Astoundingly, not a single incident of Indian invasion you will find in the millenniums old Indian history. We are blessed to have our boundaries demarcated by the nature itself (tampered in 1947 with the division into India and Pakistan) and have always been taught to be content with what we have.
It is the land of the Vedas, the Buddhist Sutras, the Jain Agamas, the Islamic and Sufi teachings, the Sikh's Guru Granth Sahib; each text resonates the Indian way of life that lies as a common denominator to the multitude of diversity in the country. It has always been an open society, embracing every community that came here to adopt India as its home. The 'way of life' propounded so, constitutes our value system, our morality, our conscience, our religion itself.
On his spree to conquer the whole world, Alexander defeated the King Porus in the Battle of Hydaspes and the latter won him over with his wisdom and princely etiquettes.
Gautam Buddha mesmerized his intellectual opponents, conspiring to kill him, with the power of his principled reasoning.
Ashoka's greatness lies not in his being a brilliant warrior, but in his humility to devote his life to the cause of peace and truth.
Much recently, Mahatma Gandhi personified the same conviction that led him to transcend the boundaries of region, religion, caste, class, race and emerge as a world leader.
'Conquering', therefore, has an unusual and an extraordinary meaning in India. Conquering and winning hearts are dearer to us than worldly riches. This is what makes India one irresistible hypnotic spell, called SOFT POWER in political parlance.The Information Technology revolution has proliferated the efficacy and reach of the India's soft power. It has given us a platform to reconstruct our national image from the land of fakirs lying on the bed of nails and snake charmers with an Indian rope trick to the land of mathematical geniuses, computer wizards and software gurus.
Indian diplomacy is leveraging on the potency of the soft power to effectively reach out to the world nations. Along with economic and strategic announcements, cultural exchange programs have become an intrinsic part of the bilateral and multilateral deals. Consequently, the sublime voice of Hindustani and Carnatic singers and the blissful sound of sitar, flute, santoor and ghoonghroos (metallic bells tied to ankles) reverberate in the auditoriums across the world. The Indian handicrafts have made their place in almost every town. The Indian cuisine is equally relished abroad as in India.
Our Entertainment Industry, our Indian Hindi movies, television soap operas are making great strides on the world stage. The man-made national boundaries become obscure when a Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Irani, European, all sit in the same hall and are amused by the extravagant colorful display of Indian culture on the screen. Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra, Indian movie stars have become global household names.
And how can one forget Yoga! It has literally initiated a world movement to the cause of serene and quality living. Today, the world is celebrating International Yoga Day. Isn't it a matter of pride?
India's existence as one nation, despite contradictions, oppositions, diversities and almost no consensus, has left the world perplexed. As a matter of fact, the learned scholars and journalists had assumed India to fail within a decade of independence. Stunning everyone, we survived and growing strong. They overlooked the fact that ours has always been an open and pluralistic society, with a candid tolerance for the development of the argumentative India. With some defined ground rules, we have learnt to agree to disagree.
The 21st century India is strong, powerful, confident and assertive nation. We still do not believe in the military might, however, prefer to keep it as a 'mosquito repellent'.
You cannot hide light under the bushel, the sparkles of India are dazzling the world. Who needs a gun when you have the power of love, age old wisdom and conviction to turn enemies into friends and allies.