Stop listening. Simply shut your ears. Don't even give this a second thought. I'm telling you, just stop listening to everything. Literally everything. You're too vulnerable to be forced into being judgemental. Just stop it. Stop yourself from being bothered by what you hear. You might think I'm crazy and I don't mind you thinking so, because at least you're judging me on the basis of something I said myself. You're tuned to judge me for what people say, believe me this is so much more relieving that I'm being judged for something that came out of my own mouth.
Traveling seven seas away from home the worst piece of advice I could listen to, was either what came out of a judgemental person's brain based on his/her inadequate knowledge, or blindly believe in everything the media quoted. Apart from the three bags that I dragged all the way from Islamabad to Kirksville in three days, I had a lot more baggage that came with me and yet it was invisible to you. No I didn't sneak up anything illegal, I just brought along an illiterate form of thought processes. Thought processes that were limited to the extent of mere opinions but were quoted to others as if they were facts. This was the weight that I refused to carry along and yet with no personal preference towards it, it still came along. And believe me no matter which part of the world you belong too and where you are heading to, this baggage will be there as a burden on you each time you travel. All because we have tuned ourselves to being judgemental. We raise no questions. We raise no doubts. We just blindly follow whatever we hear.
Two weeks in this town and I've yet to spot the type of people I'd heard resided in this country. I'm not saying those judgements were complete nonsense or highly irrational, I'm just disagreeing with the degree of exaggeration. And it isn't alone about this place, it's about each place you can ever travel. Stereotypical schools of thought exist everywhere and believe me this is just as much of a taboo than are the social issues you're more concerned about. To most people it's fascinating how I'm a lot different than what they perceived about my country, a far of distant land deserted and desolate. They're in awe of how I can fluently communicate in their language, something they believe uncommon to those that share the colour of my skin. And I'm in awe of how they can be so much for welcoming and generous, than the details I was fed about them.
Did I mention the media before? Oh yes I did! And I know anyone reading this who is even slightly affiliated to the media fraternity, will be critical of the fact that I who speaks against judgemental and stereotypical approaches is judging them all by using the word media here. My apologies for the generalization and I'm not accusing you all of this, but this is quite true that a major section of the media just sells stories. Words like terrorism and racism are a form of spice that they add to their stories. Speak of Pakistan and they will show you the far away northern areas of the country that lack many facilities and are probably the residing zones of a lot more conservative people. To an American sitting in the opposite part of the world, Pakistan is a place that's basically not even underdeveloped but rather not developed at all, he isn't to be blamed it's what the media chooses to educate him about. Now let's switch roles here. Let's speak of the Pakistani sitting in front of a television set or reading a newspaper. To him America would seem as a land of racists. To him a trip to the States would mean being judged for his brown skin at the corner of every other road, being called a Paki or even being questioned for what he's doing in their 'American Land'. Two weeks I tell you, two weeks here and I've not found anyone giving me that judgemental stare. I've spotted smiling happy faces greeting you each way you go. And as far as only having half knowledge is concerned, yes that is true. Our knowledge is so limited that we're not in the position to judge anyone and yet we choose to do so.
So next time you someone tells you something of this sort, honestly if you can't control yourself enough to not letting their opinion formulate yours, just shut your ears. Just stop listening.
