On The Ground in Toronto

Canada is widely acclaimed for it's true diversity - and rightly so. Many other cities in other countries can claim diversity, but only as a veneer. Rub the surface and you will get racism, communalism and versions of other isms too. But in Canada and especially in its larger cities, there is true tolerance.

Walk the streets of this city and you will see what I mean. Talk to a stranger who is a resident and you will see even more. No one cares who you are. Rich or poor, Indian or European, professional or unskilled, everyone is accorded the dignity of the human race. This shows in its intermarriages and its dating. Russians with Filipinas, Jews with Muslims, Blacks with Chinese. It is a very colorful mosaic and one which is a pleasure to behold.

I have often asked myself what single factor has been responsible for this. Is it Government policy, is it the schools, is it the pulse of the workplace, is it the older inhabitants - the previous generations, or is it just the feeling one gets that racism will not be accepted or tolerated here. Twenty years of living in this country and I have not reached a conclusion. I have given up seeking the casue, more than happy that it suffices to experience it without needing to know how and when it all came about.

Our neighbor the United States can claim a little but not too much of this. The people are too haughty and arrogant without really meaning to be so. They are constantly bombarded with how great a nation theirs is. May be so. But they have come to make that truism a part of their pysche. And the accompanying pride comes in the way of acceptance of other cultures. Not on a personal level, for Americans are one of the friendliest people you can meet, but on a more collective plane. This reflects in what their government does and in their phobia of the hispanic influx.

The Europeans on the other hand are terrified of the 'Mohammedan' invasion. It has taken place before their very eyes and their governments have been slow to react. When they do look at the speed at which their Muslim communities are growing, they act with knee-jerk reactions like that banning the hijab. Those in southern Europe feel especially vulnerable. A ferry across and the immigrant is there. Before long the specter of racism comes to haunt.

Indians though, have lived with racism in one form or another all their lives. They are comfortable with it and have accepted it as part of 'doing business', never mind the hurt caused to the target-victims. In facts the victims too have adjusted to that disadvantage and have overcome it with education and the sudden accumulation of wealth and position. Yesterday's low caste police constable now has a son who is an IPS officer and hence capable of making victim of anyone he wants. Yesterday's harijan dirt collector has become today's PWD contractor on whose bribes the 'higher-born' authorities depend. The village panchayat clerk of a few years ago is today a powerful MLA who can manipulate anyone, including the law enforcers at will. The situation in India is unique. 'Mera Bharat Mahaan' is an an empty slogan for those who know how the country really works.

OK, OK I am not saying that Canada is the only jewel in the 'all humans are equal' crown. It just seems like that to me.