The Republican Hindu coalition’s slogan “Abki Baar, Trump Sarkar” appealing to voters to return Trump to power may still be ringing loud and clear.
If someone is angry and upset in 2025 - it is all understandable.
Yoga and meditation emerged as India's soft powers in the sixties and seventies when Westerners disillusioned with their materialistic lifestyle began thronging Bharat.
After yoga received the United Nations stamp of recognition in 2014 with the proclamation of June 21 as the International Day of Yoga, the festival of Light, Diwali — the pan-Indian popular Hindu festival — emerged as a symbol of India’s growing soft power.
The emphasis grew bigger and more thrustful in the post pandemic era.
Without realizing much, we now know that the world is changing pretty fast. The 'great resignation' saga as witnessed by MNCs is a case in point. For beginners, a Microsoft study said nearly 40 percent of professionals were/are keen to give up their existing jobs in the calendar year 2021.
Welcome to a new world era - wherein the civilisational and cultural prisms too could prove to be effective tools in the changed world order. Perhaps this can be underlined better also in the context of developments in Afghanistan and some roles played by Pakistan.
Religiosity can have a soothing impact for someone who uses these occasions to gaze in within oneself. These virtues are appreciated in advanced societies as materialistic achievements have made people lonely and friendless.
The most successful ambassador of India’s soft power image has been Mahatma Gandhi, who led India’s non-violent struggle against the British colonial masters.
What will happen with festivals like Diwali in the US in 2025 and beyond remains to be seen. This is particularly because Donald Trump has destroyed key aspects of perceived India-US ties.
More than creating 'segments' like Hindu culture or fest, certain things are emerging now as a global phenomenon.
The timing of Diwali festival in between autumn and winter is not something to be lost about. The light and sound kill some bacteria in the air - that's for the rational school; and in pursuing this argument, one knows the problems lay in overdoing things.
Bursting of firecrackers would have been pleasant and a tasteful experience had not this become a symbol of showmanship.
If firecrackers are bad for environment, so is gambling and the so-called gift-exchange culture of Delhi for human behaviour.
Here too, the problem is in overdoing things; not ordering blanket ban as a presumed corrective strategy. The global recognition by the UN and ongoing craze for Yoga and a renewed zeal for festivals such as Deepawali have some messages. Of these, the big picture message is - the international game can be no longer about pushing a single-agenda item.
Soft power games also means persuasive diplomacy.
It may be out of the box, but not something to be dismissed as out of the blue. Life is often like standing in the dusk, to use poetic jargon. It is all about optimism. Optimism leads to patience. The storm would pass off eventually no matter how long it is.
This phenomenon will presumably also work for trade and Visa issues linked to Indo-US ties.
One reason for the rising importance of a Hindu-majority India, its culture and its philosophies is geopolitics. In a fast-emerging multipolar world, the largest democracy of the world is bound to be a major player.
India has moved closer to key global players Israel, France, Japan and Australia. It is on friendly terms with Russia and Brazil, and along with them is part of BRICS with China and South Africa as the other partners, hoping for greater economic cooperation in the decades to come.
The Indian diaspora’s growing clout in the US corridors of power in 2020-21 has led to it being wooed by successive presidents from Barack Obama and Donald Trump to Joe Biden.
It was Obama who first started the tradition of lighting the White House for the Diwali festival way back in 2009. But the then Congress-led coalition government helmed by Dr Manmohan Singh did not give much importance to religiosity.
There was no media hype back home in India. Even just a passing remark.
There was another reason - Hindus were taught to be apologetic.
Modi’s regime is a great believer in the power of the macho-Hindu nation.
The recognition of yoga and the latest move by US lawmakers to declare Diwali a federal holiday also suits him politically back home.
Diwali symbolizes the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. It celebrates the return of Lord Ram to his kingdom in Ayodhya, which now serves as a political symbol for the BJP and allied forces’ Hindu revival campaign, from a 14-year exile and victory over the demon king Ravan.
The gesture by the then US President Biden, though, brought in some more responsibilities while holding a crucial line of caution for the incumbent political dispensation in Delhi.
Soft power by itself cannot achieve major foreign policy goals. It will be effective provided democracy triumphed in real sense. India’s political class ought to behave more responsibly.
“Acceptance of Diwali in the West or in the Middle East makes it mandatory now to ensure that Christians and Muslims do not feel aggrieved in India,” said political observer Vidyarthi Kumar.
In other words, the country’s goals cannot be opposed to the interests of its minorities or the national interests of some of these countries.
Christian leader A.C. Michael agreed with him. “As an Indian, I have been celebrating Diwali since my childhood. The US declaring a holiday for Diwali is a great decision. This reflects the liberal attitude of that country’s politicians unlike our own who chose to declare Christmas as a good governance day,” he told me a few years back.
Michael was referring to the Modi government’s decision soon after assuming power in 2014 to observe Dec. 25, which happened to be the birthday of former BJP prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, as a working day under the guise of fostering awareness among Indian people of accountability in national governance.
India is home to all major religions of the world. Four of them, namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, are homegrown, while Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam came from overseas and flourished.
US Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney and her colleagues’ mission to declare Diwali as a federal holiday in the US had “discounted” what many said “the motive of building a predefined narrative against Hindu festivals and rituals.”
Diwali has made a mark globally as a festival of sharing and caring. People do charity work at orphanages and old age homes which became more relevant in a post-Covid world.
Diwali symbolises glory of virtues over vices like most festivals and rituals across the globe.
Switching on to another chapter now, there are observers who say that Indians thrive in self pity and that's why we Indians often continue to curse ourselves.
The polarization of India’s intellectual class is so deep that it is difficult to express an opinion and that would still be considered an objective one.
If one writes a few lines on Hindu festivals and oriental traditions and values, he is in danger of being called a communal !
ends
