On the Philosophy of Homelands & Our Place in the World [1]

Sometimes innocence is a gift...

the gift of being cocooned in a small and secured place, away from the harsh reality and corrupting influences of this world. But then, there is the need for growth.

The kind of growth that demands for us to step out of our comfort zone to explore the unfamiliar. Such forays presents us with many opportunities. One of which is the opportunity to discover hidden biases and blind spots that could be dangerous if left unchecked.

The opportunity to have our lived and learned experiences challenged, forcing us to build a more holistic worldview. The opportunity to subject our convictions under scrutiny, and to earth them in deeper layers of TRUTH.

When exposed to such new currents, even the best of us can be lost without solid convictions, and the support of a community to reinforce the same. I believe that, people who migrate have had to face and answer these questions in one way or another.

This is especially true for our 'Japa brethren' who are having to deal with culture shock, the type that you can almost never be too prepared for. Truth is, the movement of people from place to place has always been in the natural course of man.

And regardless of the reasons why people choose to move, I do not think that this would change anytime soon. My concern however is the threat it poses to our definition of homeland & identity.

Seeing that migration would almost always cause us to seek home in new places surrounded by strangers, and also change the homes we once left into places we can hardly recognize, the big question is..."By what new parameters would we define our place in the world?" 

A place that we can and would always be able to call HOME?

[To be continued]