CENTURIES before Charles Darwin theorised our shared human evolution from the fish, multiple traditions linked humanity to a single common fold.
asserted
traditions → theorise → fold
The 18th BRICS summit in Delhi saw Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the host leaning on the Sanskrit phrase ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ — the world is a family — to underpin the spirit of unity, which unfortunately eludes much of mankind.
asserted
which → see → mankind
The ancient aphorism is a good but an overstretched reminder of seeing everybody as an equal human being.
asserted
aphorism → see → being
Some would say that there was perhaps a greater need to find a phrase that frames all Indians as one family before stretching it to include the world.
asserted
that → say → world
A problem with citing one’s ancient aphorisms at international conferences is that it begins to resemble the Sadda Mian complex.
asserted
it → cite → complex
Sadda Mian was a roundly admired elderly Afghan member of Bhopal’s royal family.
asserted
Mian → admire → family
He would walk along the promenade abutting Bhopal’s vast lake called Bhadbhada, which, he decided, was the largest water body in the world.
asserted
he → walk → world
Another characteristic unique to Sadda Mian was that he fed his domesticated quails with his mouth, tucking the tiny grains of food behind the lower lip.
asserted
he → feed → lip
The late thespian Dilip Kumar told me about his invitation to Sadda Mian to visit Bombay where the actor took the genial Pathan to watch the Arabian Sea from the city’s Marine Drive.
asserted
actor → tell → Drive
Sadda Mian, his sherwani unbuttoned and fluttering in the breeze, was so awestruck by the sea’s expanse that he exclaimed gently: “Kya haqeeqat hai Bhadbhade ki!”
asserted
he → flutter → ki
Sadda Mian’s dumbfounded response translates as: ‘Where does any Bhadbhada hold a chance!’
asserted
Bhadbhada → translate → chance
I looked up a few random traditions from across the lands and seas that don’t seem too different in the spirit of acknowledging the world as a family.
asserted
that → look → family
But few among them, if any, would be found jumping ecstatically as Newton did watching an apple fall from a tree.
asserted
apple → find → tree
There was a time in the early days of Narendra Modi’s rule that the foreign ministry printed and distributed copies of the Bhagavad Gita to foreign dignitaries.
asserted
ministry → be → dignitaries
In the bargain, the ministry displaced coffee-table books of the Taj, Ajanta caves and Madurai temples.
asserted
ministry → displace → Taj
I am not aware of Israel handing out the Torah, or the Vatican presenting the Bible to esteemed visitors, nor does Saudi Arabia or Iran make it a point to offer return gifts of the Holy Quran to visiting dignitaries.
asserted
it → hand → dignitaries
Or for that matter, would a privileged guest, returning from China, come home with an officially gifted copy of Mao Zedong Thoughts, or more recently Xi Jinping Thoughts?
asserted
guest → return → Thoughts
I bought the Xi book on Amazon.
asserted
I → buy → Amazon
If the world is a family, which it is, talking to the neighbour and sorting out the problem bilaterally is mature.
asserted
talking → talk → problem
The BRICS summit sought to address some aspects of the troubling question but, by all accounts, it’s going to be a long trudge.
asserted
it → seek → accounts
Modi said BRICS has come of age — in the sense that the leaders of the UAE and Iran agreeing to meet and not pressing their case too hard to enable a summit statement was an achievement.
asserted
agreeing → say → statement
One could have accepted the condemnation of the terror attack in Pahalgam and reference to cross-border terrorism as a victory for India.
uncertain
One → accept → India
But Pakistan had condemned the attack too.
asserted
Pakistan → condemn → attack
Actually, the BRICS summit in Xiamen in 2017 had gone several steps further when under President Xi’s stewardship it named some extremist outfits allegedly based in Pakistan together with Taliban groups and local security elements for censure.
uncertain
it → go → censure
If the world is a family, which it is, talking to the neighbour and sorting out the problem bilaterally is mature.
asserted
talking → talk → problem
The world brotherhood will applaud.
asserted
brotherhood → applaud → ?
And, yes, the word ‘family’ loses its meaning when someone is seen standing with an aggressor like Israel and visits the country on the eve of Israel’s assassination of a revered supreme leader of a far friendlier country.
asserted
someone → lose → country
Also, if the world is a family, let’s stop patronising lynch mobs against fellow humans everywhere.
asserted
’s → let → humans
It’s not unlikely that the BRICS summit’s statement slamming Israel’s occupation of Lebanon was a sign of the coming of age.
asserted
statement → ’ → age
Xi Jinping dominated the show.
asserted
Jinping → dominate → show
He said BRICS should become a peacemaker.
asserted
BRICS → say → ?
Looking objectively at the idea of global brotherhood with all its warts and wrinkles, the Nehruvian ideal of non-alignment was quite representative of the quest.
asserted
ideal → look → quest
But Xi, too, has made a forceful intervention to make BRICS more proactive in its quest for global brotherhood.
asserted
BRICS → make → brotherhood
And he stated that BRICS must be a “pioneer in upholding peace and stability”, emphasising that the group needs to actively manage global hotspot issues by addressing both their symptoms and root causes.
asserted
group → state → symptoms
He clearly outlined a four-point plan for West Asia, focusing on peaceful coexistence, respect for national sovereignty, adhering to international law, and regional development.
asserted
He → outline → law
It was Xi who reiterated the necessity of pushing for an immediate ceasefire at all the hotspots in West Asia to establish a lasting two-state solution for Palestine to resolve the nub of the crisis.
asserted
Palestine → reiterate → crisis
Unlike the Sanskrit phrase cited by Modi, which seems ornamental and ill-fitting given India’s domestic and foreign entanglements with strife, the ancient South African ideal of Ubuntu very crucially was at play when apartheid was dismantled in the country.
asserted
apartheid → cite → country
Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu leaned on the Zulu phrase ‘Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu’.
asserted
Mandela → lean → phrase
Strikingly similar to the Sanskrit worldview, Ubuntu assured every race and community in the country of equity and equality.
asserted
Ubuntu → assure → equity
The phrase literally means: ‘A person is a person through other persons’ or ‘I am because we are’.
asserted
we → mean → persons
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
