Imagine you walk to jawazat on a road full of flowers and smiling municipality cleaners offering you cold water sweetened with a bit of honey. Imagine you entering the jawazat office and experiencing the most beautiful thing. Lots of people of different nationalities smiling and saying wonderful things to eachother..enjoying coffee and beverages and the cool air of scented air conditioners. Imagine the officers as happy men and women eager to help people and resolve issues…informing in different languages and being so kind. Counceling people about how they can benefit the country..granting stay and facilitating departures… Imagine no sponsors..just friends. Imagine a land full of people from everywhere contributing happily to its development and in return the people of that land contributing to the development of their guest’s lands..and heads of states happy and content..walking amongst the people and spreading love and wisdom.. Imagine the governments sometimes relieving people of all bills..not a lot but some months.. Imagine people cleaning not just their homes..but outside their homes too..Imagine educational institutions teaching children to overcome anger..ego..and grow into good human beings and not burden them with competition..but teach them cooperation.. Imagine men respecting women..marrying them instead if abusing them…Imagine people making sure that no one is deprived of anything..Imagine a nation that loves humanity and does not fear humanity.. Imagine the religious discussing religion and not abusing religion for personal gain.. Imagine that people get to live on any land they choose because they love it and like the language and culture and want to build on it..imagine if everyone did what they loved to do and lived where they love to live and imagine if honesty was the means for reward..
You may say..I’m a dreamer..but I’m not the only one..perhaps one day you’ll join us..and the world will live as one..
.. remembering John Lennon..a fellow Libran:)…Oscar Wilde too..:)
Real Talk Blog : ali shah 
Capricorn here. So glad you mentioned John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’. I started humming it from your first word.
Yes..it was a great song..thanks for you lovely comments. Will reply to each one later today.
Sent from ascs mobile email
To a certain point you are describing countries like Canada, Australia and most of Western Europe, which still practice multi-culturalism to the point of self-destruction. We all dream of that peaceful, tolerant, liberal world, but this acceptance of people with strikingly different and rigid values creates a friction that will only get worse in the future. That’s the sad reality.
Canada and Australia are a nation of immigrants as the only original peoples are the Aboriginals. Hence, they can’t be anything but multi-cultural. My children’s heritage is Swedish, French, Ukrainian, and Polish/Russian (borders moved) so our religions are Lutheran, Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox with the odd atheist to keep things interesting. We all manage to get along. As with all immigrants – even ones with ‘strikingly different and rigid values’ – the first generation maintains a strong connection to the beliefs and culture of their country of origin. The second generation adopts everything in the new country, ignoring everything from the ‘old country’. The third generation wants to find their roots. The circle of immigration. People inter-marry and cultures are enriched. Are these countries one big happy family? No, of course not. That’s the reality but it’s not sad. These are countries strengthened by the hope, optimism, skills, religions, and cultures of the immigrants.
At school one day a young Muslim girl went flying by me down the stairs, abaya and head scarf flying as she ran to her group of friends: an East Indian boy, a Chinese girl, and assorted Caucasians. Off they went to class giggling away. THAT’S multi-culturalism and that’s what the world should be striving for.