself, as self-awareness and respect is important to lead a good life.
At the end of the day we all need to accept each other for who we are and where we come from because ultimately, we all want to be happy. The happiness that we gain shouldn’t be at the cost of someone else’s happiness. However, if you want to rock short hair with funky hair colours, do it! If you want to listen to Korean, Rock or Metal music on blast, do it! If you choose to eat food with chopsticks instead of using a spoon and vice versa do it! Embrace your inner self and be confident about who you are and that, the opinions of a person shouldn’t define you. Be You(nique), be your best extra self. Love yourself and love and cherish everyone for who they are instead of indulging in hate, bullying in real life or even online bullying and attacking others’ self respects through harsh judgements and criticism.
Go ahead, be your extra self and live your best life!
(Inputs by Divya Mistry)
