New Delhi, May 17 -- Dear Reader,

Last week may have been a distressing time for some of you, particularly if you live in one of India's border towns. For a friend in Srinagar, it was like dying every night, not knowing if she would wake up alive. Even at a distance, cocooned in the comfort and safety of the national capital, the India-Pakistan conflict and the possibility of a full-blown war took a mental toll on many of us. Thanks to the ceasefire-and hope it isn't a fragile one-we can catch our breath. And revisit some forgotten wisdom.

Rabindranath Tagore, the poet laureate who penned India's national anthem,Jana Gana Mana, wrote in a letter to a friend that "patriotism can't be our final spiritual shelter. I will not buy glass for ...