The sky was a beautiful clear light blue with sparse fluffy white cumulus clouds. The sun was strong; strong enough to give cheeks a tinge of pink. The breeze was soft; soft enough for the flags to sway gracefully. Rainbows seemed to touch the green grass as excited children dressed in traditional attires sat around the field.
It was International Day at school. 87 nationalities were together to celebrate diversity. And embrace it. Teachers, support staff and some parents joined children of the entire school on the field. Most parents though stayed on the outer circle of the field armed with cameras to capture the romantic scene.
Countries were called in alphabetical order for the parade of nations. Enthusiasm and pride marched step by step. Children in the parade reached out to give high fives’ to friends of different nationalities sitting with their country groups, as they themselves went around the field. One or two children held the banner of the country while the others walked alongside their flag. It didn’t matter if a country was represented by a single girl or by 23 students or more. What mattered was that everyone looked proud to be there, happy to represent their country and confident to stand up for it. It was absolutely clear that while a flag, attire and probably language brought a group together as they marched with their countries; a larger group existed for these children that they had formed themselves, which went way beyond the common flag or attire. Geographical boundaries merged as children also chose to walk with other nations they identified or associated with- because they were born there, had spent some years there or had parents belonging to those countries.
The spirit with which they bonded gave me goosebumps; goosebumps of hope. The hope that maybe one day when these children are out of school, making their mark in the outside world, their world would be more appreciative and tolerant of diversity; that differences would be a reason to amalgamate and not segregate.
It will not matter whether you eat beef or not. No one will be killed because of their diet preferences or because they were believed to have a certain meat in their fridge. It will not matter what religion or faith you believe in or want to.
belong to. Lives will not be lost in the name of religion or in hope of a good life in idyllic heaven. That there will be a time when lifeless toddlers would not be washed ashore in desperate, failed attempts to flee their country... I hope one day John Lennon’s song ‘Imagine’ would not be about imagining. It would be about looking around you.
In the present times, knowing about what’s happening around gives more hopelessness than hope. At times like these Andy Dufresne of Shawshank Redemption resurfaces in the mind and says, “…hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
Each child at the field represents hope.
