By Sudha Dixit

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s famous quote, “The whole world loves a lover” is well known. A public figure needs all the love he can muster; love has more power than hostility or war. So the moment Narendra Modi came to power, he wisely planned to empower himself with the power of love. Hallelujah! he started conveying his love to and sundry. He was well loved in his home state Gujarat but now immediately, he got promoted from local lover-boy (Majnu) to an international Romeo.

 It’s good to choose love over war but you have to tread with caution, as they say in Hindi “Bahut kathin hai dagar panghat ki” (It’s a very tedious road to the waterhole). Well, let it be. The point is our PM chose love. Hurrah! But, there is another saying “Don’t kiss a fool and don’t be fooled by a kiss”. Now here is the catch. In his naivety our Modi saab kissed a fool that is Pakistan. He invited Nawaz Sharif for his oath – taking ceremony, played a perfect host. His new lover went back to Pakistan and set the terrorists free. Attacks on the border did not stop.

 Love is divine, not confined to one person. So our Romeo sent a love – letter to Xi Jinping, the Chinese President & inviting him to India, which was eagerly accepted. The President came and promised that hundreds of billions of dollars would be invested in India. So no wonder Chinese promises are also very brittle—too easily broken. While Our Romeo and Xi Jinping were exchanging warm hugs, Chinese troops were encroaching on Indian territory. We objected & they said ‘sorry love it was a slip’. We accepted gracefully and then came another stab in the form of objection to Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh.

 NDA’s euphoria over being a global lover – boy has no limitation. Modi invited Obama, shook hands with him, exchanged tight hugs and called him Barack informally and affectionately. The nation clapped in delight. Love was everywhere in the air. Yet the shrilling shock was in store. The darling goes back home, turns around and tells India (& Hindus) to be more tolerant of other religions. This was a slap in the face of the loving host. More so because Obama’s America does not practice what it preaches – Tolerance – recent attacks on Indians prove that.

  Same scenario with Sri Lankan President, Maithripala Sirisena. He was invited with warmth and affection, personal honour was bestowed on him. He enjoys the feast, returns home and his prime minister Ranil Wickramasinghe states ‘If any fisherman  enters Sri Lankan  waters, he may be shot dead’. A very apt retort could be ‘We too can shoot Sri Lankan fishermen if they stray into Indian waters as there is no visible LOC. But this eye for an eye attitude would leave both sides blind.

 They come, they see and they are conquered (seemingly) by our hugs and kisses but all the love is lost when they resume their ways of yore, without any improvement. Back to square one! What we really need is, not the lovey – dovey parley, not the romantic gestures – like hugs & kisses but statesmanship. An understanding of the ways of the world and art of asserting ourselves. We are tolerant because we are strong and we know what we can deliver & what we can demand in return. We need not kiss fools and we cannot be fooled by a kiss. We are the world.

About The Author:  Sudha Dixit is from Lucknow and studied at Aligarh Muslim Univ., Lucknow Univ. and Banaras Hindu University. She currently resides in Bangalore. She writes articles, poems in both Hindi & English. Her hobbies include painting and reading.