A call for reconciliation between India and Canada

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India and Canada are in the midst of an escalating diplomatic rift, with each country expelling top diplomats. You can find the details here:

As someone delighted to have received joint Commonwealth and Indian Government Scholarships for an M.A. in Comparative Religion at Santiniketan, West Bengal, I find this news saddening.

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India and Canada have always been on good terms. We have a sizeable Indian population in Canada, and from what I can see, Indians are hard workers, sometimes taking jobs that not everyone would wish to do.

I must admit, I have a certain sympathy for India and Indian people. While studying there, I used to joke that I had 99 Indian lives and just one Canadian life. Non-Muslim and non-Christian Indians, you see, tend to believe in reincarnation. So that was my humourous way of saying that, back then, I really felt more at ease in India than in Canada.

Over time, that changed and I was happy to leave and return to my home and native land. But the transition was anything but smooth. I experienced 'reverse culture shock' for quite some time. And then I came to perceive that Canada had become a diseased country, with a relative few hostile and clever white-collar locals and immigrants eroding our democratic and equitable employment processes through a kind of soft occupation brought about by bribes, intimidation, backroom sleaze, and perhaps even violence.

Faith is the bird that feels the light
and sings when the dawn is still dark.

~ Rabindranath Tagore, Fireflies 

⸻ 

There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

~ Leonard Cohen, Anthem

The only thing that lifted me above all the dross was a conversion to Catholicism, which for all intents and purposes made me realize that "home" is not really a given country but everlasting heaven. Of course, Catholicism has its own brand of corruption, but that doesn't take away from the reality of how the Holy Spirit helps me within that faith group.

To return to the India-Canada dispute, for each country to demonize the other just isn't realistic. Let's hope our better selves - Indian and Canadian - remember this before things get even worse.

Sadly, Justin Trudeau has been anything but helpful in resolving the rift. He's been antagonizing Indians with his superficial political correctness from day one.

One thing I particularly like about most Indian people is that they can see right through silly posers who just aren't "there." Wearing the clothes isn't what it's all about. Being there is.

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