I cannot conceive of a world without borders. But living in India has opened my mind to form an opinion that something very noble for mankind is possible, but our selfishness and inhibitions are preventing it to happen.

A study of India is a perfect case of study of the world. India’s rich heritage lies in its diversity. India is a multi-lingual, multi-cultural, multi-faith and also socially divided country where even dialect of a language changes every few kilometres. Yet, India is an indestructible union of states, who have no rights to secede and who are merely jurisdictional and administrative functionaries of the union. This model is easily extendable as it has the strength to take complete care of regional aspirations, sporadic jingoism and also address economic issues down to micro level.

But first things first. What ails the OneWorld cause? Are the concerns of the first world real? The existing setup presents a very bleak picture. Honestly, there are too many outstanding issues of the deprived; as also far too many equations unsolved in power balance. My point is, very little or nothing is being done to find a way out. There is ease in leaving things in permanent suspension, retain status-quo, and abandon them for time to decide. I always thought, ‘Ram Bharose’ was only central to Indian way of life. But now I know, it is more to do with complex human nature.

I think the stage is well set for OneWorld to take off. Let us not denounce every moral as too much utopian to be practical. The idea just needs to catch the fancy of the chosen few who lord over the fate of life on earth. No time in available history is more ripe than now.

There is a valid reason. Nations across continents are today economically competing to get a share in global manufacturing and trade. Acceptance of democracy and rise of nationalism linked with anti-corruption movements in different parts of the world have made the political elite more accountable. Spread of education is turning into awakening. This new empowerment has resulted in citizens becoming more demanding. Political agendas now talk only of employment generation, health & sanitation, tax & interest, infrastructure and so on, promising better life for citizens. The point to make is, leaderships across the world are now citizen focused with ‘better life” on promise. With that being the priority, left over under-current of dogma of medieval times, feudal practices and parochial value systems are all but dying out fast. On top of this sits the internet which has cast its web and is ever absorbing everything in its fold. Not just Answers to Problems, but Sharing (call it e-Love or e-Compassion)! This universal availability of Knowledge (Truth) is sewing the e-community rapidly shunning notions based on misconstrued tradition. Here lies the OneWorld with the emergence of the Like-Mindedness across geographies.

My second observation is, leaderships around the world are making their citizens conscious of the political boundaries they belong to and must stay confined in. Though on the face, it defeats the beautiful idea of OneWorld but it has resulted in emitting two opposite forces. One, assertion of sovereignty and territorial rights and a nation staying in perpetual mode to safeguard the same; Two, has correspondingly led to accepting and respecting the neighbour’s rights and sovereignty over its territory. Clear fallout is end of war over boundary.

End of war is the first step to the dream of OneWorld taking shape. 21st century battle ground has become more economic and already making moves even to open more fronts in competition in varied sectors.

Since I am a native of South Asia, to a western reader, I may sound to be demanding. I do not belong to that cadre of civil society of celebrities that strives to be global citizen. Because when they raise voice, legitimacy gets accorded to the cause. We must acknowledge, voices are there in the air.

There is so much merit and positivity in this beautiful OneWorld, yet convincement points will never be enough for some who would continue to despise and never allow. Change of faith is rare, and never the ultimate solution. Discount this element, and let us study the way forward. The course from the state of things as they exist today, and not just imaginative or wishful thinking.

This is an immense task at hand for world to acknowledge. Biased concerns of the west remain dominant since no effort or meaningful proposal has been put forth by any leader of stature. To my mind, issues of migrants, refugees, jobs, security and even the most feared demographic change etc. are rather subjects of elementary classes. There are far too many conflicts in world polity which stay unresolved. My next few articles will ponder over some of these challenges and discuss opportunities worthy to explore and overcome.