The World We Live In

By the magic of technology I have world headlines instantly updated on my home page. Right now there are two headlines, one underneath the other. The first one reads “Mumbai Jewish Center Hostages Die; 200 Others Freed” the second one reads, “Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death.” Is this the world we live in? Where on one side of the world people die because of fundamentalism and on the other they die because of consumerism? There is no way to deny that this is our world, and that it is a terribly sad place in many ways.

Studying with people from around the world brings the differences of realities into sharp focus. Right now one of my good friends is waiting for news of a friend trapped in a hotel in Mumbia, his home town. The attacks occurred at the same time as we were celebrating his birthday at a curry restaurant in Bradford. A few weeks ago another friend from Somalia told us, in an off handed way, that he knew many of the 26 people killed by a bomb attack. Another friend, this time from Guatemala, recently got news that one of his best friends was kidnapped, but managed to escape though severely injured. This is the world we live in.

Last night we took time to also celebrate the creativity and diversity of our world. My two remarkable friends, Vanessa and Helen, organized a Culture Cabaret. Students from the department shared their cultures through songs, ceremonies, poems, dances and food. The highlight of the night was a Bollywood dance performed by students from India, Holland, Taiwan, Canada, and Tajikistan. It was the ultimate expression of cross-cultural fusion. I think of my brave friends twirling and gyrating to the cheery Bollywood tune and I think, thankfully, this is also the world we live in. It’s a world of creativity, of friendship, of sharing –and it might just be what saves us from the dustructive forces of fundamentalism and consumerism.