In today’s society, it’s easy to get caught up in uniformity and monotony, but neglecting individual differences can have far-reaching consequences. It’s time to celebrate and respect the unique qualities that make each person special.

Individual differences are the bedrock of any successful organization. The same applies to life too. Life is elegant when there is diversity. Above all, it is sweeter when individual differences are taken into account and there is no one-size-fits-all mentality. Everybody is unique in many respects. Though planets fall into the category of planets, they are still different. The same is the case with human beings. Our bodies look alike. The same body structures are everywhere. However, beneath the surface, there are individual differences that are the essence of life. It is individual differences, plus diversity, that make the world a beautiful and serene place to live in. Absorbing everybody’s views while still holding on to your beliefs is the cornerstone of any civilization. This sort of mentality lays the strong foundation of a country. When you respect differences without losing one’s beliefs and care for everyone’s individuality, life becomes a fine mixture of adventure, composure, and experience.

However, nowadays, we have become so one-minded that we deliberately undermine the vastness and grandeur of respecting individual differences. Instead of opting for cherishing the differences among men, we have been caught in the whirlpool of monotony and uniformity. We can’t think of looking beyond the surface to see the glittering effects of individual differences. Now the question arises: What are the causes responsible for neglecting individual differences while tightly embracing the narrow parameters of monotony and uniformity?

The first cause is misunderstanding the eternal nature of life. The true nature of life lies in respecting and propagating individual differences. However, we have trampled upon the cherished goals of individual differences to oppose the grand edifice of individuality, bringing unnecessary gloom into our lives. In this way, the brand image of life has been blotted to such an extent that it is difficult to understand life in its totality now.

The second cause is ideological differences. We have become so engrossed in our ideological rivalries that we have no time reserved to introspect and judge our ideology on the standard parameters of ideological differences. We cherish and propagate our ideologies at the expense of others’ ideologies. The result is that we overlook the individuality of others and harm the very cause of humanity and civilization.

The third is egoism. Being a social animal, a man adheres to group loyalty. For the sake of group loyalty, he sticks to the principles of his group while dishonouring the group as well as the individual royalty of others. His egoism doesn’t allow him to examine carefully the rival group’s different sorts of royalty. In this scheme of things, egoism wins over the beautiful nature of individual differences to heighten the poisonous nature of egoism.

The fourth and last cause is conditioning. We have been conditioned in such a manner that our lives are all about layers upon layers. The layers are so tough that no kind of moral or academic discourse has any effect on our bullet-proof-conditioned bodies. When the skin of our lives has become as hard as a rock, no amount of rationality proves fruitful. The legitimate things fall like ash when struck against the hard-conditioned bodies.

The path of neglecting individual differences has far-reaching consequences. As mentioned above, the vast horizons of life have been reduced to nought. The scintillating nature of individual differences has been put on the back burner to simmer. The results are in the form of erecting unnecessary walls and hindrances that impede the smooth functioning of daily life. Now the situation has reached such a stage that no one is ready to accept others. Everyone is paradoxically bothered about his or her individuality.

Now, the need of the hour is to teach people to respect individual differences. The present time is opportune to work in this regard academically, socially, and morally. Starting from our homes to the broad stage of society, the ground can be prepared for engaging ourselves in the productive work of delving deep into the intricacies of individual differences. However, it needs time and exposure as well. The start can be made at the earliest. Like Pablo Neruda says in his poem “Keeping Quiet,” counting up to twelve while introspecting in the meantime will bring long-lasting changes in our lives.

Pearl S. Buck, in his story “The Enemy”, says that respecting the enemy’s differences can leave the world in a better position to live in. In both situations, it becomes crystal clear that to make the world free from green wars and avoid hurting innocent creatures, we must stick to the principles of individual differences. There is still time left to honour, cherish, and love the above-mentioned differences of an individual for a cultured society, full of civil and moral values. Let us embrace individual differences from today and sing the paeans of unity in diversity and the paradoxical situation of group loyalty as well as individuality.

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Syed Mustafa Ahmad