Everyone in this beautiful world belongs to different communities and groups. The communities are defined, among other things, by shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. As the seventh largest country in the world, my country India stands apart from the rest of Asia, marked off as it is by mountains and the sea, which give the country a distinct geographical entity.
India lives in diversity. No wonder the World Inequality Report finds that India stands out as a poor and very unequal country, with an affluent elite, and a vast population below the poverty line, even when India is the largest producer of cotton, millet, dry beans, chickpeas, pulses, bananas, mango, papaya, cumin, ginger, chilli, pepper, and turmeric.
A majority of Indians (~77%) speak various languages of the Indo-Aryan lineage, the rest includes the Dravidian ~ 21%, Austroasiatic ~ 1.2% and Sino-Tibetan 0.8%. With this background, I was born in the state of Andhra Pradesh (situated on the east coast of the country) to Telugu-Urdu speaking parents but grew up mostly in the English and Konkani speaking State of Goa located along the central west coast. Therefore, I have the unique opportunity to closely study and understand several languages and cultures. And having a cosmopolitan set-up, Goa infected me with a life of moderation, assimilation and inclusiveness.
While seeing my parents visiting mosques often regularly (we are Islamic by religion) did not cut much ice in my psyche, I was however amused by the calmness prevailing in our home. The atmosphere was not religious, but probably spiritual, as it pervaded me deep and taught me tolerance and symmetricity in my dealings.
Another aspect that perhaps helped me considerably was my early exposure to the language Sanskrit and Urdu, considered to be the mother of many Indian languages. I must thank my parents for this initial engagement.
More than a religion, Hinduism (the dominant religion in this country) appears to me as a theme, a concept, and a framework for conducting human activities responsibly and sustainably. I had seen many of my Hindu friends very closely and often visited their houses. The philosophical aspects of human life are contained in the four Vedas (the Holy books of the Hindu religion) that teach them to celebrate all sorts of life ethically in this universe. The way Earth, water, light, air, fruit, flower, etc are ‘notes’ to complete nature’s symphony of joy, peace, and fulfilment, I developed no hesitation in celebrating festivals of almost all religions- Sankranti, Holi, Diwali, Eid, and Christmas.
In this regard, recently I have come across a bunch of articles suggesting that the integrated ethical doctrine of four global social philosophers – the spiritual head Lord Buddha, the poet-writer Gurudev Tagore, the monk-philosopher Swami Vivekananda, and the lawyer-social reformer Mahatma Gandhi (BTVG) could offer an alternate ethical governance model to the seemingly meaningless madness of the current social and individualistic mindset. The BTVG concept works on ‘shared prosperity.’ The way a regulator controls the speed of any nuclear (fission) reaction, ethical governance could balance and normalize the direction, speed, and fulfilment of human desire and economic growth. According to BTVG philosophy, the present mindset of pointless consumption, irrational borrowing, and trusting that a high GDP can buy peace, happiness and harmony probably needs a revisit.
The BTVG model finds nature essentially related to human beings. In the vastness of nature, humans are not unknown strangers. They are her kith and kin, her wards. It is argued that the divine is not isolated from the world. There cannot be anything that cannot be subsumed by the human personality, which proves that the truth of the universe is human. Working on this simple philosophy, the BTVG doctrine proposes an ethical economy as a new system of governance, an alternative to four other major market economic theories in vogue currently: capitalist economy, socialist economy, circular economy, and religious economy. For the new government, true religion must realize the divinity in human beings and to help relate one’s kinship with everything around. This party believes that the truth must essentially be human.
If innovation is fundamental to future growth, the BTVG doctrine suggests that it is essential to enliven the progress made in the fields of science and technology with equal intensity of art, ethics, values and equality to enable sustainable, balanced and purposeful humane growth in the society, particularly given the threats from climate change.
Human activities must make sense that the superiority of human beings does not rest in the power of possession but in the power of unison and empathy. I wish to have my future activities in consonance with this line of philosophy. And here lies the punchline- my India could become a wonderful kitchen of humanity and values if it follows the path of liberal democracy and works against the forces that ought to destroy the time-tested character of religious unity and rainbow cultural values. A BTVG kitchen is best suited for this country.
Sharafat is presently a student of Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, United States
There is no country as diverse as India in today’s world Yours is a beautiful article for our time. Thanks for writing this.