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Last fall, Ohio college student Balpreet Kaur became well-known for her response to a photo of her that was surreptitiously posted to the social website Reddit: The object of the photo was an attempt at mockery. Among the first 100 responses to the posting on Reddit were harsh and derogatory comments about Balpreet Kaur’s facial hair, gender, ethnicity, and religion. And, what began as mockery on one specific website was beginning to spread virally on the internet. Balpreet Kaur’s response to this posting and mockery was remarkable in its grace, so much so that it initiated a wave of support on Reddit and beyond, and became the much larger story on the internet and in mainstream media. The impact of her approach even compelled the person who initially posted the photo to publicly recant and apologize. During a TEDx event held last month at Ohio State University, (see video above - ED) Balpreet Kaur discussed her beliefs about oneness and interfaith, coming to terms with her Sikh identity, and the social media storm she found herself in last year: One of the most important lessons I learned is a lesson of kindness. |