Learning to break down our walls of bias

Cultural Mosaic Initiative: Wilbur Sargunaraj sings his song Thank You during a celebration of diversity at the Jasper Cultural & Historical Centre on Monday.

By Marcus Day

Maple Creek News

“Who is your other?”

Wilbur Sargunaraj, a world traveller, musician, speaker, and author, asked the question as he encouraged people to reflect on their biases and assumptions about different cultures.

Walls of bias can be put up consciously or subconsciously, he said, with fear of difference leading to stereotyping or “othering”.

He has dealt with his own internal conflict. Two incidents – an attack on his dog and the theft of a mobile device from his pocket – caused him to judge an entire group of people.

Once he overcame that blanket bias and listened to individual perspectives, he was able to build meaningful relationships with his perceived “other”.

”It was liberating,” he said.

Sargunaraj, who lives in Saskatoon, spoke at the Jasper Cultural & Historical Centre during Monday’s Cultural Mosaic Initiative coordinated by the Southwest Saskatchewan Immigrations Partnership (SSIP).

Accompanying him was Chuka Okeke, coordinator of the SSIP.

The initiative uses music, performance, storytelling, humour, and cultural expression as tools for exploring cultural intelligence (CQ), diversity, cross-cultural understanding, and inclusion.

Throughout, listeners are invited to join in the singing and dancing.

As a backdrop to his presentation, Sargunaraj used music videos from his album Dance Around the World, which were shown on a giant screen.

Each track is a cross-cultural fusion featuring world-class talent from Hawaii, South Africa, Cuba, and beyond.Sargunaraj, who has written the book Exploring CQ, said cultural intelligence was becoming ever more important.

“We are losing the sense of dialoguing with each other … we are becoming a people of them and us,”

His hope and prayers, he said, were for people of all different backgrounds to grow side by side.

Sargunaraj, who was raised in India, told how his CQ journey began – posting humorous videos on the proper use of Indian toilets.

The feedback encouraged him to go further in spreading knowledge and making cross-cultural connections.

There are four pillars of CQ, he said: having an interest in other cultures (CQ drive); understanding how cultures are similar or different (CQ knowledge); asking questions to better understand people from different cultures and not judging (CQ strategy); and adjusting one’s own behavior to better work efficiently with people from different cultures (CQ action).

Through these pillars stereotypes can be broken, Sargunaraj believes, creating less social division.

Sargunaraj ended his presentation by singing his song Thank You, which was released on August 15, 2026 as part of Dance Around the World.

The song contains the word “thank you” in different languages.

Its lyrics capture the message of inclusion in all his teachings.