SHARED WISDOM

their normal business activities. Here, forgetting the HinduMuslim question, people were engaged in their work. Through their actions, they said that our biggest concern is earning a living. We have nothing to do with your speeches. When I went out of the city, the world seemed even broader. Here, the world of nature was giving a divine message. The vastness of the sky was firmly established. The trees were proudly displaying their greenery. The system of the sun and the moon was firmly in place. The breeze was giving its comforting message. I thought that people get excited about inflammatory speeches. But why is there a need to get excited or heated over a voice so worthless that it dissipates in the air as soon as it is spoken? Or why be excited or enthusiastic about something printed in the newspaper that ends up in a waste basket by evening? ACHIEVING HARMONY IN PLURALISTIC SOCIETIES When different people live together in modern pluralistic societies, one inevitably receives discomfort from others. To achieve harmony one should avoid or ignore the discomfort caused by others. On January 12, 1993, when I was in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, for a program, I met Mr. Madhu Mehta. He was the Chairman of the well-known ‘Hindustani Andolan’ movement, whose headquarters were in Bombay. It was my