● A devout, practising Hindu, Tulsi Gabbard places her hand on a copy of Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta and takes oath of office as the new Director of National Intelligence of the United States of America.

● Indian-origin Hindu entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is poised to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in tandem with the iconic Elon Musk in the new Donald Trump Administration.

● Indian-origin Bobby Jindal, the Governor of Louisiana, heads President-elect Donald Trump’s ‘America First Policy Institute’ in Washington DC.

● Indian-origin Kash Patel with fantastic knowledge of strategic and security issues is being viewed in Washington DC to play a critical role in the Trump Administration that will take charge on January 20, 2025.

● Just a few weeks earlier, Indian-origin Kamala Harris fought a tough battle and lost the presidential race to Donald Trump. But, in the previous four years, as President Joe Biden’s Deputy, she had created a political promise for herself.

● A little earlier than the polling in the race to the top post, presidential candidate Donald Trump says several times in one single speech, he loves Hindus, and he loves India.

● A few months earlier, Rishi Sunak made his maiden speech as Leader of Opposition and assured that his party would engage itself in creative cooperation with the government and raise meaningful issues. Just a few days prior to that, Rishi Sunak stood on the other side of the line -- the Treasury Benches -- as Britain’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister.

● Even a cursory Google search throws up a list of Indians or Indian-origin people who are leading global corporations with mind-boggling valuations and products and services. India’s Ministry of External Affairs, too, gives out list of nations with sizeable numbers of Indians -- under different official definitions -- making signal contributions to the social, economic, cultural and political processes there. In most of those places, the people with Indian origin often dominate the overall scene. People of Indian origin are Presidents, Prime Ministers, parliamentarians, administrators, entrepreneurs, cultural icons, litterateurs, artists, scientists, scholars of different subjects. Countless numbers of Indian scientists have won highest awards in hundreds of countries for their signal contribution to the growth and development of sciences. Each of those millions of persons -- spread in almost in every country around the world -- offers a symbolism of the Global India beyond the old stereotype.

 

 

 

In other words, they are the pointers to a new paradigm that is slated to dominate the current century’s remaining decades -- and potentially beyond. Prophetically, Prime Minister Modi has called this century as India’s Century ! T hese are the pointers toatraversebeyond the old stereotype, or, in the other words, they suggest the rise of a new stereotype --obviouslydominated by India and Indians, possibly proving in the process the validity of what Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls New India. We may even describe the development as Global India. Global India ! That is what is becoming increasingly evident all over the world -- initiated pronouncedly by Narendra Modi ten years ago when he assumed India’s prime ministership. He reached out to the India beyond its own borders -- in the form of people from India (though defined differently in different countries and political and administrative eco-systems). Earlier, too, this India beyond India always existed, but was only rarely recognised by India and its leaders and people.

 

Narendra Modi gave that India beyond its own borders a recognition it deserved for long. Narendra Modi saw tremendous potential in that India -- as an expanded and extended footprint of an emerging world power. Until recently, India and its society saw itself as a diffident - - even timid -- collective entity with smart individual members. Today’s India -- within its borders and beyond -- is a confident, dynamic, forward-looking and forward-moving nation. Today’s India is also realising the strength of its enormous historical timeline and knowledge culture and tremendously rich tradition and accommodative ethos or inclusive social architecture. True, Tulsi Gabbard in not an Indian per se, though she is a devout, practising Hindu. And so when she placed her hand on Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta to take oath, she instantly created a sense of affinity with India and Indian people. And even though Governor Bobby Jindal converted to Christianity in his college years giving up his Hindu-by-birth faith, the Indian affinity persists.

 

This affinity underlines the Global India or forms its core value -- Indianness. So, a Kamala Harris, though fully dedicated to American interests, or an Indra Nooyi who is happy with legacies with both, India and the US, or a Rishi Sunak who is Hindu by faith and thought and action but is every inch a British, or countless others in different fields having chosen to live outside the geographical borders of India, are still very much Indian. In other words, they are citizens of Global India. This very thought gives rise to an immense sense of pride -- and a positive prejudice -- in us within Indian borders. Of course, as it must be stated again, a vaster India did exist beyond its borders -- in Indonesia, in Malaysia, in Suriname, in Guyana, in Mauritius, in Singapore, in Thailand, even in in Japan and China through Buddhism that went there from India, in Afghanistan, in Myanmar, in Jawa, in Sumatra, in Mongolia, also in several countries in the Balkan regions or erstwhile Soviet Union .. by way of Indian traditions, by way of religious faith or cultural practices ... ! Yet, the India within its geographical borders did not actually pause and think about the vaster Global India -- a process that the visionary Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated. He moved around the world connecting with the Global Indians -- which most call diaspora -- conversing with them, looking straight and deep into their eyes, playing drums with their music groups, reminding them of their India back home. ‘Yes, this is your home, all right. But back home in India, you have your another, original home -- where you are always welcome,’ Narendra Modi said once, in effect, in his address to a massive Indian audience in a foreign country.

 

As he said those words, the Global India in that little pocket rose to its feet, clapped, shouted slogans and chanted Modi, Modi, Modi ... India, India, India ! Enough evidence from history is available to state that India or the past connected itself richly with the world and that its ships sailed all seas to different parts of the world for commerce and also for cultural exchanges. And countless numbers of Indian kings and monarchs and royals carried their political aspirations to different lands and created empires beyond the borders of the India of those times with much vaster geography under its control. But when Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to establish a stronger, closer and spiritual connect with Global India, he asserted time and again that today’s India was carrying forward in the footprint of its ancestors who believed in oneness of the global human family -- Vasudheiva Kutumbakam ! It is certainly not easy to fathom the depth of Indian presence in different parts of the world. But suffice it is to know that hundreds of global corporations have CEOs of Indian origin. Suffice also it is to say that countless thousands of Indian scientists and professionals are populating different geographies and cultures and countries of the world to expand the footprint of Global India.

 

And, to be sure, there also is trending a reverse flow of Indians heading back home with an idea to make better contributions to Mother India. Iconic scientists like Padma Vibhushan Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar have proved to be the magnets that have attracted countless thousands of Indian men and women of science to return to homeland and offer their services despite low monetary returns. Global India of today, thus, is proving to be a spiritual entity that facilitates a two-way flow of people -- in and out without any psychological or pseudo-moral inhibitions of doing something right or not so right -- in the truest Vedic tradition. ■