If you think of culture as an iceberg, only a small fraction of it is visiable. Food, flags and festivals, which are often taked about in schools, are the visible parts that we rightly celebrate. However, only when we look deeper, under the water, are we able to focus on the common values that connect us.
In what seems to be increasingly trouble world, where social and political systems are being stretched, conflict within and between countries is at times heightened, while human rights are being ignored, this disire of peace grows ever stronger. Sometimes we see this common value emerging above the surface and becoming visible. For example, it is part of everyday language used when people greet one another and welcome the new day.
In many parts of the Arab world and parts of south Asia, such as Bangladesh for example, the greeting of "as-salamu alaykum" can be translated to "peace be with you".
The same is true as you walk through markets or into schools each morning in India, or Nepal, or Bhutan, where greetings of "namaste", which has not only strong message of peace -"the spirit in me greets the spirit in you" - but also its physical gesture, the palms brought together slowly at the heart, to honor a special place in each of us.
In Myanmar, the greetings of "minglarvar" are met by bowing monks as they internalize a message where others add blessing.
