One nation. One election.
The sequence continues with our new-found, or newly-created, obsession with ‘One nation’. The one about elections is the latest. We have had our brushes with law, language, colour, food, attire and so on.
Another has been the renaming of Port Blair to Sri Vijaya Puram. It was done to do away with a colonial name and give it a national one. Therefore, a Sanskrit name. A language that is not indigenous to the Onges, Jarwas and Sentinalese. Basically, another colonial name. But in the name of ‘oneness’.
What is this ‘one’ all about?
One could be universalism.
It could be about one with the world, the entire ecosystem, the entire human race and a common set of values. It could be about the universalism of man as espoused by Romain Rolland or Aurobindo or Tagore. It is about an open canvas whereon each individual could play her/his own role with a sense of liberty and contribution to the larger cause. It is beyond boundaries of nationhood.
One could be unity.
As kids, we were fed on the narrative of ‘unity in diversity’. It could be about the mutual appreciation and empathy in our diversity that makes us come together as one people, under one constitution that recognises the strength of the multiple cultures, faiths, thoughts, languages and ways of life. It’s a sense of equi-proximity to one and all.
One could be uniformity.
It can be about being bound by a common code of justice, regulations, accessibility, evaluation, recognition and reward that operates over and above the unity in diversity. It is about maintaining equi-distance from each bit of diversity, applying a more rational approach to oneness.
One could be unitarianism.
It could be about only one way of doing things in one nation. One language. One food plate. One attire. One colour code. And finally, one faith. Basically one way of life, determined by the vision of what defines the nation by the absolute powers that reign.
In a recent television debate on the occasion of ‘Hindi Diwas’, on being chided by the anchor that Hindi was needed as a national language to unite the nation, one panelist pointed out that the nation is already united and does not need a unitarian language to do so.
Last week, a senior minister stated that we need ‘our own Silicon Valley’. Pat came an apt response that Bengaluru happens to be a part of India. This is what happens when you get caught in the game of ‘one’ and one-upmanship.
Countries, like corporations, need to consciously decide which ‘one’ they wish to be.
In fact, countries, like ours, in the current state of flux, need to learn from how multinational, multi-business organisations successfully run as one. What makes a Coca-Cola retain brands like Fanta and Thums Up instead of steamrolling just one unitarian brand all across? What makes a Toyota retain brands like Daihatsu in the same market, in the same product segment? Or make a conglomerate like Raytheon keep brands like Otis, UTC, Chubb, Pratt & Whitney and Carrier when they took over United Technologies.
Oneness does not come out of unitarianism. It comes out of inclusion and assimilation. It is immensely more powerful to absorb and preserve than acquire and subsume. The unique DNA and flavour of every brand as a microcosm adds to the overall uniqueness of the macrocosm. So, consciously celebrating all cultures, languages, attires, food styles, colours and scripts as part of the national ethos will generate more profits for the nation than trying to create clones in the effort to bring about uniformity through unitarianism.
Port Blair should have been given an indigenous name.
Tamil should be taught in CBSE schools as a language option, just like Hindi and Sanskrit.
The states should have their elections distinct from that for the national parliament.
It is not about saving costs, as we have not been the most careful spenders anyway.
It is about preserving and promoting diversity if one is to be a truly successful country or corporation.
This needless obsession with being ‘one’ by imposition rather than by assimilation reminds me of the last lines of the Queen song ‘One Vision’…
One, one, one, one, one, one, one
One flesh, one bone, one true religion
One voice, one hope, one real decision
Give me one night, yeah
Give me one hope, hey
Just give me, ah
One man, one man
One bar, one night
One day, hey, hey
Just gimme, gimme, gimme
Gimme fried chicken!
Jai Hind!