India - E Pluribus Unum
Rahul Bhattacharya
November 29, 2008

There are no "two Indias". There are no "many Indias". There are a billion people, there is one country and there is one dream.

Not just in America, but in my country too, and more so pertinent, the motto of E pluribus unum is alive and the guiding principle of our lives. Out of many, one. Like Virgil’s pudding, all colours of my country will produce only one colour, the colour of democracy and freedom; colour est e pluribus unum.

We will stand shoulder to shoulder, arms interlocked, till the last man has bled to death to protect our land and our freedom. We will hold our heads high, rid our minds of fear and even though we may fail at times, we will never tire of trying to protect our democracy and our freedom.

I am the CEO, I am the farmer, I am the soldier and I am the factory worker. I am the brother of the police officer, who laid down his life for his country and I am the brother of the navy commando who died while trying to save his brothers and sisters from the grip of mayhem. I am the brother of the woman who lost her husband due to cowardly acts of the terrorists. I am the tycoon who saw his hotel burnt down and I am the photographer who braved the bullets to capture the face of death and havoc in his camera. I am the reporter who stood in the midst of chaos all day and night to narrate the horrific tale of death and destruction and I am the man who sat in front of his television set praying to God Almighty to make his country stronger than before.

And I will never be able to sleep again at night for, to borrow Barack Obama’s phrase, "I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper".

And I shall remember forever that my greatest treasure is the identity of my nation, without which I am poor.

There is only one India and that India is strong, vibrant and capable to fight the terrorists; that India is neither weak nor poor, for weakness and poverty are states of mind; a man who has his country by his side, a man who has not lost his sense of nationhood, can never be weak or poor. India will rise again and march forward like never before.

Color est e pluribus unum. There is only one colour. There is only one India.

© Rahul Bhattacharya
This column is written by Rahul Bhattacharya and reflects his own views about life and business. It does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of other members of Risk Latte Company Limited, Hong Kong (“the Company”) and the Company accepts no responsibility for any factual errors contained in the column and strongly advises readers not to pay much attention to it.

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