Influencing & Creating Collective Consciousness

  •   Fri, Jul 11 2025
  •   By Prof Sunney Tharappan

July 11, 2025

This happened a little more than thirty years ago.

I accepted an assignment at one of the institutions at Abu Dhabi; hence, decided to travel to Dubai and from there to Abu Dhabi. From the Dubai airport, I hired a taxi to Abu Dhabi and after reaching the place, hired a local taxi to go to the place booked for my accommodation. After reaching the destination, I asked the driver to open the boot to take out the suitcase. The driver replied that I did not put any luggage in the boot. I had a mild shock when the driver opened the boot as I noticed that my suitcase was not there.

It was then that I looked at the driver whom I suspected of some mischief. He wore a Pakistani dress and my mind travelled in the same direction like any Indian who has a suspicion about any Pakistani. Meanwhile, the driver told me that it could have been in the car in which I had travelled from Dubai. It struck me then that I had not taken the suitcase from the long-trip car from Dubai. Noticing the forlorn expressions on my face, the driver said that the suitcase would certainly be in the lost and found section of the Abu Dhabi Central Bus Station and took me back to the place.

The car went back to the same place where I alighted from the long-trip car. Mr Mohammad, that was his name, took me to the place where lost things were stored and guided me through all the formalities. Soon Mohammad put me back to the place where I was supposed to stay. At that time, the cost of the local trip was six Dirhams and I had made three trips, and therefore, I paid him eighteen Dirhams. Mohammad refused to take all of them and took only twelve Dirhams and to my surprise, he stated that he had made only two trips and the return trip was natural for him as he had to reach his regular parking place. I was pleasantly surprised at his behaviour.

As he had given me his telephone number, I called him for everyday for my travel and on the final day I invited him for dinner. He was originally from the Afghan-Pakistan border. So, I took him to an Afghan restaurant and ordered for him an Afghanistani dish which he said he could not afford normally. Noticing that I was eating only vegetarian food and that it was habitual, he felt embarrassed and said that I could even cancel the non-vegetarian dish which I ordered for him. I did not do it. Before leaving he said that Indians and Pakistanis have nothing against each other and that all the enmity was created by the politicians from either side. While leaving, I promised him that I would write about him and send him a copy of it after publication.

I did publish an article about him and his last statement. However, I forgot to send a copy to him. Almost a month later, I received a call from him in which he stated that I still had my forgetfulness, jokingly indeed with a mild laughter, referring to my forgetting to send him the possible article. Later I sent him a copy of the article and we continued to be in touch for some more time. Thereafter, like what happens to accidental friendships, both of us forgot each other.

After reading the regular newspaper on the first of June two thousand twenty-five, I noticed two reports and remembered Mohammad, the driver at the Abu Dhabi Central Bus Station and his last statement.

The first report that I had to refer to is on Osaka World Expo where India had a pavilion. While many nations were exhibiting their modern might, India focused on its soft power and showcased a cultural renaissance. The expo is held, once in every five years showcasing innovations and fostering exchanges between nations and cultures, to address global challenges.

The Indian pavilion, curated by Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts is described as an immersive civilisational experience, rooted India’s global identity in compassion and the flowing wisdom of the Bodhi stream. On conceptualisation to storytelling, IGNCA has played a modern day sutradhar (narrator) bringing together Indian’s ancient philosophy and contemporary ambitions. The design of the pavilion is a tribute to ‘Bodhisattva Padmapani’ from the iconic Ajantha Caves, symbolising compassion, enlightenment, inclusivity, sustainability and progress, serving as a bridge between its spiritual heritage and its ambitious future.

Extremely sharp in contrast on the same day of the report above, there was the other report of statements from national leaders about the Indo Pakistan conflict. The worst of such statements were made by politicians at the Ahilyabai Holkar birth anniversary at Jamburi ground in Bhopal where at the top of his voice one national leader stated that a bullet would be answered with a shell. We sent a parliamentary delegation to other countries after the world thought differently and looked down upon India for its actions against Pakistan.

While reading the two news reports, I remembered the words of the Pakistani driver whom I met at the Abu Dhabi Central Bus Station. They seemed to be prophetic for me while I read through the objectives of the Osaka Expo and the statements by the politicians in this country about and against Pakistan.

Times out of number, those who administer and lead a country do create reasons for national consciousness against individuals and other countries. What is essential at the time of stress is to create a national consciousness against any violence on either side or work for the promotion of peace in both the countries. Whenever nationalism narrows down to fanatical obscurantism bordering within itself, hiding of facts and provision of misinformation are given legitimacy. The people who are misled in this manner to develop hatred of the other by creating a consciousness against another country have greater chances of suffering and loss and reduction in peaceful progress.

 

 

 
By Prof Sunney Tharappan
Prof Sunney Tharappan, is director of College for Leadership and HRD, Mangaluru. He trains and writes and lives in Mangaluru. Email: tharappans@gmail.com.
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