I was honoured this evening to be a guest of the Edinburgh
Pakistan Society at their
EID dinner in the
Brunton hall in
Musselburgh. Fantastic food, excellent music, many old friends to meet from the Pakistan Community and beyond and I even won a prize (£10 voucher for a curry!) in the raffle! There is something special about a whole community getting together for a family event to celebrate what is a time of huge personal
sacrifice (the
Ramadan fasting) and then to invite us who do not take
part in that journey to eat at the same celebratory table. If ever there was a sign of a community wanting to be part of the idea of
"One Scotland, many cultures" it was tonight. I do wonder whether those of us who see ourselves as belonging to the "host culture" are ever as generous or welcoming or deliberate in our efforts to have the same commitment to diversity.
I was honoured this evening to be a guest of the Edinburgh Pakistan Society at their EID dinner in the Brunton hall in Musselburgh. Fantastic food, excellent music, many old friends to meet from the Pakistan Community and beyond and I even won a prize (£10 voucher for a curry!) in the raffle! There is something special about a whole community getting together for a family event to celebrate what is a time of huge personal sacrifice (the Ramadan fasting) and then to invite us who do not take
part in that journey to eat at the same celebratory table. If ever there was a sign of a community wanting to be part of the idea of "One Scotland, many cultures" it was tonight. I do wonder whether those of us who see ourselves as belonging to the "host culture" are ever as generous or welcoming or deliberate in our efforts to have the same commitment to diversity.
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