The Editor,
This is the season when writers share their views on multiculturalism more often then ever; some in favour of it and some against it.
As a citizen of Canada, I have been enjoying the blessings of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms ever since it came into existence. Today, I know lot more about Judaism, Christianity and Islam, even about Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism than I ever knew when I was growing up in India.
Though my community where I grew up has several mosques and lovely tall cathedrals, I never had the courage to enter them; I knew I would be thrown out. My curiosity to know what a mosque or a cathedral looked like from inside remained unquenched until I was 23 and 26 years old.
Thanks to Canada, a country that encourages people to learn about other religions. However, I must say that even in this day and age, when our leaders are busy going around the world searching for new markets for trade to improve the country's economic health, I occasionally come across people who are still choosing to remain trapped in mono-culturalism.
All I can say to them, "Come on, open your doors and let the soft music of multi-track spiritual freedom flow. Materialism and spiritualism are twin sisters. They are healthier in a home built on mutual appreciation and multiculturism."
Suresh Kurl Richmond
