Prince Charles in Praise of India

[Guest guest]

Title: The empire strikes back

Author: Suma Varghese

Publication: The Free Press Journal

December 5, 1997

 

I know this is a slightly delayed reaction, but I cannot

resist

making it. I refer to the much-publicised British Golden

Jubilee

Banquet held in London a few weeks back. It was here that

Cherie

Blair, the PM's wife, stole all our hearts by turning up in a

sari. But I refer to a more momentous event than that.

Namely,

Prince Charles speech.

 

 

The Prince made some remarkable disclosures. First, he

thanked

India for "its civilising influence over Britain", then

proposed

a toast for "real India, the enduring and everlasting

India", an

India that had preserved its identity through its experience

of

colonisation, and which must now fight the invasion of

satellite

television.

 

 

This is amazing. India having a civilising influence over

Britain? Where does that leave the white man's burden?

Imagine,

the crown prince of Britain admitting that the civilising had

been as much from the invaded country to the invading

country as

vice versa. What a volte face for a nation that

systematically

during its 300 years of rule, denigrated every aspect of the

'native' culture, including its philosophy and spirituality,

and

supplanted it with its own imperial values, attitude and

approaches. The prince of a nation that has done more than

any

other to alienate us from our traditional culture and way of

life, today acknowledges the "civilising influence" of such a

tradition.

 

 

In the same vein, he went on to congratulate us for having

withstood the experience of colonialism, a 'colonialism' his

own

country imposed! Here is an implicit acknowledgement of the

less

than salubrious impact of colonialism; a concession that

their

conquest may have damaged us. Considering that his mother

did not

have the bigness to apologise for the Jallianwallah massacre,

this is downright handsome of the son.

 

 

And to think he should have the sensitivity and depth to

penetrate into "the real India, the enduring India."

 

 

There is, in the Prince's speech, a profound shift from the

popular perception of the Indo-British relationship. Instead

of

seeing India as a former imperial colony and a Third World

nation, he sees it as a perennial civilisation, one nothing

can

vanquish, and which can, in rum, not vanquish, but transform

its

invaders.

 

 

We can see this happen in the case of the Prince himself If

the

British conquered us yesterday with their superior strategy

and

physical might, today we seem to have conquered them with the

force of our philosophy. On the same occasion, the Prince

quoted

Vedic hymns, revealing his acquaintance with the heart of

India's

philosophy and spirituality. His fondness for Indian

classical

music, which derives its aesthetics from the same

philosophy, is

yet another indication of the Prince's attraction and

affinity

for our culture.

 

 

Nor is he the only one in the Royal household to feel the

lure of

the East. His late ex-wife, the Princess Diana, was also

attracted to the sub-continent -- mostly Pakistan, and had an

active interest in spirituality. The Duchess of York, who

came

recently to India for a homeopathic cure, is reportedly an

admirer of India's holistic therapies.

 

 

Our ancient hoary land has wrought its magic once again.

It's as

the sages and philosophers have always maintained. By

constant

transformation, India remains her essential self; in turn,

this

essential self is the instrument of the world's

transformation.

 

 

Listen to Vivekananda, for instance. "What may be that force

which causes this afflicted and suffering people, the

Hindu... to

survive when other nations perish? The cause can only be

their

spiritual force."

 

 

Says Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose, "By continuous living

tradition

and a vital power of rejuvenescence, this land has readjusted

itself through unnumbered transformations."

 

 

Asks Dr S. Radhakrishnan: "By what strange social alchemy has

India subdued her conquerors, transforming them to her very

self

and substance..... ? Why is it that her conquerors have not

been

able to impose on her their language, their thoughts and

customs,

except in superficial ways?"

 

 

So what indeed is the secret of India'a enduring vitality?

How do

we account for its transformatory power? What did Prince

Charles

mean when referring to the 'real India, the enduring and

everlasting India"?

 

 

The tragedy is that while the prince of an alien nation

could see

this aspect of India, most of us in contemporary, urban

India are

out of touch with it. Caught in the maelstrom of change, it

is

difficult for us to step back far enough to see the

continuity of

our culture. At the most, the Prince's words will conjure up

some

vague images of our Vedic past, but of its real relevance to

our

present life, we have little or no notion.

 

 

Yet that "real" India survives, and even thrives. Indeed, if

we

continue to exist despite our manifold problems, it is her we

have to thank.

 

 

The real secret of India's survival is its tolerance, its

inclusion. What has kept it from being swallowed whole by its

conquerors, or warped beyond recognition, is its limpid

ability

to accept the cultures, tradition and above all, the

religions of

alien rulers. The Muslims came, and we accepted them. Islam

began

to flourish in all corners, but if it did not become the

dominant

religion, it is because we did not resist its spread. The

same

with British rule and the spread of Christianity. The number

of

Christians in the country are certainly not enough to

threaten

Hinduism, and that is because Indian coexisted with them,

rather

than trying to wipe them out.

 

 

There is a profound lesson for all of us in this approach.

Indeed, now that personal growth has become such a mainstream

activity, it is one of the first principles of transformatory

technology.

 

 

What we resist, persists; what we accept, can he transformed.

Almost all of us will have had occasion to encounter the

truth

and wisdom of this observation.

 

 

Make the mistake of hating someone, and you will forever be

yoked

to thoughts of that person. You cannot get away from them.

Wherever you go, his presence pursues you; no matter what you

think, eventually, your mind wanders back to the hated

object.

Had you loved him, you would not have been so much possessed

by

your feelings as you become in hate. The same is true of any

vice

we attempt to give up. The more we resist it, the greater the

urge. The more we hate ourselves for giving in to it, the

greater

its power over us. It is only when we accept ourselves

implicitly. weakness and all, that it loosens its hold over

us.

>From a larger context, if we were to stop protesting

against the

manifold flaws of the country and moved towards accepting it

instead, we would be in a position to solve them.

 

 

Awareness and acceptance, as anyone interested in personal

growth

will tell you, are the twin mechanisms of transformation.

They

will also tell you that they are about the most difficult and

challenging aspects to attain. How then, did our country,

which

is to say, all of us as a whole, achieve this feat?

 

 

Here is where we glimpse the continuity that binds us, and

which

makes us uniquely Indian. The answer lies in the Vedic

heritage,

with its belief in the unity of all creation. Believing as we

did that all is one and all is holy, we naturally inclined

towards interconnection and a sense of reverence towards all

that

exists. If this has made us respect and serve all forms of

life,

our traditional pursuit of self-realisation as the purpose of

life, has given us respect for all forms of religion, which

we

see as different paths to the same truth. Little wonder then,

that we are tolerant and open-minded, and accepting of

diverse

viewpoints.

 

 

This catholicism is part of our heritage, and whether we are

conscious of it, of our personality. Moving consciously

towards

it, and making it a part of ourselves will give us an untold

edge

in effective living. It will also ensure, as the Prince

solicitously advised us, that we don't lose our essential

selves

to the satellite revolution.