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A World We Dare to Imagine

Breaking The 3rd Degree Connection

Why do we love our family? Why do we like our friends? Why do we ignore strangers? While reading the quote on equality by Jacqueline Novogratz, I wondered why we treat people differently.

If we truly believe that all men are created equal, what’s stopping us from treating each other with the same respect we give our family? This incongruence may stem from the notion “you are different than me.” I want to create a world in which we treat people as family.

What Is Family? 

For a moment, think about this fact. Biologically speaking, we are all related. We each share DNA that can be traced back to common ancestors 1,000 years ago, which makes us all distant cousins. Simply thinking about a stranger as a relative can instantly create a bond that may naturally release emotions of love and respect, instead of judgment and suspicion.

What Do I Know?

Treat people as if they’re your distant relatives. I was subtly introduced to this idea while I was still in elementary school. Instead of calling my teachers Ma’am or Sir – the common jargon used in Indian schools – my school made us refer to teachers as “bhaiya” or “didi” (brother or sister in Hindi). This broke the barrier of treating a teacher as a stranger and reminded me that we all shared some amount of DNA with each other. The simple change in words taught me more about compassion and respect than anything I can remember as a toddler.

What Can We Do?

The first step I would like to propose in making the world a better place is to change the way we interact with "strangers". I would like to start a movement that inspires people to do one favor a day for someone – without expecting anything in return. I believe we can motivate ourselves to do this by thinking of the person as if they were your family. This chain reaction of doing favors for others can create a significant impact and make the world a better place.

Comments

  1. GenevieveApril 21, 2018 at 3:03 PM

    Hi Raghav,

    Great post! I really like your idea! A possible next step could be to create a list of simple acts of kindness. What I mean by this is by creating a list like "hold the door open for someone" "compliment an outfit" or "pay for a strangers coffee at a Starbucks drive-thru" you can spark people's imagination when it comes to being kind. Sometimes it is so hard wired in us to only look out for ourselves that it might be helpful if there is a reference people can go to on a quest for kindness! Great post!

    Best,

    Genevieve

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  2. Shirline ChaudharyApril 22, 2018 at 5:35 PM

    Hi Raghav! I was hooked by your opening and I love your idea - it's different yet a simple way of creating change in the world. I think the best way to expand on your post is by adding examples of actions we can take to begin treating strangers like family. I look forward to reading your final post! Great job!

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  3. Anna ShanApril 22, 2018 at 10:03 PM

    Hi Raghav! I enjoyed reading your post. I love your idea of focusing on the fundamental interactions of our social bonds as human beings in the community. I believe it is important that we should always treat people with sincerity and kindness, no matter whether we know them or not.I would also suggest that you put more detailed implementation of your ideas in written form. What can we do to improve our bonds with strangers? Is there other communities that we should also pay attentions to?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jackie KronickApril 22, 2018 at 11:00 PM

    Hi Rahghav! Your post truly touches me. I love your movement about creating a kindness ripple. This “ripple effect” will inevitably be powerful and effective in teaching people how to love with no limits and give with no expectations. I am truly inspired by Indian teachings. This past summer I visited India for the first time with my family. One of our tour guides, Dave, said something to me that I will never forget. We were walking through a beautifully vibrant market in New Delhi when I complained to Dave about how annoying it was that western countries culturally appropriate Indian artifact and practices such as yoga. Dave calmly responded to me and said, “if yoga and Indian art brings people happiness, then yoga and our art belongs to them as well. We are all one.” This notion that we are all one is something that I believe should be accepted by everyone in the world. I think your next step should be coming up with ideas for an organization that focuses on encouraging people to see each other as one!

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