Journal 8

Dear Journal,

Democracy…
What is democracy and more importantly, what makes a democracy a good, working democracy? This is one of the questions, which we discussed with the faculty, and the dean of the University of Osmania. The University of Osmania was the fist University in India to teach in an Indian language. First, we met with the Vice Chancellor and learned about the University and its history. After some tea and cookies we looked at the campus and some of the buildings, which were beautiful. We then went and met with the Principal of the University, who was also a Journalism Professor. Many other faculties and Head of different Departments joined the meeting and the Principal started the conversation by asking us what we liked about India and what our first impressions were. After some small talk he asked us how we felt about the Indian Democracy compared with the American Democracy. Well, I felt this question very hard to discuss, since neither I nor anyone else in the group knew much about the Democracy in India yet. After all, that is part of what we are hoping to learn during our stay.

After we arrived at the guesthouse we realized that the power was still out so some of us sat down in the sitting area and had some tea. After some time we got into a heated discussion about politics, democracy and patriotism. I always find these topics very interesting, but after moving to the States from Germany I have also learned that when talking about these topics, one has to be careful to not hurt or offend anyone. Obviously, I believe one should speak their mind and always be in search for the truth, but I also learned that if you do not know the person you are getting into a debate with, it is sometimes hard to communicate your opinion correctly without being misunderstood. So, needless to say, some opinions clashed and the discussion got kind of out of hand.

Why is it that people have such a hard time accepting different opinions simply as being different, rather than judging them as “bad opinions” or “bad attitudes?” I think that one needs to consider the other persons opinion as a possible option, without backing down from their own opinion. One needs to be understanding of other opinions even if he or she does not agree with them. I realize that this is very difficult, but I do believe that this is one of the most important aspects of being a “good global citizen” and one of the keys to truly understanding another culture.

After all, how can one understand a different culture if they are not willing to see their traditions, their opinions, their ideas for simply what they are, without trying to determine which tradition is better, which opinion and which idea is better. It is impossible to judge two such different cultures, so that’s what they should be seen as. Different traditions, different opinions and different ideas work differently for different societies and cultures.

So, I have come to the conclusion that one cannot say that the Indian democracy is better than the American or vice versa, but they are simply different forms of democracy that work differently for two entirely different societies.