Might is Wealth

Luxembourg, tugged off between Belgium, France and Germany in the European Union fraternity, is not a big country or nation of great significance as its great and illustrious neighbors. Just as we need to look for a dot adjoining Malasia to identify Singapore, so too should we strain to locate Luxembourg, which has only about 25 km radius, and a population far below most of the metropolis of the sub-continent, with about four lakhs, a good majority hailing from other parts of the European Union, and one fourth from Portugal. Having said how insignificant this nation among the 26 other allies of the EU, let me give just one point, which may turn the boat topsy-turvy – Luxembourg boasts as the third biggest financial capital in the EU, and has over 200 banks in the city. Given the nature of the city then, every third or fourth building should be a bank. No wonder the steel tycoon from India Mittal has pitched his tent in Luxembourg recently as his capital.

A cauldron of several languages and cultures make this nation quite different from her immediate neighbors. Talking to the 95 year old Jesuit, who is a Luxembourger himself and had spent 40 years of his golden years in West Bengal, India, one gets the feeling that as a financer’s paradise, his homeland may soon defeat even Sweden. This brings to my mind the famous adage – might is right! Let me play with these words and see how they apply to Luxembourg. Might is right – we shall not debate on this axiom. Could we say the reverse too is a possibility? Right is might! What is right need not be something enormous; even a tiny little right can turn nations topsy-turvy. Right can be mighty, and so Luxembourg is truly mighty.

The problem with our world is that we often associate might with the powerful, and the haves, and the affordable. We cannot think of the unemployed, not educationally qualified men and women change the annals of our history. What can a school dropout in the United States of America do to the world? Microsoft Windows and Office still reigns supreme in all offices and personal computer systems, fruit of the labors of a school dropout! What can an Indian engineer trying to find his ways out in the States, struggling to make both ends meet do to our modern times – Shabeer Bhatia’s free first email service (hotmail) was born! In fact, the most noteworthy contributions to humanity were made by the people who were considered living on the margins of the society. They never thought they had the power and stamina to change the fate of the world, not even their petty worlds. If ever they had thought so, the very next moment they would have fallen from grace. I feel that the true sign of greatness lies in the fact that we are blissfully ignorant of it, and cannot even imagine such a state of grace bestowed on us.

It is said that greatness is thrust upon some people – and if Shakespeare is said to have made this statement, which is a corruption of Jesus saying on eunuchs (we shall not pause here to debate if Shakespeare really intended or not, or if it was merely an imagination of the author!), I would add that greatness is thrust upon someone, who does not consider himself/herself as being so, or deserve to be so! Looking at our society, in general we see two classes of people – on the one hand we have those who think they are great and behave so; on the other we have those who are truly great, but are happily unaware of it and living an altogether simple and frugal life; the latter are clouded incognito. I will go to the extent of saying that true greatness comes from the moral strength and conviction that we are but a spec in the sky; just a tiny little drop of water in the ocean.

Today I would like to read again those wonderful words of Mary’s song of praise and thanksgiving (popularly known as the magnificat), where she glorifies God for sending the rich away empty, for bringing down from their thrones, and filling the poor with riches. She talks about the reversal of fate. Today may be a good time for me to pause and ask myself on which side of the spectrum do I stand? Do I consider myself too high to be reached, too good for the people I deal with, too talented for the job I handle? Or do I feel unworthy to live in the company of beautiful people I share my life; fortunate to be given such responsible jobs I can hardly imagine? In fact, my heart will tell me how I feel just now! If I really feel so humbled and grateful, I cannot boast of being great and mighty and powerful, but the world will know that that is what I truly I am!