Community

There are certain topics which I think of writing about but then step back… Why?? Well, for the sole reason that I wonder if I can do justice to it in words. Questions like will words express my feelings the way they should, will the reader know what am I trying to say?

Hmmm.. so there have been certain topics which I hope I will be able to write on someday. However, today I have gathered courage to discuss one such topic- Community. I hope I can express what I wish to about my thoughts on community and its significance

So what is a community? A community comprises group of people who come together for a common purpose or reason- could be because they belong to the same educational institute, work organization, social organization or follow one faith and its principles.

As we grow up, I think we all wish to belong to one community even if that means to belong to a community which does not recognize the concept of community at all, but somewhere and at some point each one of us engages in community interactions, community actions and community relations.

Thus, community is something which we do recognize and that makes me wonder then that what is the need or significance of a community? And, how it may affect and shape a person?

I would like to use my personal example here. The community I am referring to is my faith community or religious community- something with which I was attached to even before I understood what it meant to me or how significant it was in my life. As I came into this world, after family, the community embraced me as a new entrant. I think my journey with the community began from there and carried on through various interactions with its members as I grew up. It continues till today as I interact with different age groups in the community. My community made me understand that there are like minded people atleast in terms of perceiving faith in my community. However, it also introduced me to people who though belong to the same community perceive the faith and its principles differently. However, the different approaches that members of the same faith community take towards faith need not separate them but can bring them together to dialogues and discuss. This virtue of dialogue and appreciating the diverse approaches to the same subject itself builds a strong, diverse and pluralistic community. 

Here, I cannot but emphasize that when I am talking about dialogue between members of a community who may disagree on subjects, it is to highlight that a community need not have people who are absolutely the same in their approach to things around them. They may be carrying different perceptions about almost everything but that does not create a drift in the community it can instead engage them in enquiry and understanding of different perceptions. This itself could be significance of a community which shapes a person wherein he/she is aware of different perceptions and can engage in this diversity without feeling of discomfort. This engagement can make a person not only confident but humble and modest individual who respects sentiments of different humans on this earth.

I think I owe a lot to my community for making me the person I am today, for preparing me to take challenges, having faith in things and also for accepting that each person can think differently and he/she has the right and freedom to express his thoughts so long as they result in dialogue and not debate J