The world is on fire. The self-induced flames of hatred, avarice and geo-political inflexibility, fanned by both the elected and the shadow forces that empower the unelected, are wreaking unchecked havoc to humanity on an unprecedented scale. As the United Nations continues to fail in its moral mandate under vacuous leadership or lack thereof, recorded deaths have crushed over 233,000 innocent civilian lives, while also displacing millions from their homes and livelihoods, surging by an incredulous 40 per cent in 2024, informs Human Rights Watch. As many as 56 active conflicts are raging across the globe today, in addition to long-term historic unrests.
Global defence spending had soared past $2.7 trillion in 2024. Now, an estimated 305 million will seek humanitarian aid in 2025, according to the UN, as eating bullets becomes a cruel joke upon the starving, spurred by perpetual war-mongers.
It was in July, over six decades ago, during the Vietnam war, that the Beatles came together as a musical messiah for Love and Peace. And it was in July 1967 ‘Summer of Love’ that their anthem to flower power, All you Need is Love, was released as a cautionary reminder for the world to unite for peace. What began as the epi-centre of the hippie movement in San Francisco laced with drug, sex and anarchy, cemented the notion of love and peaceful co-existence in otherwise cold capitalist societies driven by corporate greed and materialism. Substance induced euphoria coursed through the veins of counter-culture in an era devoid of the ubiquitous internet and mobile devices. The world, tired of wars, destruction, loss of life and petty politicians, responded in unison – transcending differences, echoing the immortal lyrics of John Lennon’s Imagine there’s no countries…Imagine all the people living in Peace of 1971. So great and powerful was its appeal that it topped multiple charts, selling a record-breaking 82 million copies.
The same year, the Beatles met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and, a few months later, arrived in Rishikesh at his ashram by the Ganges, to study ‘transcendental meditation’. The sprawling complex was dotted with 84 pod-shaped meditation domes, covered with rounded pebbles from the holy river-bed. There, amid the tranquil forests, facing the timeless flowing waters, they practised meditation and wrote some 48 songs, by some counts, later enshrined in the White Album and Abbey Road. With George Harrison embracing Hinduism, the Peace movement had hit a pious note. The Chaurasi Kutiya ashram site has today become a pilgrimage for peace, with thousands visiting it from around the world each year. Plans are afoot to restore the 15-acre campus and create a Beatles Museum within one of the structures.
The mandate for rekindling the premise is not only an exercise in functional conservation architecture and infrastructural re-development, but more importantly, to capture the spirit of meditative creativity that spawned the message of Love and Peace, in its most simplistic and pure form that eventually galvanised and united people across boundaries and backgrounds. Its emotive appeal – Timeless.
India, like many other developing nations has its share of natural and self-inflicted complex problems. With a massive workforce of 596.41 million as per 2023 statistics, a staggering 57 per cent are self-employed, while the unemployment rate hovers at about 5 per cent. Internal income disparities are compounded by external conflicts as it finds itself surrounded by unfriendly neighbours in the uneasy crosshairs of divisive forces bent on disrupting peace.
As politically divided nations parrot virtues of freedom and liberty, the notion of pluralistic inclusive societies has never been more relevant today, than any time in history. While it is tempestuous to be swayed to the left or right of the liberty bell, it is vital to acknowledge that ultimately the gong rings the tone in resonance with the greater karmic good. Its reverberations are intrinsically entwined and embedded in equity, empathy, engagement, and empowered excellence of human endeavour.
The fabric of India as a secular democracy is woven with threads of many colours that come together to transform tapestries into living memories of inspired collective resolve of celebrations of both our differences and denominators that bind us as one people. The adaptive elasticity of India’s peace-driven resilience draws from its music, arts, philosophy, scripture, literature, traditions, heritage, religions, cuisine and diverse cultural identities that has stood the test of time over the millennia, long before the formation of the present republic.
…You may say I am a Dreamer…and the world will live as ONE. Imagine, by John Lennon 1971!
The author is a world-renowned museologist, Commonwealth Scholar and an advocate of Cultural Diplomacy. He is the founding director of several stellar museums across continents, including exhibit experiences on Human Rights, Universalism, Slavery and, most recently, conceived the Sadhu Vaswani Peace Park under construction in New Jersey.