Creating Space Project

  This is a story about finding the right religion.   Sirisha respects all faiths and non-faiths. However, the religion of her childhood, Hinduism, did not resonate with her anymore and she embarked on a journey to find the core values in her life.   “I needed something to ground me.”   The religion she found was Islam.   “It really made me a better person”   She started to value the so-called little things of life, “the little blessings that I have in my life, clean water, and the people that I have and the relationships that I hold.”   Becoming a Muslim has come at a cost. Sirisha lost friendships. She is frequently expected to justify her choice and encounters the hostility which routinely meets Muslims in Sydney.   Sirisha also has the ongoing internal struggle to separate her religion from the people who claim to represent Islam and use it as an excuse to commit heinous acts of violence.   “You’re constantly dealing with a lot of grief.”   Sirisha uses the teachings of Islam to centre herself.   “The way