Ansh Kapadia

LDS – 101

20th September 2013

Creative Expressions

I have always found various cultures interesting, especially how diverse each of them are. It makes me wonder that we indeed have come a long way from our origins. Over the last few years I have been travelling a lot and my curiosity towards different cultures has grown drastically. Since my arrival at Stony Brook University, I have met numerous people from rife cultural backgrounds and it has truly been exciting to share stories with each of them.

Naturally after the first reading of the book ‘The Spirit catches you and you fall down’ a person like me would really enjoy it because of its cultural roots embedded within it. I was particularly impressed by the story itself and the way the author Anne Fadiman has conveyed it to her readers.

A pressing matter, in my opinion, is communication between people of different cultures. Poor communication may lead to misunderstandings, intolerance and eventually hatred. It is alarmingly evident, the hatred certain cultures have against each other. The lack of communication and understanding between the characters in this book has only motivated me to reveal my goal. To bridge the gap between cultures, to break the curse of hatred between different cultures, to establish an idea such peace, if there is I will find it. To truly CHANGE the world. After all of us humans originated from the same place and continue to live in it together, as we speak.