India, Sept. 6 -- The fingerprints of all human beings are different. So too the variations of their physiognomy, even though there is the almost banal similarity of a pair of eyes, nose, body, limbs etc. The ancient concept of Parabrahman is uncannily the same. For example, in the Mahabharata, Krishna, who Arjuna sees more as a friend than a cousin, is his God. Each time the Pandava forgot this, it led to disaster!

India has had the mixed fortune of being under the influence of many waves of people, with different languages, customs, food habits and philosophies. "Let good thoughts come from all directions," proclaimed our ancestors. They had the confidence in themselves not to be intimidated by something quite different from them. They...