I think...
 I wonder why there is so much intolerance prevalent in this world...

Now you would think that I am speaking about "religious intolerance" but I am not thinking about that entirely. You see intolerance comes in so many forms. Intolerance for each other could thrive amongst people even within the same community or family. Today there is more intolerance for each other than before within the same community or in a working environment for that matter. People are not willing to adapt to each other that easily and accept each other with differences in thoughts, beliefs and culture. People are not willing to accept those who speak a different language or dress differently.

I always believe that it is so important to embrace each other with all our differences and that is how uniquely beautiful and deep relationships and interactions should be. It costs nothing to be kind ! It costs nothing to be empathetic ! It costs nothing to be sensitive and generous to each other !

You can be different in every way from each other and yet you could embrace each other ! For me that is truly when the process of cultural exchange and the exchange of knowledge happens. We learn and grow much in the journey of each others' differences. Through respectful and appreciative exploration of each other can we discover and learn. Such explorations can make us better people. And yet people do not understand the value of communication and interaction to discover each other to resolve differences. People fear the unknown and something that is different and in that fear deprive themselves of gaining knowledge of each other.    

I wish the world was a perfect place and I'm not the only one...
"You may say I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one..." This song by John Lennon speaks volumes.
There are many like us who still believe that this world could be a better place if we wanted it to be. There are many like us who have faith that this world is good. There are many like us who are still giving this world and people around us chances to become good. Some may call such people idealists or philosophical ! But so be it ! Such people truly still see goodness and kindness in this world at a time where it is so needed when we are living in the difficult and dark times of great intolerance towards each other which brews resentment, conflicts and riots. There is endless discrimination, racism and hatred which stems from basic intolerance of each other. If people could just be tolerant of each other...

Amidst such thoughts I came across a movie on Netflix which echoed so many of my long time thoughts and I connected so deeply with some of the emotions, thoughts and expressions in this movie. The name of the movie is " A Billion Colour Story". It is a very brilliant and thought provoking movie. Stories of intolerance for differences in faiths, differences in lifestyles and differences in thoughts are so skillfully portrayed and at such a level where one could relate to it closely as one may have experienced that at one time or another in life or one may have seen it happening around us.

 Like life this story has different colours both bright and dark. Yet this movie weaves a beautiful, sensitive and heartwarming story around a child of idealistic interfaith parents in the challenging setting of an intolerant and insensitive world. This child's interpretation of it all adds more depth to the story. In fact it could be at times a question of identity for a child brought up by parents of two religions even though his parents give him the best of two cultures and allow him to be who he wants to be. Yet it is sometimes the two families on either sides or mostly the world that makes him feel that he is different. I too have two religions and I celebrate Christmas too having studied in a Christian school. I am Hindu and a Sikh. My parents as well as grand parents also brought us up in a way where we were taught to celebrate and respect different identities and faiths. In fact religion was never ever an issue  at our house. I was allowed to be who I wanted to be and yet sometimes at one time or the other it were the people around us who questioned my identity specially since like the child in this movie my first name and surname would attract curiosity in the most hilarious manner. I could relate to some of the situations this child experienced when some of his relatives on either sides oddly viewed him because he was culturally different from each side or how protective he would become about his parents which was far more than other children whose parents may share the same religion.        

The movie shows how the intolerance at various levels can complicate our daily lives be it in simply finding a home to live or in differences of lifestyles. One actor rightly says in this movie that today everyone is against everyone and is not just limited to religion. I believe that as well that today basically there is intolerance between people to people.  

"A Billion Colour Story" is actually a story of the hearts of billions who still have faith in goodness despite the negativity of some. The story moved me greatly ! And the child's role played by the talented young man Dhruva Padmakumar is breathtakingly brilliant ! I don't think anyone else could have played the role as perfect as him. I have become his die-hard fan ! He complemented the role in ever way possible and translated the emotions of the character beautifully and blended it with such fine expressions.

In fact all the actors were wonderful and the credit naturally goes to the director and the writer too. I was so touched by the way the relationship of father and son was depicted. The never ending path of difficulties they faced through financial crisis and intolerance strengthened their relationship even more and brought them only closer. What was impressive was that their identities and beliefs never shook even when provoked or challenged by people or circumstances. The father never gave up faith that the world is good. The son's love, thoughtfulness and sensitivity resounds till the end of the movie and after that in our hearts. My interpretation of the movie is that despite tragedies and bad happenings a billion people out there are still very much coloured in the shades of goodness even if they have different identities. There were still a billion people out there who were willing to restore the family's faith in goodness. Intolerance exists in many parts of the world but there are still people out there who support each other and are empathetic to each other...There is still hope for the world that it would survive the worst ! And if all children could be raised to be as thoughtful and sensitive as the child in this story, they would grow up to positively contribute and give so much to this world. Lessons begin at home and children must be taught to be adapt to others who may be different from them. Then only can we stand united even in differences...