vasudhaiva kutumbakam
the loveliest nuggets of wisdom jump out at you when you least expect it. i first learned this phrase when i was conducting research in benaras, at least 5 years ago. there i was, in a large room with cement flooring, big pictures of gods and goddesses on the blue walls, the fan whirring noisily above me. my recorder and papers lay on the table, ad i was ready to interview my next respondent: housewife, SEC B1B2 (middle-class demography), aged betn 25-35 years, consumer of Surf Excel. This being my 16th interview of 20, i felt like a classic case of researcher fatigue - i was wondering whether my new respondent would add anything to the body of information that i had already gathered.
the interview began in the most unassuming and ordinary fashion. introductions, rapport-building, family members, interests blah blah. the same product attributes identified (isme rang-birange daane hain, iski khushboo achchi hai etc) , and the same benefits associated with them (lagta hai saare daag mitaayega, kapde fresh honge etc). but the benefits led on to produce new values, startlingly different from the ones i'd got so accustomed to hearing. the most common ones were to do with self-esteem, duty of a god wife/mother and financial security. but nowhere before had i come across an interviewee who derived, from the same product benefits, the values of patriotism and honesty.
despite having realised that i was dealing with a rare interviewee, i was totally taken aback when she calmly rattled off a sanskrit shloka that ended with these two words: ' vasudhaiva kutumbakam'. then she explained it to me quite simply - ' iska matlab hai ki poora vishwa ek parivaar ho'. one world, one family. i walked away from that interview marvelling at the fact that a simple lady who leads a 'stereotypical housewife life' could hold such lofty values dear.
the art-of-living foundation, headed by sri sri ravi shankar, is celebrating its rajat jayanti from tomorrow till feb 19th, in bangalore. their theme happens to be 'vasudhaiva kutumbakam'. their purpose - to bring the world together with love, and to live as one big family. a verse from the theme song:
ishq hum apne dil mein lenge,
ishq hamara lakshya hai,
ek hee saans lenge hum sab,
sabko gale lagaaenge.
vasudhaiva, vasudhaiva,
vasudhaiva kutumbakam.
in an era of religious clashes and communal disharmony, i think we need to work consciously towards this goal. of course, singing songs based on this motto is far from actually practicing it. but at least it's a start in that direction. and isn't it awe-inspiring that one ordinary Indian woman shares this dream, independently, with one of the leading gurus of our time?
the interview began in the most unassuming and ordinary fashion. introductions, rapport-building, family members, interests blah blah. the same product attributes identified (isme rang-birange daane hain, iski khushboo achchi hai etc) , and the same benefits associated with them (lagta hai saare daag mitaayega, kapde fresh honge etc). but the benefits led on to produce new values, startlingly different from the ones i'd got so accustomed to hearing. the most common ones were to do with self-esteem, duty of a god wife/mother and financial security. but nowhere before had i come across an interviewee who derived, from the same product benefits, the values of patriotism and honesty.
despite having realised that i was dealing with a rare interviewee, i was totally taken aback when she calmly rattled off a sanskrit shloka that ended with these two words: ' vasudhaiva kutumbakam'. then she explained it to me quite simply - ' iska matlab hai ki poora vishwa ek parivaar ho'. one world, one family. i walked away from that interview marvelling at the fact that a simple lady who leads a 'stereotypical housewife life' could hold such lofty values dear.
the art-of-living foundation, headed by sri sri ravi shankar, is celebrating its rajat jayanti from tomorrow till feb 19th, in bangalore. their theme happens to be 'vasudhaiva kutumbakam'. their purpose - to bring the world together with love, and to live as one big family. a verse from the theme song:
ishq hum apne dil mein lenge,
ishq hamara lakshya hai,
ek hee saans lenge hum sab,
sabko gale lagaaenge.
vasudhaiva, vasudhaiva,
vasudhaiva kutumbakam.
in an era of religious clashes and communal disharmony, i think we need to work consciously towards this goal. of course, singing songs based on this motto is far from actually practicing it. but at least it's a start in that direction. and isn't it awe-inspiring that one ordinary Indian woman shares this dream, independently, with one of the leading gurus of our time?
posted by sattva at 1:58 PM
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