I found it rather curious that
all speeches and essays that I happened to see on this subject were talking
only about diversity among us and none talked about our unifying factors.
It was as if the
subject was ‘Diversity in Unity’ instead of ‘Unity in Diversity’. I
remembered a BBC documentary, ‘Around the World in 80 Days’
,
first broadcast in 1989 where its presenter, actor Michael Palin, who was
astonished at diversities of language, religion, traditions, climates and
geography of India, asks this relevant question, “What unites India” to an
apparently well educated passenger travelling with him on a first class
compartment of a train from Mumbai to Chennai. In its 4
th episode of
7-part series, the lady passenger frankly admits, “Oh that really is tough one
to answer”.
How come? I thought to myself and
then did a little informal research, a ground reality check. Albeit, everyone
knew what divide us, how different from each other are we and how we are even
opposing each other, the rest of the responses were; ‘this is our country’, ‘we
are born here’, ‘we share same constitution without discrimination’, we are
united under one flag, etc. More knowledgeable sort of respondents took the
unity happily for granted and enlightened me on agencies that were, in their
opinion, responsible for our unity. The ‘nationhood’ ‘created’ by British and
their network of railways and postal services. If those were to be the uniting
agencies, I thought to myself, the colonial ‘Indians’ would never have asked
for splitting what was then India on religious lines. History has in fact
recorded that British divided us as never before.
Even if we credit
Britain to have presented Indian nation as a
politically united entity to us, we should remember that it was our current map
minus 562 princely states and the huge landmasses that went to make
Pakistan and
Bangladesh. The Princely states
between them controlled 40% of the liberated
Indian
Territory. It was thanks to Saradar Vallabh Bhai Patel that we
have
India as it looks on
the map today after he integrated those states into then
India. And if religion really can
unite a country, we need to consider if it did by looking at bloody separation
of
Bangladesh from
Pakistan and, 8 years of war between
Iran and
Iraq and general sense of distrust
among members of 56 OIC
countries.
What is a nation? It is a
political entity governed by a single agency; be it a political party, a king
or a dictator. However we know that population living under one single
administration does not always feel one. The erstwhile USSR, a
formidable country, a powerful administration – world’s largest, broke up into
15 independent nations whose populations hardly share any common vision today,
even if they had excellent railway and postal network. Similar alienations
became manifest when several countries split up, for instance, Serbia, Bosnia
and Croatia,
North and South Sudan etc. Synthetic unity is brittle. On the other hand the
German population that lived under two separate and opposing administrations -
GDR (East Germany) and FRG (West Germany) culturally felt united and did
unite in the end as one Germany
in Oct 1990. So also did North and South Vietnams. Currently we see
that China and Taiwan
are culturally similar but share opposing administrations. To a great extent
this is true also for us and our neighbors. The bonhomie seen between citizens
of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Bhutan and Nepal is not
really surprising. Especially when meeting on foreign soil such as in Gulf,
Africa, Europe or USA,
these citizens (or ex-citizens) have formed natural bonds, irrespective of
religions followed by them.
In South
Asia, even before the occupation by foreign invaders (Afghan,
Uzbek, Turk, Mongol, Iraqi, Iranian, Portuguese, French and British), even
though we were split among hundreds of kingdoms we did feel a sense of unity.
If neither their administration, nor religion, language, or railways and postal
network have provided, is there that something deeper rooted in the Indian
minds that give them a sense of unity?
The fact that (present day)
India was split between many kingdoms in the
pre-colonial era and yet the whole mass of
South Asia
was known by one common name from early prehistory is unique for any country.
Arabs called our part of the world as ‘Hind’ despite us sharing several rulers.
The name ‘
India’
was derived by Europeans from the Arabic ‘Hind’. Herodotus (484-425 BC), a
Greek historian, wrote about our wealth and non-violent habits and called us
Indians.
Another Greek, Megasthenes (302-298 BC) who was appointed as an Ambassador
to
the court of Chandragupta Maurya gave name to what chronicle he wrote as “
Indica”,
an authentic source for historians to gauge what Greeks thought of Indians at
that time. Among many things, he wrote
:
“No
Indian ever went outside his own country on a warlike expedition, so
righteous were they." Also that, "
Indians do not put up
memorials to the dead; but they regard their virtues as sufficient memorials
for the departed, and the songs which they sing at their funerals." And
"This also is remarkable in
India; that all
Indians
are free, and no
Indian at all is a slave”. We share sense of one
overarching Indian nation from ancient times. We share together tributes paid
to us by historians and visitors.
In other parts of the world,
diversity is not easily tolerated. They are afraid of difference
.
We Indians proudly celebrate our plurality without apology. We take pride in
our ‘unity in diversity’, the heterogeneity.
We do not seem to tire out listing our diversities, the religions, the
languages, the gods, the castes, the climates, the customs, the attires, the
cuisines, the dances, the ceremonies, the festivals etc. We have diverse
opinions on each and every subject, aptly proving the Sanskrit proverb
“Tunde,
Tunde Matirbhinna”- in English it would mean that opinions differ with
every head. Uncannily, our politics provide ample proof of this compulsive
differing. In most other countries, two or three political parties would
suffice but not in
India
- here we have 58
parties,
and hundreds of independent members who can not find any of the available
political party with who their opinions match. Especially our this trait,
agree
to disagree, was so striking that when Prof. Amartya Sen, a left leaning
Nobel laureate sat to write down the differences and when he dived into our
history and ancient literatures to find its evidence, he could easily come up
with so overwhelming a quantum of episodes that he could devote an entire
volume to listing differences Indians had among themselves from the time immemorial,
yes I mean his book: “The Argumentative Indian”.
‘Agree to disagree’ is no
laughing matter; it is actually
the matter that unites us. We are unique
in the world in the sense that we do give a formidable resistance to anyone who
tries to dictate our minds. In other parts of the world, captains of the
industry through their advertisements and lobbying, religious leaders through
their institutions and fatawas, and, rulers through their official and
unofficial machinery control the opinions of people. In
India too this happens, however,
people do not get overly swayed by ‘leaders’. An Indian, rich or poor,
religious or otherwise, political or apolitical, listens to every one of them,
even somewhat follows them but always keeps his own mind open and does a fair
analysis
ultimately. He can not be fooled for too long. Should not a man
worth his salt have his own individual opinion? Borne out of own personal
evaluation, assessments and verification? Actually, this ability to think
independently is the core behind the plurality that we celebrate and a leading
virtue that gave us indisputable edge in the IT
.
We ask questions that others dare not. It is not a coincidence that not even
one suicide bomber has emerged from
India during decades of global
terrorism, nor it is a coincidence that those MNCs
that once dreamt of sweeping Indian markets with their pizzas, fried-chicken,
ice-creams, coffees and colas found going a bit difficult. We simply refuse to
be shepherded as lambs.
Well, that the differences do exist
is more or less obvious; I wish someone was now to write as interesting a
volume on the factors that unite us by going behind the obvious. This is more
important to any nation. What are the uniting factors and what are those nuts
and bolts which keep us united? Not that
the information is not available, it is just that those factors are not
emphasized enough and therefore have escaped making impression. Perhaps it is
time we talk more about the ‘factors behind unity’. Why do we feel we are ‘one’
despite so many obvious differences? What generates the sense of oneness
despite barriers?
One thing that strikes most to us
and to foreigners alike is that we are an ancient country. Ancientness is our
first uniting factor. True this is even for China,
Egypt, Greece, Iraq,
Iran,
Mexico etc that all had thriving civilizations in distant past. However what
distinctly separates us from them is that our ancient culture is a living
culture even now. In India,
we have modern and ancient traditions existing side by side. We live by tenets
of ‘maatru devo bhava, pitru devo bhava, aacharya devo bhava, atithi devo
bhava, swaadhyaayanmaa pramadah, shraddhaaya deyam” (See God in mother,
father, teacher and guest. Introspect regularly without being lazy, help others
in good faith) that were formulated thousands of year ago and yet enjoy latest discoveries
in sciences without slightest sense of conflict. Ancient Gods and their
stories, Ra or Horus in Egypt, Jupiter in Rome, Zeus in Greece, Itzamna in
Mexico, Viracocha in South America and Odin in Northern Europe have lost their
sway a long ago on their peoples, they are no more their Gods. But in India, Raam and Krishna
continue to sway millions of us, religious or otherwise. Huge temples of
Jupiter in Rome and Baalbek are nothing more than ruins. No one
worships there. In India,
the ancient temples are still busy centers of worship. No corner of India
is without signature of our common ancient heritage.
For us India is motherland, we
have lived off its food, water and air, we have formed our mind and ideas here,
we are educated here, we have earned here, we have friends and relatives here,
so if we say “Vande Mataram” or “Maa Tujhe Salaam”, it is probably easy
and natural. However, believe you me, our these very feelings of shared
inheritance are intensely shared by millions of Indians living overseas, some
of whom may not even have seen India and some of them may be holding foreign
passports. An incredibly large number of foreigners, white, black, yellow and
brown, love India
and her people. It is the sense of oneness that counts. What our forefathers
have asked from us, “to look at the people of the whole world as one family”,
is not an admirable self-target? We as Indians are united in sharing this ideal
handed down to us.
Our forefathers have made great
effort to instill the love of land by their prose, poetry and rituals. In
certain ceremonies
soil of
India is
revered and its pinch is placed on head to honor it. All rivers of
India are held
sacred and especially River Ganga is so highly revered that in the millions of
homes across the country they permanently store at least a few drops of its
water for use during sacred rituals, birth or death. Reverence for the twelve
Jyotirlingas
spread across four corners of India, seven sacred cities, holy lakes, wells and
mountains etc are kept in collective consciousness of Indians by several hymns,
songs, rituals and images. They have held every square meter of
India
sacred. If Rabindranath Tagore reminds us of our provinces, rivers and
mountains in the national anthem,
“Jana Gana Mana…” it is done even more
intensely in the hymns of our ancient
rishis. Their songs, even after
thousands of years and even without any official endorsement have remained in
our hearts and on our tongues.
Its result is for everyone to see
in terms of religious tourism. From time immemorial, without any
advertisements, without ‘tourism promotion councils’ and without any charity
from wealthy or subsidy by governments,
people-old and young, men, women and children- crisscrossed India in a
vast zigzag. During war and peace and during unsettled times of middle ages
too, the pilgrimage continued unabated. The world is amazed that without
needing any invitation or announcement, the millions of people have been
gathering for Kumbha festival from several thousands of years, since the
days of ‘great churning of milky ocean’. To say that it is extraordinary would
be an understatement. Besides thousands of pilgrimage destinations, India is
blessed with thousands of other touristic places that we enjoy in India, the
beaches, mountain resorts, lakes, wildlife sanctuaries, adventure sports, etc
spread across length and breadth of this big country, 7th largest in
the world having an area of about 3 million square km and a population of 1
billion. We are united in feeling awe for age old and still going strong
spiritual pilgrimage that gives rise to better integration by exchange of
culture between far flung places. To further enhance integration, scriptural authority
provides that no other but a Malayalee of southern India only can be appointed
as a priest at several temples of the northern India such as Kedarnath and
Badrinath and apply rituals specified in the Krishna-Yajurved developed in
western India while seating looking at east.
India is emerging from the shadows
of poverty, strife and plunders left behind by colonial rulers, foreign
invaders and even corrupt local rulers. In a short span of 65 years as an
independent nation, it has made a great progress. We have lifted millions from
the poverty threshold, our businessmen have launched global corporations, our
CEOs, CFOs, technocrats and scientists run hundreds of global entities. Our
education counts and our students obtain best ranks and jobs anywhere they go.
A recently published survey showed that the average Indian family income is
highest among US
population. From the margins, we now occupy seat at G20 summit. World leaders
expect us to bail out some of the bankrupt nations or help them fight the menace
of terrorism and despot rulers. In short Indians in India and even overseas have
succeeded despite very modest restart in 1947 virtually without any godfather
in this ruthless world at large. It is our mind, evolved from wisdom of
centuries, ripened and honed, is our common heritage. It was a wealthy and
culturally rich beacon like India
that lured the world in past. Even after endless loot, plunder and cruelty it
suffered, today it is once again ready to give. Always a giver of wealth,
physical, intellectual or spiritual, with that mother India I feel
united, be me here, there or anywhere in the world. Yes, there is much
diversity, it adds to our richness but also we have deep rooted factors of
unity which keep us together-with pride.
An American
national
security adviser famously stated in her March 2000 speech that “enemy unites
us”. If only an enemy was to unite, every nation would have to create and keep
creating enemies. Indians are different; we do not need an enemy to become
united. With or without, we are united. In diversity we are united, we are
fortunate; we have hundreds of reasons to feel united and stay united.
