In pursuit of the next big idea to guide and transform the world
The quintessential square of inspiration thus consists of the ability to dream the impossible, the vision to articulate that dream, the pragmatism to execute the vision and the grit to persevere with it in the face of adversity.
The eternal aspiration that freedom and justice must reign was encapsulated in the Magna Carta negotiated between King John of England and the rebel batons. It is “the ultimate ideal” that inspires.
The said compact ordained that no free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land and to no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice. Cinched on June 15, 1215 it laid the foundations of due process and these immortal words became the grundnorm of classical jurisprudence.
In 1789, the rallying cry of the French Revolution – Liberty ,Equality and Fraternity – ignited a million minds and immeasurable mutinies for epochs thereafter. It epitomised the fundamental impulse of liberation struggles that people are the sovereign and should be masters of their destiny. Not some decadent ruler feudal lord, imperialist or colonialist and not essentially in that order.
The quintessential square of inspiration thus consists of the ability to dream the impossible, the vision to articulate that dream, the pragmatism to execute the vision and the grit to persevere with it in the face of adversity.
The 20th century was lit up by colossuses who gave confidence, courage and a course to their peoples. The man who had the most vivid dream in race-torn America was Martin Luther King Jr when he stated on the steps of Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood...I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today…”.
That speech given during the tumultuous days of the civil rights movement finally put a black man in the White House in January 2009, 46 years later. It testifies to the power of a dream.
Two years and eight months before King’s epochal speech, a young US President John F Kennedy delivered his inaugural address on Friday, January 20, 1961 again outlining an inspiring vision. “Now the trumpet summons us again—not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are—but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation”—a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself….”.
A vision that ultimately became the harbinger of some of the greatest breakthroughs across the board that mitigated tyranny, moderated poverty and diminished disease. The practical implications of that vision led to the birth of the APRAnet in 1962 that blossomed into the world wide web or the internet as we know it today in 1991 .
Then, there was sheer grit 22 years earlier . As Great Britain stood alone in its darkest hour with Europe having fallen to the Nazi jackboot and the island across the English channel next on the list, Prime Minister Winston Churchill rallied the spirits of his people in their time of extreme adversity . Addressing the House of Commons on June 4, 1940, he defiantly stated, “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender…”
It was the day when Operation Dynamo –the evacuation of Allied troops – ended, bringing 338000 of them back to British shores.
There could not be greater examples from ancient , mediaeval and modern history of ideas that set many rivers and redoubts aflame with the spirit of resilience and resolve.
The men and women who led India to freedom and presided over the incubation of our great democratic experiment were not only animated with most these ideas and ideals, but had also imbibed, absorbed and assimilated many of the tectonic upheavals they had unleashed.
Today, as India regresses once again into politics of identity – religion and caste – what it requires is an uplifting vision and unifying ideas that rises above these fractures in an edifying act of national renewal. The dogmas of divisiveness must give way to the cannons of compassion and cohesion.
The world today stands at the cusp of four fundamental transitions; a Westphalian evolution from a brick and mortar world to a hybrid between a physical and virtual civilisation, a technological switch from the 3rd to the 4th industrial revolution, an energy changeover from hydrocarbons to renewables and a climate shift from the predictable to the extreme. The big idea that will see us through the era of tectonic transformation is conspicuous by its absence. The old order is passeth the new yet to be born. It is the age of monsters and the world is led by pygmies.
Manish Tewari is a lawyer, three-time MP and former Union minister. The views expressed are personal.