[Second best essay in the competition organized by Nehru-Wangchhuk Cultural Centre ]
Just as the sublime tricolor flag of India nonchalantly flutters in the breeze with its Ashoka Chakra seeming to revolve like the sun, I contemplate what India means to me. The day the Indian landmass blissfully struck Asia to herald my dwelling the Himalayan Mountains from the Tethys Sea 40 million years back, she had so much to offer. Inadvertently a home to billions who forecast trillions of nostalgic opinions, to me India is the birth place of great civilization, spanning from the age of the advent of Vedas till the birth of Buddhism.
Being the cradle of civilization of the Indus valley from where evolved the first humans on this planet, India is the paradise that created and nurtured Vedic learning. Had it not been for her religious air, charming invigorating mountains, occasional plains and numerous learned sages who propagated a prominent religion of Hinduism, than it wouldn’t have given rise to my state religion, Buddhism. The very sub-continent of India illuminated the world for she is the very abode of Lord Buddha’s enlightenment in the 6th century BCE. Further, great Indian sons like Atisa Dipankara, Tilopa and Naropa promulgated and expanded his teachings to various nations, eventually brightening my nation with Buddhist knowledge.
India has weaved many a great national figures, with the likes of Mahatma Gandhi. The life and times of this immortal personnel surges through me humanity, nonviolence, kindness and above all, the will to keep learning, for he quoted, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever.” His exemplary method of Satyagraha which he inspirationally applied against British oppression later rightfully dubbed him, “Father of the Nation.” Everyday of my life I strive to transcend and transform myself for the better, for his soul never succumbs but lives for eternity, widening my life’s meaning, ultimately glorifying what India means to me.
She has been a communicative, faithful and a helpful neighbor to Bhutan. Commencing from the promising signing of the Treaty of Friendship in 1949 and the warm handshake extended by then Prime Minister Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru to our beloved 3rd King in 1958, India has been a diplomatic foreign advisor to our nation, also extending humungous support at the economic and cultural fronts. With Indian encouragement and advice, the much-needed security and sovereignty of our country was strengthened in 1971 when Bhutan became a member of the United Nations, officially consolidating our century-old independence. As both the nations celebrate a golden jubilee of India-Bhutan Friendship ties, we would look back at the numerous support garnered from India, incontrovertibly making her a neighbor any nation would wish to have.
Trillions of reasons surround what India means to the world for her immeasurable contribution from the ancient Vedic era to the present. For me, it is the abode which mothered great religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. Further, she has been a hub for sprouting awe-inspiring figures with exemplary philosophy. Personally, India has been a reliable, diplomatic advisor and a keen friendly neighbor to Bhutan. Just as the gallant cries of “Pelden Drukpa Gyalo” means my world to me, a fraction of me says “Jai Hind” every now and then for my heart beats continually to pay my utmost gratitude for what India has given, and what she means, not only to me, but to the whole world.
