Ranjan Joel Ranjansen

I would say that I am 75% foreign. Because of the colour of my skin and my accent, people see me as a foreigner, but when they get to know me more, they discover that I am very Danish. I converted from Hinduism to Christianity, I changed my name, and I said goodbye to the Tamil community in Aars so I could create the optimal environment for my children to ensure that they can have a good life in Denmark. I still use my hands for eating, though. It is part of my bodily DNA.

Denmark has been shaped by Christian principles. In Christianity one doesn’t classify people, and you don’t become a better person by eating or not eating something in particular, or even by going to church at set times. These are also the ideals one can notice in Danish society, where even the royal family members behave like ordinary people.

I am particularly fond of Crown Prince Frederik. His father is very French, but Frederik has chosen his own style. He has completed an extremely tough assignment as member of the Danish Frogman Corps (special forces unit), yet he still hurt himself on the trampoline with his son. It goes to prove that he is as vulnerable as the rest of us. He is a father with the limitations of an ordinary father.I have a lot of good things to say about the Danish health service, which, in the Christian spirit, treats everyone equally, but the psychiatric ward, where I work, is a really testing place to be. People are being prescribed way too much medicine to counter unpleasant and compulsory thoughts, so the side effects simply make them sick other ways. Antidepressant medicine functions as an algae remover. The algae die, but so does everything else which is living. One should consider if it is always the best thing to use algae remover, or whether you should teach people to walk carefully over the algaes?

55 years / male / in a relationship / children / Græsted / health care assistant / from Sri Lanka / came to Denmark in 1984 / residence permit same year