The beauty of the world lies in the diversity of its people. All our strength lies in our differences and not our similarities. So why not celebrate our differences?
Inclusivity. Diversity. Dialogue. Collegiality. Respect. Knowledge. Integrity. Learning. Awareness. Responsiveness - when we come together as one to celebrate each other, to celebrate ourselves and everything we stand for. When we choose to imbibe ourselves with all the beauty in the world, that’s when we start to prosper. That’s when it all comes together. That’s when the magic happens. One such event was the ‘World Students’ Day’ celebrated at Tambov State University on the 19 of November, 2015. Truly, it was a sight to behold. It was quite evident that the town of Tambov holds numerous talented, diverse, beautiful people in its hands.
There was an assortment of fascinating performances done by various people from different countries. One such act which stood out was the dances done by the African students. Every beat of their drums made the listeners want to get themselves up and dance along. The flow, the rhythm of it all was an entirely different experience. The same was the case with the Indian Dance. It was done by a few talented dancers who conveyed the kind of energy and feel that, honestly, can be found only in India. Along with the traditional performances keeping in line with the theme of the event, a few students chose to take it a bit further and come up with something different. It’s amazing what a couple of guitars and some talent can do. Such was the case of two Moroccan singers who seamlessly streamed together a medley of songs, both international as well as traditional. Another such performance was of an Indian girl. Just a girl, a guitar and some soulful music to exhibit that we can all be a bit different sometimes too. There were numerous traditional Russian performances as well. It’s always a welcome surprise to watch the skill and effortlessness with which they pull off their performances. Last but not least, the host and the audience. Frankly, the amount of encouragement that the host and the audience offered each performer was astonishing. You could feel the excitement course through your veins when the audience cheered along, clapped along, and danced along.
The atmosphere itself was filled with this sort of electricity that made you want to go up to an unknown person from an unknown country and engage yourself in an honest conversation. It made you want to absorb all the different cultures that were around. This is probably one of the greatest advantages of studying in a multi-cultural university such as TSU. The exposure, the experience that comes with the variety of people, traditions and cultures is, in itself, an entire separate event.
We are, at almost every point of our day, immersed in cultural diversity: faces, clothes, smells, attitudes, values, traditions, behaviours, beliefs, rituals.” – Randa Abdel-Fattah
Let’s make the best of this. Let’s plunge ourselves into all the beauty and diversity around us. Let’s make this world a better place, one song at a time.
Written by Sharon Gomez.
