Global Citizenship

Global Citizenship

K S VENKATARAMAN

The humankind has reached a critical crossroad.

There is a glorious path towards global peace and happy coexistence for all. But this path is hidden; remains blocked by a myriad of wrong aims and destructive tendencies.

The other path is attractive, inviting and open; with an impressive Welcome Arch, it keeps us blissfully ignorant of the dangerous pitfalls lying ahead! We have got to make a choice between the two alternatives. Making the correct choice depends on our answers to a few questions.

Are we going to examine our aims more closely and revise them for common good; or not?

Are we going to curb our destructive tendencies and work for human welfare; or not?

Are we going to transcend the man-made barriers like nationalism, regionalism, religious fanaticism, caste-ism, and so on; or not?

Are we going to get rid of the Machiavellian line of thinking that goals justify means, and establish our age-old values of having good goals and equally good means; or not?

Are we going to change our identity with the narrow and self-imposed limits and broaden our vision and sense of belonging to the whole universe; or not?

If the grave dangers of terrorism, drug evil, global warming, population explosion, nuclear arms race and so on should be removed, and if our Mother Earth should be available for our posterity as a planet supporting life, we have to do a lot of re-thinking.

We have to learn to think at global level and mentally embrace all the peoples of the world as our kith and kin. From the level of tribal warfare, we have to elevate ourselves to the level of Universal Oneness. We have to push our horizons of thinking and action beyond artificial borders, to make the emergence of global citizens possible.

All of us should become ready to jettison our evils and admire the good in others. When bad things are discarded and good things are absorbed by every one of us, a tremendous positive change can take place in the world. The glorious path towards Peace and Prosperity for the entire humankind would become visible and open.

Of course, we are not the first to think on these lines and work for global peace and prosperity. Many individuals and institutions, including the UNO have been working for these noble aims.

Let us join them and contribute our mite to the emergence of harmonious global village. Let us do what is possible for us to the shaping of Global Citizen, visualized by several great men of the world, like Adi Sankara who spoke of ‘Swadeso Bhuvanathrayam’. (I belong to the country, which includes all the three worlds.) Let us work for the realization of the wisdom expressed in the ancient Tamil adage, ‘Yaathum oore, Yaavarum kelir’. (All places are my native place; all are my relatives.)

Let us work to spread and strengthen the awareness of being global citizens among all the peoples of the world.