My Name Is Khan ...

... and I am not a terrorist.

I am forced to make a posting today. Last evening as I was watching the movie, memories of the past flashed past me.

Sadly, not too long ago, someone close to me commented "That guy is a Mosi (ref Muslim) and whenever he needs help, he gets more of his Muslim friends to join up". While it saddened me, I wondered whether it was thoughts like this that forced the gentleman in concern to rally like minded people around him in times of need. As a facilitator, who conducts sessions about diversity, one of the first things I was taught was that whether we like it or not, we have tendencies to be biased and these thoughts are reflected in our behaviour - verbal and non-verbal.

When I am sitting in a bus, with a vacant seat next to me, I am expectantly eliminating people I would not like next to me ... bias has kicked in.

When I am at a Hotel, and a shabbily dressed person walks in ... boom bias has kicked in.

When I walk upto a Customer Service Desk of any service I have availed to make a complaint, and I see a pretty face smiling back at me - boom bias again (This situation is something that is acknowledged by a lot of service companies who gun for pretty faces and nice voices to handle customer complaints - who would like to scream at Priyanka Chopra -metaphorically speaking- for his shirt being burnt, bill being inflated, service being disconnected).

While that is one side of it, here is another ... In one of my previous assignments, I was assigned workspace amongst a couple of Bengalis (my countrymen who speak Bengali). And everytime there was something to be shared between them ... the obvious choice of language was ... You guessed it - Bengali. The same experience with Punjabis, Tamils, Malyalees ... the list goes on.

On a yet another assignment, this time in Philippines, I was facilitating a session for a group of very bright Filipinos. and from nowhere a babble started, and I just could not follow them. I asked my co-facilitator, a Filipino herself, what was happening, and was told that the discussion had moved to the language of their comfort - Tagalog. It was during one such conversation that I was reminded of a "Culture class" I had once attended. We had been told "Never use your native language (Hindi) in the presence of foreign delegates".

It brings to mind a statement made by Pooja Bedi ... where in she took on the Shiv Sena, saying ... why are we so bothered about the Indians facing discrimination in Australia, when they (Shiv Sena) are discriminating against Indians here in India (ref Mr T vs SRK) (Ref Pooja Bedi's Blog : I cannot comprehend ...  and Pooja Bedi: Peace can't be achieved by violence).
Such incidents made me realise that "Inclusivity" is a "nice" word. Its good to talk about ... but not very easy to follow.

How would you make a difference ... My name is Khan ... and I am not a terrorist.