Hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

Hand that rocks the cradle rules the world In the course of India's civilizational journey Mahajanapada era marks a significant milestone. It represents the second urbanisation stage post the Indus Valley civilisation. Though all the kingdoms of this era were stars in their own right, one of them shone brighter than others, Magadha. Magadha marked the convergence of a favourable geography protecting it's capital, economic acumen of it's residents and the strategic mindset of it's rulers. These rulers carefully rocked the cradle which held the raw forms of these advantages and created favourable conditions for their successors.

It was their hand that brought majority of Indian subcontinent under Magadha's rule. This act of rocking the cradle thus changed or shaped the fate of an entire subcontinent. The act of rocking a cradle signifies the process of nurturing, like a parent does for her child. It is the process or rite of passage through which a still nascent entity is shaped. For instance, the cradle containing the revolutionary but still quasi-developed idea of swaraj was rocked by the leaders of India's Independence Movement like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and others. Gandhiji is today called "The father of the Nation" this reflects that the act of rocking the cradle bestows authority upon the hand. The hand when given authority can exert influence or in other words establish rule over the world. It does this by shaping the institutions that form the pillars of global order. In this way the hand acts as the architect of world's structure. The aforementioned phenomenon is reflected in the role United States of America played in the shaping of organisations like World Bank, World Trading Organisation, United Nations & others.

By using the authority it gained by winning the World War II it rocked the cradle holding globalization becoming the leader of the free world. The USA integrated this authority with the propaganda of creating a new humanity centric free world to achieve it aims. The hand rocking the cradle often sets the narrative creating acceptance for the force it's nurturing. This is crucial for establishing it's rule as it provides legitimacy. Take the case of Green Revolution in India. Indian government used food security, patriotism to create favourable conditions for the cradle's inhabitants i.e input intensive agriculture. This resulted in India becoming leading producer of rice & wheat. This narrative is often guided by vision. The act of rocking the cradle inherently implies a futuristic element's existence within the hand's intentions. This makes the hand gain advantage over it's peers establishing it's rule. China's complete dominance over Rare Earth processing capability is a case in point. China carefully planned it's ventures and banked upon the future indispensability of these minerals to now rule it's supply chain. However, vision without adequate means and a will to take action is meaningless.

The hand makes sure that the nascent entity has the capability to counter the challenges the future might create. For instance, the world today is grappling with climate change. To equip the future generations to be able to live a good life countries across the world are creating renewable energy infrastructure, mitigation infrastructure etc. It is by doing this that the hand is ensuring that humans continue to survive & thrive in an increasingly inhospitable world. As seen with climate change, "the hand" cannot succeed alone. Subsumed within the very act of rocking a cradle is the will to co-operate. This will is the very essence of the act as without it a hand would never nurture anything. The initiative by India to create a coalition to counter the increasing frequency of disasters mirrors this essence. Through this "the hand" create alliances which in turn reinforce it's claim to the throne. However, the act of rocking the cradle may not always yield dividends. Sometimes the hand might act maliciously and try to nurture ideas that counter the very essence of humanity. This results in collective rejection and ostracization of "the hand". In modern world it is seen in how the world is acting together to counter the hand rocking the cradle of terrorism.

United Nations Counter Terrorism Committee, Financial Action Task Force, efforts like operation sindoor by India are some such steps. External responses thus play a key role in "the hands" success. It is often seen that "the hand" might be shortsighted and not account for all eventualities. This causes the foundation of the cradle to collapse whisking away any chance of rulership. The idea of Democracy was a victim of this in many post colonial nations. In nations like Pakistan "the hand" rocking the cradle of democracy failed to account for a creation of military deep state and inherent flaws with birthing a nation completely on religious ideology. This has taken all agency out of the backers of democracy in Pakistan. This shows that certain eventualities and the thorny road to the future may render "the hand's" efforts moot.

To establish it's rule and to make it meaningful the hand must ensure that it's efforts and ideologies are grounded in ground realities and concrete facts. For instance, TATAs could only become a successful iron-steel Industry by coalescing geography, capital and human capital availability. "The hand" must also cultivate the "x" factor required to succeed along with this knowledge. Human creativity and sheer grit has often led their holders to the absolute summit of the world. The cradle might be old but if the hand possesses these it can rule the world. For example, The Wright brothers could bring human desire to soar through the skies into reality through passion, genius & effort. Creativity however must be channelled positively otherwise it can spell disaster. Kautilya's idea that a ruler must always take actions for the welfare of his subjects as their welfare is his welfare must guide the hand. It should always stay virtuous & nurture entities that are humane and benefit all. It is only through this can the rule be sustained and be meaningful. Ultimately, the journey of a hand from rocking the cradle i.e nurturing an idea to becoming an hegemon is a long one. It involves the complex interplay of factors like authority, legitimacy, vision, agency & co-operation. Though these factors create situations when the hand rocking the cradle might rule the world they are not ubiquitously successful. The hand must always be mindful of externalities and inculcate within it's ethos a hunger for facts, a mind full of curiosity and a heart full of virtue. Only through an integration of these elements can the statement "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world" become a reality. like the kingdom of Magadha did.

The idea of Democracy was a victim of this in many post colonial nations. In nations like Pakistan "the hand" rocking the cradle of democracy failed to account for a creation of military deep state and inherent flaws with birthing a nation completely on religious ideology. This has taken all agency out of the backers of democracy in Pakistan. This shows that certain eventualities and the thorny road to the future may render "the hand's" efforts moot. To establish it's rule and to make it meaningful the hand must ensure that it's efforts and ideologies are grounded in ground realities and concrete facts. For instance, TATAs could only become a successful iron-steel Industry by coalescing geography, capital and human capital availability.