Aaradhya’s India: The Whole World Is Our Family

By Wayne Edward Hanson --
13 Dec 2018 --

A 7-year-old girl shares her pride in her home country, India, in a video posted to Facebook.

Scientologist Wayne Hanson, a regular contributor to the STAND (Scientologists Taking Action to End Discrimination) website, writes about a remarkable 7-year-old girl, Aaradhya Sharma and her equally remarkable father, Rohit Sharma, a Hindu and a Scientologist. Mr. Sharma has taken on reversing the moral decay of the second most populous country on Earth–his native India. For his tremendous contribution to creating a better world, he was presented with the International Association of Scientologists Freedom Medal in October 2015.

Aaradhya’s India: The Whole World Is Our Family[/tweetthis]

“Every child comes with the message,” said Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, “that God is not yet discouraged with man.”

“I am proud to be an Indian,” says Aaradhya Sharma, age 7 in a Facebook video. “There are uncountable reasons for it, but I really don’t need any of them as I just love my motherland like my mother. India is the birthplace of Vedas¹ the most valuable ancient scriptures and also it is the birthplace of world’s major religions, like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. India is the world’s oldest, largest and most-continuous civilization. It is the largest democracy in the world.

“What makes me more proud,” she continues, “is our unity in diversity’ which makes us unique and different. We are the only country where people of different religion, race, culture, faith, belief, caste, language and income live together with peace and love.

“Yoga, meditation, Ayurveda², chess, zero, decimals, snakes and ladders, binaries, calculus, trigonometry, algebra, etc. all are originated in our India. Takshila³ was the first ever university in the whole world. Our ancient language Sanskrit is the mother of many languages in the world…

“We believe in charity. Indians’ hearts are bigger than their house. I have myself observed that free food in langar⁵ is distributed in many Temples, Gurudwaras⁶, Dharamshalas⁷, even on roads every single day.

“‘Atithi Devo Bhava!’ [‘The guest is God’], ‘Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah!’ [‘May all become happy’], ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam!’ [‘The whole world (or whole Earth) is one family’]. All these values have existed only in our culture. India has never invaded any country to date because we believe the whole world is our family. Can anyone tell me which other country has such principles? Time is short, but my list is endless. Now I am concluding my speech with this line: ‘Sare Jahan Se Achcha Hindustan Humara!’ [‘India is the most beautiful place in the world’] Thank you.”

“Every child comes with the message,” said Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, “that God is not yet discouraged with man,” and Aaradhya Sharma reminds me of that, of the wisdom, intelligence and innocence of children that is often forgotten in a world seemingly steeped in racism, religious conflict, and bigotry. Perhaps this child’s view is how we were before evil entered the world, the best of humanity, the best of us. While a cynic might think such a child does not understand the “real world,” perhaps the child’s world is the real, the original, and our world but a corrupted version of it.

Aaradhya’s father is Rohit Sharma, a Scientologist and International Association of Scientologists Freedom Medal Award Winner, who lives in New Delhi, India, and is tackling the social realities of India through his The Way to Happiness campaign. His mission is to fight the culture of corruption, hedonism and Western materialism in his country, and reverse his nation’s moral decay.

Precept 4 of The Way to Happiness is “Love and Help Children,” and through the 21 Precepts perhaps the reality of Aaradhya and children everywhere may finally be realized. As Aaradhya says in the video: “Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah”: “May all become happy.”

Definitions:

¹ Vedas: The most ancient scripture.
² Ayurveda: Ancient Indian holistic medicine.
³ Takshila: The world’s first university (now located in Pakistan).
⁴ Kabaddi: An old Indian sport.
⁵ Langar: A communal free meal distributed in religious and other settings.
⁶ Gurudwara: Sikh religious place of worship.
⁷ Dharamshalas: A place or rest house for religious or charitable purposes.