Bharat Sankalp is a brand new organisation.  I am very happy that I am the Chief Patron of this new cultural venture started in Delhi.  One should ask why at this late stage we need an organisation called Bharat Sankalp.  Is the concept of India, is the vision of India so blurred today, that we need such an organisation to propagate the culture of India and to advance the unity of this country?  I think, one reason is that even after centuries of co‑existence, interpenetration of cultures and struggle for unity after 45 years of independence, of practical action, to bring about this unity into a vivid reality, we seem to be still questing for a vision of India that is united clear and unquestioned.  You all know that we have repeated innumberable times that culture is at the basis of Indian unity.  The enduring element of Indian unity is Indian culture.  But what is this Indian culture is a pattern, and I am afraid, is disputed today.  Nobody will dispute that Indian culture is at the root of our society, our national existence and out unity.  But the emphasis as to what is this culture, has varied very much, particularly in recent times. 

It has been the genius of India that we managed to live together, to bring together, to understand each other in one large framework, the followers of all the religions of the world, many racial elements in the world, a multitude of languages, a multitude of different habits.  This is a fact of history in spite of occasional disruption of it or occasional conflicts in our country.  When you look at the broad sweep of history you will find that there has never been what we could call a religious war in our country.  The Christians and Muslims fought a long religious war called the Crusades, the Protestants and the Catholics in Europe fought one of the most brutal and bitter wars in history.  Some of the remnants of it can still be seen in Europe.  While in India, there has been no doubt flare ups, violence among religious groups from time to time, there has never been any such thing as a sustained religious war.  This is a fact of history and I think we have to take solace and conviction that essentially Indian society is one in these different groups, religious, linguistic, geographical, racial, have somehow managed to co‑exist, inter‑act with one another with broad harmony over the ages.It is this culture that I believe that Sankalp is dedicated to promote. 

What is this culture?  There is no doubt that India is predominantly a Hindu society and brunt of Indian thought, philosophy, practices, have originated from Hindu society.  While I say this you should not ignore there is something that is pre‑Hindu in India.  There was centuries before what we call Hinduism got identified and emerged in this country. These were centuries of civilised co‑existence, centuries of thought, achievements are behind it.  Therefore, even what we call Hindu while it is predominant today in Indian society and Indian culture has something which was pre‑Hindu behind it which shaped many its thought patterns, indeed it shaped its religious beliefs.  Now as we know, as history marched on our society, our society got even more complicated.  I recollect, you all remember, that how Swami Vivekananda at the Congress of Parliament of Religions in Chicago, a century ago, declared, that I am proud to be a Hindu and then he said Hinduism itself is empowerment of religions.  Fundamental thought, fundamental philosophies of almost all the religions of the world can be found in what we call Hinduism.  It is this parliament of religions which is Hinduism that we should consider as the predominant element of Indian culture and not a narrowed vision of Hindu society.  I recall that Vivekananda once said that Hinduism became a very narrow thing.  The moment they invented the word, some people who could be outside the pale of Hindu society.  The concept of Hinduism was all embracing and not excluding some people from its fold.   

Today when we talk about Indian culture we have to talk about our composite civilisation and our composite culture.  I think all culture is a composite in way.  If something is just monolithic, something believes only in one way of thinking and one way of doing, I do not believe it is a cultured way of existence.  It is culture without intelligence, without originality, without variety.  It is not only, therefore, Hinduism which is a composite culture, to some extent all cultures if they have to be cultured have to be composite.  Now what is composite nature of Indian culture which is absolutely essential for us to promote not because it is right to do so, not only because it is a realistic fact of our life, but if we in India want to survive, as a nation, want to survive as a single society, it is important to recognise the composite character of our culture and deliberately to promote it in our lives.   

I come from a remote part of India, Kerala.  I know that ancient Jews came there, Christians came there, almost immediately after the death of Christ.  I recall that Swami Vivekananda almost boasted in Chicago that how the first Jews almost the same year when their temples were destroyed by the Romans migrated to India and took refuse in Kutch.  He also said how the Parsis migrated from religious persecution in Persia and they were welcomed in India.  About Islam, there are not only different interpretations but different facts.  But in my part of India, Kerala, Malabar, Islam came not as a conquering force.  It came almost as a natural flow out of the historic inter‑action between Arabia and India.  The Arabs have been coming to Kerala. They settled there and when Arabia became Islamic, the Arabs who came after that were muslims.  It was a continuation of a cultural flow. 

There was no conflict about it.  In fact, Adi Sankaracharya, more than whom you cannot get a greatest champion and senior of Hinduism it is said was fascinated by the philosophy of Islam.  It has been said that his monistic philosophy, his Adwaita philosophy was very much affected the munism of islamic religions.  Of course the origins were from the Upanishads but his belief was sharpened by his interaction with the islamic scholars who came to Tallery, his place at that time. 

Therefore, when you talk about the interaction between Islam and Hinduism in India you have to think of not only the conquering hordes who came not from Arabia but from Central Asia and even then history played its own magic of synthesis, accommodation, mutual understanding.  The impact of Islam in India, I think, had to be studied objectively, realistically without prejudices.  Our history, our society, our politics and our culture was profoundly influenced by Islam for a thousand years and this was not just violence and war.  Long periods of it were very fascinating attempt to synthesise, to reconcile, two religions whose basis were almost radically different in some ways. 

A book of cultural history of India written by the Institute of Ramakrishna Mission talks about how Islam in its triumphant march across Europe upto the Atlantic and almost touching the Pacific ocean has changed so many countries.  Egypt was islamised, Persia was islamised.  In fact a considerable part of world was islamised.  But the Ramakrishna mission history of culture says that India is one exception where neither India has been overpowered by Islam, nor India has absorbed Islam into its mould.  This is one place where one did not really conquer culturally and in terms of thought and philosophy, living habits and conquer the other but influenced each other at the same time.  The architecture of the country, the music of our country, the dances, the dress, how the court dress of the mughals were taken over the by the royalty and nobility of India and still it persists in our country. 

How some of the customs and habits have been adopted and intermingled.  Now I hope, nobody will think it is my idea.  I should like to read to you a quotation from Rabindra Nath Tagore.  He wrote it as early as l920 or 1922.  He was talking about the same process of interaction between Islam and Hinduism and he wanted to pinpoint one aspect of Islam that influenced Hinduism.  I am quoting , "All their rules (you are talking about Hindus) and regulations are directed towards reserving their caste.  Since Muslims are not bound by any caste they feel some obligation to the outside world.  So Muslims show courtesy.  Courtesy consists in observing that the general rules of conduct with human beings. 

In the code of conduct we are told how to behave towards mother, aunt, uncle etc.  We are told how far the reach of our respect for these should extend.  We are told how we should act towards them within our caste as well as those of different castes like Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.  But how to behave generally towards human beings, no laws are laid down for that.  So to extend it beyond its own sphere to practice courtesy with the respect of outside humanity, Western India has learnt Salah from the Muslims.  Prior to this century we were neglecting the outside world.Our own forms of salutations were applicable only within the confines of our own caste".  May be this has changed a lot since then.  But we must remember this.

This is in spite of the fact or may be I put it differently when we think of this we should also think of the Hindu thought, Hindu philosophy.  While the salutations and courtesies were limited to the confines of caste said audaciously that the whole world, whole humanity is one world.  So both these you have to put together.  But therefore, what I am trying to show is that the profound influence of Islam on Indian society, India's manners, customs, practices, have to be recognised. It is because of this that it is a wonderful fact of millions of Hindus and Muslims living together amicably in our country as a daily experience.  The secret of this is that there has been so much interpenetration of thought and culture and social practice in fact, in society between our peoples.   

I should like now to turn to another aspect of culture.  I find that you have emphasised in the Bharat Sankalp's work, the cultural unity brought about by music, dance, theatre and also you have added social transformation it.  I think this social tansformation is an important thing to remember and we talk about culture.  When we talk about social transformation I should like to emphasise the value of the person or the individual, his education, thought in Indian society, which was estimated as very high in old times.  I am fond of Tagore.  Therefore, I should like to read again another quotation from him about this and which is very relevant to modern culture, "Now people unashamedly judge the work of all things in monetary terms.  Men do not hesitate to sell even themselves. 

By this the nature of human beings is gradually changing.  The glory of life is being shifted from inside to outside, from joy to necessity; such a change is creeping into society that it seems one day money alone will exhibit the worth of a human being.  Those men who once looked down upon money due to their respect for the intrinsic value of the individual, now look down upon the innate value of life due to their regard for money." I think this is a phenomenon we have to face.  While I say this when I was a young boy going to my primary school even, we were taught, that was the generally accepted that there was something much more important than wealth or money ‑ your education, your knowledge, your culture was much more important than wealth.  This was actually the general slogan accepted by everybody that has changed today, that has changed in such a way when Tagore said that the nature of human beings is gradually changing.  I think that has changed a lot under impact of this attachment to money which a predominant modern phenomenon.   

Now where does culture stand in the face of this dominance of money? Not only in India but everywhere people talk only about exports and imports, of profits, of markets.  This is a very interesting thing if you recall that G‑7 invited Mr.  Gorbachev during its meeting in London.  Mr.  Gorbachev was going there to ask for economic assistance from these great developed nations of the world.  He was not a member of that group.  But he was invited to the last dinner, after the meeting, the big banquet which was held by the British Prime Minister.  He did not get much money from the G‑7, and the very interesting thing is that, it is recorded, after the dinner, after the champagne and dessert, the G‑7 burst into a song, 'money is that makes the world go round, that was money, money makes the world go round,' that was the song that they sung spontaneously after the G‑7 meeting, after denying this money to Mr.  Gorbachev of course and this is enough of it.  I mean this is symbolic of the vast cultural value change that has come about in this world. We in India have to ask with our ancient civilisation, our philosophy and our view of the balanced life, of the golden mean, which we have expounded through centuries how are we to face this new upsurge, of the avalanche of the culture of money that is overwhelming us today.

I think it is very important for an organisation like this to think about it, especially when we talk about social transformation in connection with culture.  Now let me add one more thought and it is much pleasanter than that what I have been saying hitherto even that is role of arts, of music, the role of dance in culture.  Nothing is more composite in Indian culture than our music and dance.  Of course there are some pristine music from our regions but even then they are not so pristine. They have been influenced by musical systems from the rest of India.  Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is going to perform here. 

We know that his music one of the most glorious, magnificient manifestations of the composite culture of India, whose charm and appeal no section of our people, whatever religion, whatever region they come from can resist.  This is where the over‑flowing unity of India is represented.  So also our dances.  We know how they are being influenced.  BBut I must say one thing that I find in your booklet, you say how synthesis of cultures in India is going on at the same time the separate identities are being sharpened.  This is a new problem for us.  The sharpening of separate narrow cultural identities while this vast process of synthesis is taking place all over our immense society.  Sometimes, I observed that even in this capital where all cultures, all religions and all regions are represented, we are still narrow in our approach. 

One day I was invited to inaugurate the 100th centenary of Dada Bhai Naroji's entry into the British parliament ‑ our veteran nationalist.  This function was organised by the Parsis and attended mainly by the Parsis.  One day I went to, I think it was Lokmanya Tilak's, I think, Vasant Satheji was also there.  I said in that meeting and I found that his birthday, I found that it was attended primarily by Maharashtrians.  Even Tagore you have celebrations of Tagore it would be predominantly attended by Bengalis.  Somehow Gandhi and Nehru had escaped it somewhat.  But this narrowing down of our vision, people who are all India figures, whose struck a chord in the minds of people, every part of India is today celebrated by a section.  I think, I mean, this is reversal of history which is astounding we have to somehow cross this sectional barrier. 

Thank you