Cultural Diversity

Tehreem Khan | Hyderabad, Pakistan

What is cultural diversity?

Culture is used to define a person or a community’s ideas, beliefs, social behaviour, customs, traditions and laws. Every individual has their own culture that makes them unique from others and provides them with structure in their life. As a result of this variation in our individual cultures, we see cultural diversity in our society.

Why is cultural diversity important?

Human beings, by nature, look for diversity. We become jaded by experiencing the same thing for too long. Seeing something a lot makes it ordinary, and going through the same situation over and over again makes us accustomed to it. Even eating the same thing two times in a row makes us crave for something else. The point is, we always seek out change. That is why cultural diversity plays a noteworthy role in our lives.

Imagine going out to visit a country, seeing people speaking the same language as you speak in your hometown, eating the same breakfast you had up till today, wearing the exact same clothes you wear, having the same ideas as you. What’s the point of making the effort of getting out of bed then? You could’ve just stayed at your home and went through the same experience there. No change.

Having diversity in culture not only propels us towards appreciating different aspects of human life, but it also helps us seeing the world with different perspectives. Understanding and respecting all cultures even if you don’t follow them, is the key to maintain healthy relationships in our global community.

Even in our day to day school or office lives, cultural diversity has a significant role. Different spices give rise to different flavours, and in the same way, people from different cultures have different ideas. When they work together, they give rise to unique conclusions. It is a common observation that the most successful organizations in this world are those who favour people coming together from all over the world.

Cultural Diversity in Pakistan

Pakistan is a country with rich culture. Pakistan has many ethnic and cultural groups whose origin is from different places but they come to live together as one. The difference in their ideas, morals and way of life distinguish them from one another. The most popular are the Sindhi, Punjabi, Balochi and Pakthoon cultures. Each have unique lifestyles, unique clothing, different recipes for making similar dishes, different festivities, different languages, different dances, and different traditions. All these cultures do have the similarity of being lively, joyful, and welcoming but have unique colours of their own.

Note from the editors: In our global community today, we are able to learn from people from all sorts of cultures. This has enabled us to connect in ways that have never been possible in the history of humanity, and should be seen as an incredible opportunity. This series sharing ideas about cultural diversity and inclusivity from our writing interns, are designed to help us understand each other, respect our unique cultures, and move forward together.