The past is all there.  Before the glory that was Greece and Rome, there was a valiant, enchanting land, full of spiritual vigor and mystic wisdom.  Creating breath-catching wonders in sculpture, art, literature, Science, Mathematics, Astronomy, Philosophy, and Medicine, to name only a few, the ancient land of Bharat marched on in its gold brick road. The wise men of Bharat, the rishis, held infinity in the palm of their hand and communed with the Universe.  From Afghanistan to Burma and from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, their vivid dynamism gave the world the decimal system, the concept of zero, stupendous architecture, paintings, Panchatantra, Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Kalidasa, vatsayana, Buddhism, Jainism, Arthashastra, etc. etc.  The brilliant land stood out with the brightness of a thousand suns, against the backdrop of an ancient world of brutal empires, starved humanity and a civilization celebrating the stone-age.

Not surprisingly, Bharat of ancient times, unconquered, unrivaled, had its confidence soaring and its mind unfettered.  A master realist, Chanakya, a product of those glorious times, gave a strategic compass via the Neetishastra which ensured the prosperity and culture to thrive for over 1000 years.  However, all good things come to an end and so it happened to Bharat also.

From the front row of the History stage, the curtain rises on another era.  We now witness a new scene where Christianity and Islam duel it out in the Middle East and Europe and then turn towards the sunny land of Bharat.  The golden era when Bharat could defeat the Greeks and extend its influence from Afghanistan to Burma was no longer there.  There was prosperity, there was culture, enterprise, civilization, etc. but there was a missing piece.  The philosophy of Chanakya and strategic compass was gone.  Gone also was the strategic ruthlessness of dealing with the enemy, of keeping up with new techniques of warfare such as horse breeding or musketry.  India became soft.  It lost the muscular heft that protects wealth and culture.  And thus we enter the era of missed opportunities, of strategic blunders that Nationalists rightly moan with anger and frustration.

A classic example is provided by the 12th century Rajput king, Prithvi Raj Chauhan.  Courageous and patriotic, he defeated Mohammed Ghori but instead of finishing off the job he pardoned him.  His misplaced generosity was not returned. Ghori got him only once and that was enough.  His eyes were gouged out and he suffered a humiliating death.  In addition the population was forcibly converted to Islam, the men folk butchered and the women sold into harems. What kind of a mindset would let go a vicious enemy?   Unfortunately, the same mindset is now dealing with Pakistan.  They attack us in Bombay and we give them Aman ki Asha.  On the other hand, tiny ancient Nubia, learnt very quickly how to deal with Islam.  Using poisoned arrows, guerilla warfare and ferocious ruthlessness they returned cruelty for cruelty and deterred and wiped out Islam from Nubia and prevented its taking root in major parts of Africa.