The shortest route to oneness is through language and music

In his work ‘The Ideal of Human Unity’, Sri Aurobindo emphasises that for diverse units to stay together, neither administrative and economic necessity nor political power and military force work for long. Attempts at wiping out the diversity by imposing uniformity succeed only in crippling the richness of the diversity but do not help achieve real unity. That has been the downfall of empires of the past. What can endure is only a union of hearts based on a genuine sense of psychological unity . The foundation of psychological unity is the oneness of the spirit that underlies all the diversity of form.

For Indians, achieving such psychological unity is both easy and important. It is easy because the core value of the Indian culture is spirituality. It is also important because many countries, particularly in the west, are looking up to Indian spiritual wisdom for the ultimate solution to the problems of human existence. India could make that gift to the world more effectively if we feel the oneness rooted in our wisdom and live it in our national life. The shortest route to the psychological unity based on oneness is through language and music , and, for once, a shortcut can be our first choice.

Suppose you meet someone whose native language is different from yours, but you know that language a little bit, and you speak to her a few words in that language. Suddenly, a broad smile appears on her face. Imagine another situation. Someone sings to you in Tamil. Although you did not understand the lyrics, you enjoyed the song; enjoying music needs no language. Combine knowledge of language with music, and you have the perfect recipe for building up instant rapport.

India has 22 officially recognised languages, and that is considered a major obstacle on the path of national integration. The collective egos of the diverse linguistic groups inevitably create rivalries. Language being one of the most powerful expressions of a culture, and music being a cultural expression that transcends the language barrier, music can integrate diverse cultural entities as few other expressions can. A practical demonstration of this principle was a recent week-long residential camp at Sri Aurobindo Ashram (Delhi Branch) for about 50 musicians from all over the country. They learnt within one-week patriotic songs in 14 Indian languages, and when they sang them together;’ it created magic. Here is a string of ideas that can promote Indian languages.

- Schools can encourage the children to learn voluntarily, from YouTube, at least one language quite different from their own regional language.
- When a group of students have learnt a language, say Tamil, the school organises a discussion among these children, which is observed by a Tamil-speaking teacher. For being able to converse in Tamil, the school gives these children National Integration Certificates.

- If a child has learnt Tamil, let the parents take the children for a holiday to Tamil Nadu, and study there the Tamil culture. In the PTA meetings, the school may award these parents National Integration Certificates.
- Schools that undertake such exercises may be awarded National Integration Certificates.
- The Railways run National Integration trains, in which special incentives are available for groups of students travelling to various parts of the country.

- Schools and colleges in different parts of the country may have a mutual agreement to host students from each other’s institutions.
- Scholarships may be provided for learning the language and music of faraway parts of the country.
- Sri Aurobindo Prizes may be awarded to music teachers who qualify for participating in an online marathon of patriotic songs in different languages on Sri Aurobindo’s Birthday, August 15. While they lead, a few thousand children who have participated in the above processes sing along with them at the Red Fort in Delhi on the Independence Day.

India, as a nation, is unique in being a paradox. On one hand, it has a culture that transcends its geographical boundaries. On the other hand, it is a conglomerate of 28 states and 9 Union Territories, each having a cultural identity of its own. Each of these regional cultures is a sub-culture. But our human weaknesses often make us categorise, classify, and then glorify the category to which we belong and, in the process, forget the underlying unity. The power of language and music has not been harnessed enough to create the type of unity that endures. The best time to harness this power is childhood before narrow identities and stereotypical images start conditioning the growing minds.

Authored by: Kiran Bedi and Ramesh Bijlani