A Concept called ‘India’

The other day I was catching up with an old friend from my college days. It was a very casual evening and I had chosen to meet him near his office. My friend had brought along with him his colleague from work and within matter of no time we had settled down in a restaurant nearby. My friend’s marriage had been fixed recently and thus the evening promised to be a nice occasion to catch up with this fellow before he lost his bachelor tag! My companions for the evening had sipped in a couple of pegs of their favorite spirit and we had slowly transcended to some serious topics, which turned to be a total surprise to me.

Somehow the ‘spirits’ had taken us to a very unique domain of debatable topics and each of us on the table had some very concrete views. My friend disturbed the hornet’s nest and described to us his observations on some of the currencies that he had been collecting lately. He pulled out an American dollar and asked me whose face I see on the note; it was George Washington – the first president of USA. Then he told us his observation on the Mongolian currencies, they had Ghengis Khan on their currency: he is the first leader of that country to have a recorded history. Then, he pulled out an Indian currency and pointed out Gandhi’s picture, undoubtedly India’s finest leader but only from the modern era of India’s long history which runs in pre-historic era! ‘Why is this?’ he questioned, when relatively younger countries are proudly representing themselves with leaders from all eras why does a country like India have representation from the modern era only? Do kings like Ashoka, Harsha, Pulakeshi, the cholas or any leader from the ancient era have no significance in the present day or have we divorced them from our modern ethos or are we shy of portraying this league of kings and leaders as they don’t appease the egos of the pseudo secularists? A very intriguing discussion was brewing, I thought to myself.

The discussion furthered and the other gentleman i.e. my friend’s colleague, joined the us with seemingly rightist views. He argued that the modern historians and leaders had buried many aspects of history so as to appease the minority and keep them in the fold of the one nationhood. The argument ventured on to question the very authenticity of the present day history that we read from various sources. He was on a rampant mood, he dashed out to say that the very concept of India as a single nation is flawed in many sense. The differences in culture, language and interests are too deep and they are only getting deeper, he argued. The aspects of regional divide came in to question and both my companions for the evening had taken some extreme views, which perplexed me and disturbed me a lot. This was not the first time I had heard such arguments but this coming from the minds of the educated deep thinking youth, who have worked all over India was disturbing. I tried giving my point of view but only in vain as my clock had ticked past ten and I left the table with a promise of writing this article.

I have always wondered what conceptualizes a nation; obviously there must be some kind of common ground where the citizens can meet and feel the oneness, but what is the basis of this common ground. What does this grouping of people in to a nation-state achieve at the end of the day? In the first case, is this to be evaluated by the ends that the nation-state has to achieve or is it some kind of spiritual entity, which is an unquestionable precondition to human existence? After a deep thought I feel it’s in fact all of this at a certain level. A nation in its basic essence has to be a vehicle for good life for the citizens who constitute it. If the 'material' well being is not achieved, any association in social life becomes defunct resulting in its demise and a nation-state is a no exception to it. However a nation-state cannot be merely defined as an association; it is much more than that having an organic tinge to it, which makes it closer to the minds of the people who constitute it. This oneness may be because of the theocracy or language or economic s or political compulsions etc, but history has shown that the nations with strong cultural connections have better cohesion, although this alone is not enough.

Cultural connections or shared culture however strong they may be, they will have some variations. It is when these differences gain primacy that the sense of oneness is lost. However what requires attention and appreciation is the process of creating the oneness, which is not only difficult to create but even more of difficult to sustain. For long kings, conquerors and warriors have created large empires like Ghengis Kahn or even our own Ashoka, but even the most tactical conqueror has not been able to conqueror the minds of people and make them believe that they are part of one nation or even kingdom. It was always a split house waiting for the sword to weaken. The modern era has not been an exception to this.

A clear foresight always points that whole human kind or for that matter the entire universe is basically bound by a sense of oneness. There is commonality, which is all pervading. This fact might seem too idealistic and impractical for human existence in a world of limited material resources. Thus we tend to group ourselves in to associations, which best cater to our needs and interests and one of these mega institutions born out of Human imagination is the nation state. It is a superior concept as it requires a broad minded outlook, to see commonness in wide diversities. This is not a task for narrowly individualistic minds but rather a mark of a matured community. India as a concept is an epitome to this broad vision.

Despite of its long history India was never a single political entity, in fact the concept called India didn’t exist in the minds of the people of this land. It was the entire process of National movement, which sowed the seed of one nation in the minds of the people and made them see the common elements in their fellow men. It gave them hope that they will be able achieve greater material success by this cohesion and thus be able to create a ‘tryst with destiny’, which they will choose for themselves. The ideals that blossomed during this movement were weaved in to a beautiful entity i.e. concept called India, which was imbibed & aspired by even the so called commoners. The chief architect of this process was the great Mahatma Gandhi – who truly deserved the title ‘Father of the nation’. He not only helped create this nation in the minds of the people but defined the direction of its growth as a nation through his principles, which still today stand as vision statements. Thus India as an entity was solidified during this period, which was only formally celebrated on the 15^th August 1947.

The land, the resources, the people, everything associated with this country called India had been permanently reoriented towards a more beautiful horizon. The journey from then on as expected, has not been a flowered path way. Today we stand at a point of time where the concept of India is being questioned by a disarrayed micro minority and the disillusioned majority is just watching, but hasn’t spoken its heart, which is still deeply fixed to the Vision called India. This is not new nor is it the first time that a disarrayed mass is trying to develop in to a political force with parochial objectives. The country’s nation building process hasn’t been so weak that its youth will be swayed by some directionless demagogues.

Of course through this course we haven’t forgotten the contributions from the ancient times. It is pretty much part of this nation in its every root. But each element has been redefined and given its new place so as to contribute to the entirety. The word to mark here is ‘entirety’, which the concept called India embodies. Thus any ‘feudal’ or any narrow representatives from the past or present cannot represent the entirety called India. This might seem like a ‘please all image’ but in its true sense is has to be so, whether it is achievable or not is a different question. A country should be a vehicle of change and empowerment for all its citizens and that is the reason for which that any country exists. India as it stands today might not have lived up to the vision for which it came in to existence, but that cant lead to disbanding of the vision itself. India is still alive and it is the paramount duty of every citizen of this entirety to strive and at least try to live up to the vision, which will stand as a reminder through annals of time like a beacon light.