Tradition and culture
BULA readers! This week I have taken some time out to contemplate about our two largest races in Fiji and that is the iTaukei and Indo-Fijian population. They are very different in many respects, but also very similar.
Coming from a liberal family environment where we were brought up to respect all cultures and races, I find it easy to appreciate both races and their contributions to society as a whole.
In terms of religion, my mother as most of you would know, has a leaning towards Christianity and my father towards Hinduism, which has made it very easy for me to understand some of the misgivings and also witness some of the individuals and organisations who take joy in instigating and spreading fear in both communities.
The best way, in my opinion, to take away these misgivings is get out there and learn more about all cultures, religions and traditions.
Eventually when you take time to look at all the religions and traditions and see what they preach and perform. You will find that generally they will have the same principals of love, but with different teachings.
Don’t worry about what others say about visiting or entering another place of culture or tradition.
It may be hard at first, but be brave and take that step. This will inevitably lead to making mistakes, but no one is perfect. On the plus side we will learn to appreciate the beauty of other environments and their settings.
Last week during my Western tour visiting villages I am sure I made a few mistakes along the way with mispronunciation of a few names and maybe not aware of some intricacies, but it was taken in great humor, and everyone graciously forgave me.
What was most encouraging is the way I was received and also respected as a non iTaukei into an iTaukei village environment was second to none.
The hosts welcoming was quite frankly a beautiful experience as they greeted me with open arms and this will live within me and
I will indeed treasure the memories.
I had the pleasure to visit, watch and also take part in some of the traditional ceremonies, which I must say was very enriching for my soul and brought a whole new level of respect for the vanua.
In fact, the experience brought me closer to nature and valuing such strong cultures that exist Fiji-wide especially in the rural areas of our nation.
I have been a chief guest or just a simple visitor to various church and temple gatherings, where I truly appreciated the invitation plus got a chance to learn more about each different faith and culture along the way, once again enriching my soul.
With these experiences I quickly learned that the more knowledge I gain, the more I believe we are more alike and have similar human values.
I am very proud that my mother and son speak English, Hindi and iTaukei, which has served them well and also makes them appreciate all cultures and a deeper understanding of the values that is attached to them.
In terms of regret, my biggest regret in my life was never learning many languages, which is a must for everybody today in this global village we live in.
So if you have a chance to learn a different language jump at the chance and learn with vigor.
One lesson I learned in my lifetime, and I remember vividly, was speaking to an old Catholic nun who would have been in her 80s.
I had known her for a while and felt obliged to ask her about her strong faith and also what made her choose her pathway to God.
The nun’s answer was quite striking and unexpected to me. She explained to me that regardless of whatever religion you follow all rivers will flow into one sea and in her lifetime it took her almost 50 years to finally have the maturity to understand and respect other faiths and also realised that God wasn’t exclusive to one person’s thinking or movement.
In fact, she felt that God resides in all of us, and the teachings of love, compassion and forgiveness is what we need to live a good and honest life remembering to help and never hurt each other.
Wise words indeed from a lady who has sacrificed her whole life in the service of God and also her fellow human beings.
Finally, I was touched by one of the chiefs of the many villages we visited, who very elegantly emailed me and thanked me for visiting his village and invited me back again.
I humbly believe it is me who should be thanking him for inviting me into his environment and enriching me with more understanding of his culture which quite frankly is priceless.
AJAY BHAI AMRIT is a founding member of The People’s Alliance party and is also a freelance writer. The views expressed in this article are his and do not necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper.