A Continent called India

Winston Churchill once said, "India is not a country; It's a Geography"

Normally, the patriot in me, should take severe offence to a statement as harsh and as disdainful as this, however, today more than a feeling of disdain and revulsion, what I feel for this statement is something different - when I look forth to this statement, all that I feel or can feel is a feeling that seems to say. 'Ignorance is bliss for one who knows not to weld the power of knowledge'

And then again, to an extent, it's correct - India is indeed a geography but it's more than that - it's a geographical wonder, a geographical miracle - a gerographical entity separated from others and yet varied in itself. When Pandit Nehru spoke about 'Unity in Diversity', he was more near to the Soul of India then the majority of the thinkers of this part of the globe or even all over the globe. Still Pt. Nehru failed to gauge the limits of unity and diversity, that this geographical marvel carries within it ....

India is not a nation by virtue of a dominant culture like China that's a representative of the Han culture, neither is it an amalgamation of different city states or nation-states like the one Europe professes to be, on basis of the European / Western Civilization Culture..... Nor is it a uniform monstrosity of culture or religion like Japan or Arabia or Australia or any of the Central Asian States or Persia .... neither does it derive it's basic unity or diversity from history or any of the other parameters that make a nation.

So what is it that makes India a nation from the northernmost reaches of Balkh and Badakashan in Northern Afghanistan to Anuradhapura in the southernmost tip of Sri Lanka; from the western-most arid deserts of Quetta and Makran in Balochistan that lies in Pakistan to the mountainous regions of Kachin in Northern Burma, from the foothills of Baltistan and Khotan and Dehradun in India to the tall peaks of K2 and Mt. Everest in Nepal, from the Sunderbans of Bangladesh to the Tennasarim coastline in Burma, from the dense mountains of Kohima to the arid salty plains of Kutch, from the coral reefs of Male to the tropical island of Andaman!

Historians are right when they say, there was no India before the British ruled India but they are wrong because what they judge India is through the prism of Western concepts of Nationhood. If we look at these concepts closely, there should be no Arabia either, no America either, no Australia either .... for these began their histories after the so-called historical entry of the Europeans. But indeed, that's not the true definition of a nation

Nations exist in the sub-conscious and they need not be a single political entity ever because political divisions and mergers are a function of might, not of the hearts - and where nations are made on might, the fall is imminent, if not today then tomorrow, if not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow ... next week, next month, next year, next decade, next century.... next millenium

India is a nation from one extremity to another because in the pages of history, the culture of India has been instrumental in shaping the destiny of every part of this geographical continuum in one way or the other.... Incidents in Kabul have influenced events in Mysore sooner or later; events in Guwahati have had repurcussions in Mandalay sooner or later, events in Chennai (Madras) make for an interesting impact in Colombo... they may or may not be intentional... and even where events have not made for lasting impressions, they have often set the dice for a continuation that not only defines but also plays a role in the next movement.

So Mr. Churchill was right, India is a geography; what he failed to understand was more than history in huge nations and civilizations and specifically continents, it's indeed the Geography that creates the nation ... not the nation that creates it's geography.... Geographical boundaries created by nations are often artificial and fail the test of time.. for ex. Berlin Wall cannot divide what essentially is one nation; neither can the China Wall be a boundary that divides China.

It's the geography of the British Isles that forces an union of Scotland, Wales and England; again it's the Geography that differentiates and will one day remove North Ireland from the grasp of England..... it was Geography that failed the Norman conquest of England and again Geography that failed both the British Empire and the Russian Experiment!

So Mr. Churchill .... India is a nation because of it's Geography and will always remain even if the political sceptre is wielded not by 1 state or 100 states.... As Iqbal noted,

Kucch Baat Hum Mein Aisi, Hasti Nahin Mitti
Dushman Sada Raha Hai Zor-E-Jahan Humaara
Yunaan-o-Misr-o-Roma, Sab Utth Gaye Jahaan Se
Ab Tak Magar Hai Baaqi Jag Mein Nishaan Humaara!