Asian over 50s
Asian over 50s
17th January 2019
Causeway 1718
5th February 2019Asian over 50s
You learn to give and take.
“The basic problems are the same. Everybody goes through the same problems. India is a large country and very diverse. Some people are very religious, they do a lot of meditation and yoga. This maybe gives people more patience, but on the other hand there are still a lot of problems, like alcohol and drugs. It’s the same as here. India’s economy is booming at the minute – there is a lot of money in the country, but with more money you also get more social problems.”
Indu tells us: “No matter where you were born or who you are; the problems we go through are all the same. Basically, human beings have a lot of things in common. People from Africa – even though all you see is malnutrition and famine – have the same feelings and thoughts. They just don’t have the access to resources that we have. Human beings are all the same.”
Kuldip explains: “When I came over here, everything was new to me. When I experienced some problems, one or two of my Northern Irish neighbours helped me more than the good Indian friends I had here. They helped me make more sense of some things, gave me good advice and were very supportive. This is the way – if you give and take and help each other you become a community. This is also happening to young people nowadays, they become a community of friends. My son told me while visiting a cousin: ‘Mummy, these are my relations, but my friends are my family.’ It is a new society. Indian people are brought up to live like this. We share. We have different religions in India, with different festivals, but we share. Like here, we celebrate Christmas with our neighbours. It’s a nice thing, so why not? That is how you learn to give and take.”
Indu tells us: “No matter where you were born or who you are; the problems we go through are all the same. Basically, human beings have a lot of things in common. People from Africa – even though all you see is malnutrition and famine – have the same feelings and thoughts. They just don’t have the access to resources that we have. Human beings are all the same.”
“When we came here in 1970s, there was no racism whatsoever. But from the 80s onwards, it was on the rise. This might have something to do with an increase in antisocial behaviour. Young people who have nothing to do will easily target you if you look different. But the Polish community now experiences much more racism than we ever had to deal with.”
Kuldip explains: “When I came over here, everything was new to me. When I experienced some problems, one or two of my Northern Irish neighbours helped me more than the good Indian friends I had here. They helped me make more sense of some things, gave me good advice and were very supportive. This is the way – if you give and take and help each other you become a community. This is also happening to young people nowadays, they become a community of friends. My son told me while visiting a cousin: ‘Mummy, these are my relations, but my friends are my family.’ It is a new society. Indian people are brought up to live like this. We share. We have different religions in India, with different festivals, but we share. Like here, we celebrate Christmas with our neighbours. It’s a nice thing, so why not? That is how you learn to give and take.”
“I learned from my holy book that whoever seeks the knowledge and wisdom will be the light, and whoever does not seek knowledge and wisdom will be lost in the darkness. Knowledge and especially education are therefore very important. There are two types of education – one is the professional education where you learn to become a doctor or a builder, and the other is education that you get through living your life. We educate ourselves all our lives, make mistakes, learn about the world. We should learn from our mistakes. We cannot sit and cry over them, we have to move on.”