Om

 When can one say that a country has truly arrived? I would say that a country has made its mark in the world when its soft power impresses the rest. Well, the political clout, the financial might, and all the other material paradigm shifts absolutely matter, and they sure do in a big way in the globalised world today.

My submission right now is that India has made huge strides in the arena of the soft power. Yes, there is the Yoga day. Sure the Indian arts and crafts are wondrous for the rest of the world.  A unique Indian way of thinking is markedly visible now, be it the writings/speeches by Shashi Tharoor, S.Jayashanker, and more markedly, J. Sai Deepak, and others of his ilk. But would you know that America celebrates the "Om" day? In my opinion, that salute to the Indian way of life is the sure proof of India's absolute welcome by and in the world. 

In a way, ever since the Chicago speech by Swami Vivekananda, the curiosity about Indian philosophy and religion has been quite an obsession in the U.S. The celebration of the Om day is a manifestation of that curiosity.  In the Western imaginary, Om is vaguely associated with Yoga, with spirituality, with being centered within the self, and inner peace.

In India, Om means all these significations, and much, much more. For one thing, in India, it is associated with Hinduism, and other major religious faiths. Why, it is associated with the alternative mode of medicine as well.

Yet, in India, Om has a far deeper symbolic value. It is the primordial sound of the universe itself. It is the essence of the supreme Absolute.  Om hence includes a tribute to the Brahman( the larger universal soul) and the Atman (the self within). It is hence a realisation of the greatest awareness "Ahm Brahma asmi" which unites the self with the cosmic whole in a symbiotic way. 

Sure, the American transcendentalism of even Emerson and Thoreau may not completely comprehend all these subtleties. Even then, the Om day being celebrated in the U.S., even when it does not happen in India itself, is quite some tribute to true Indianness!

Pratima@ "Acceptance," to quote a part of Eckhart Tolle's assertion, "looks like a passive state, but in reality it brings something entirely new in to the world."