Multiculturalism works
During my trip to Dhaka, Bangladesh I took one day off from doing various administrative work to attend a Pooja.
It was Durga Pooja time, a Hindu festival. I missed the main event where the goddess is immersed in water, but what I did not miss is the sindoor khela. A lovely Hindu woman put some sindoor on my forehead and cheeks – a ritual is for married women, to protect them and to continue with a blissful married life.
I am a non-practicing Muslim married to a fallen Catholic, so I didn’t feel any self-consciousness in having sindoor placed on myself. My aunt explained, ‘see our forefathers were either Hindus, Buddhists or Jains.’
Whether we pray or not, most human beings fundamentally want the same things. We all have far more in common than the things which drive us apart and it’s always important to remember that.
Rezina Malik Moran,
Finance Manager, Women Children Cancer Service Division
Royal Free London NHS FT
