MALA FIDE

It is Baisakhi today, the Sikh New Year and the anniversary of the founding of the Khalsa. It is also harvest time, an important moment in all agrarian communities. Sikhs, across the world, celebrate this day with piety and fervour. The joy of being away from Delhi becomes palpable when one is privileged to participate in the happy celebrations, which continue to take place in most parts of India. The fundamental plurality of this civilization becomes evident at such times when different communities come together, with profound respect for one another's faiths. It is secular life and living in its most natural and attractive avatar. This living reality of India presses out the differences within the larger whole and the jigsaw fits perfectly when there is no political interference. That ethos of this country and its people is alive and kicking. It has been the resilient glue that bound together diversity and plurality, knowing instinctively how to respect individuality.

Eid, Christmas, Baisakhi, Shivratri, Mahavir Jayanti, Ramnavami, Buddha Purnima, the Parsi New Year, and, for the non-believers, May Day and New Year's Day, along with several other festivals, are the heartbeats that keep this civilization buoyant, brimming with energy, creativity and vitality, regardless of polarizing political diktats. To be isolated from news channels is energizing. The silence allows one to think. Watching the world engaged in everyday activities, in the bazaars and on the streets, helps one comprehend change and growth, development and destruction. The unthinking, blind and rapacious 'development' that is overtaking India brings home the frightening fact that administrations and policies are empowering the uninitiated, the intellectually inefficient, who, with faulty regulations and overarching power, are destroying this country in every possible way.

Real growth

The many-hued and layered cultures that are manifest in our plethora of languages, rituals, festivals and celebrations, dresses and homesteads, cuisines and skills, must be allowed to bloom individually to become a sacred part of the whole. Respect and integrity are two faces of the same coin. One without the other can only result in anarchy. Liberty and independence of thought have been the propeller of ideas, change and development. To tamper with that 'root' is to commit hara-kiri. It is, therefore, always rewarding to travel out of one's familiar domain and witness the fortitude of a people who have been neglected, taken for granted, misrepresented, exploited, and more, who have had the patience and strength to wait and watch and not succumb to the periodic horrors inflicted upon them.

It is the Dalai Lama, the greatest intellectual amongst equals, who remains optimistic about the future of humans on planet Earth, about how mischievous interventions will come with great gusto and then fade away equally fast, primarily because the people will not suffer intrusions and interventions that divide beyond a point. 'This too shall pass' is the historical metaphor. It is, therefore, important to put events that happen today in a historical perspective. The complexities of the information age that are blurring the lines of privileged access to knowledge are also urging the assertion of identity and individuality. This is the crucial element that must enter the political discourse in India.

We, with our multi-layered bedrock, have a head-start in being able to craft a way of governance that will generate harmony, respect for differences and peace. The many faiths that thrive in this sub-continent have been influenced by one another. That is what we must nurture, protect and encourage. Real growth can only come with self respect and partnership. Happy Baisakhi.