‘We live side by side but do not know each other.’

No ‘other’ way: Sanjive Mahandru says we share more similarities than differences

'I am here to say that we are more similar than we are different. What differences there are make us more interesting and add to our variety.' | Photo: by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

My first Yearly Meeting was a few years ago now, just a day visit from Birmingham. You may have noticed me, I was the brown-faced man wearing the Punjabi dress with gold Indian slippers. The energy caught me and I ended up staying for two days and two nights. Friends gave me love and time and loaned me a sleeping bag and floor space at a Meeting house. On the Sunday I joined worship there when a white middle-class lady in her seventies – posh with a lively glint in her eyes – said to me that ‘Quakers tend to be a bit pompous sometimes’.

You need to login to read subscriber-only content and/or comment on articles.