Where do I belong? 🤔

Some of us do ask this question often don’t we ?  Do we want to stand out or fit in? Most of us would choose the latter. Because it’s safe and we will have a connection with others if we do that. Where as if we choose the former option we need to go back to asking the title question. Is it wrong to be different ? Pardon me for being so honest about this . Why shouldn’t a man or woman do what he/she likes to do ? Why is this made headlines ? Bold and Independent women are alienated in this society. In a society more often beliefs matter more than facts, it is that difficult to fit in if you are different.  You can't be a party animal and a temple goer. Friendships are just mutual respects away. A question pops up all the time. Am I in or out?

 A 22-year-old physiotherapy intern, was gang-raped and tortured in a private bus while she was travelling with her male friend. What hurts is the way some people blamed the girl for being out at night with a guy. Shocking video of two Kuki women made to walk naked by some Meitei men after their village was destroyed was viral this week.  Why are political, land and religious issues affecting women and their safety? A woman was raped when she was pregnant and almost her entire family were killed during a Hindu-Muslim riot in 2002 in Gujarat. The men were convicted only by 2008 yet was released on August 2022 since the district jail advisory committee had recommended their release due to their good behavior. If crimes against women continues, the feeling of belonging for a woman in India is a question mark isn't it? India is a proud mother of sons like Tamil poet Subramania Bharati  who dreamed and fought for women's rights 100 years back. He believed that a woman's freedom and growth is so vital for a society's growth and development. If she can't walk the streets at night with a friend and do what she wants to do, dream big in her own country then where can she ?  Where does she belong?

Psychology is focusing more on belonging  and it has now become a central focus as well.  Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) consulting had become a multibillion-dollar industry. Belonging is the connection to other people and place, the feeling that you have the power to do stuff your way and the feeling that you matter , your opinions matter. It is that rootedness in a place , a feeling of ownership with shared results.

So where do we belong? If God is the creator of the universe, we belong to the universe and beyond. If our loved ones are our universe , we belong to our loved ones. We belong to love , to hope and to beautiful tomorrows. Let’s hope that one day we belong to a world that is without hatred ,weapons, plastics and with handsome men and women😉

We belong here. It doesn’t matter if we are alienated , hated, misunderstood, no matter what. We belong….

Thanks for reading! 😊