The noise of whirling fans of plane, sounds of bullet shots, ruins experiencing a sense of fulfillment without being demoralized, when others are busy observing changing colours of their dreams, the horizons of people here are just drowned in sand and yet standing firmly on the land of Gaza people here pray ardently for peace. With such life changing experiences my tour of Israel turned to be quite an educative one.
Each nation manifests its own unique ideological identity and diligently strives to nourish and strengthen it. Its collective consciousness is shaped by this unique identity and creates the history of that nation. Israel whose geographical map forms barely a small dot on the global map and yet attracts world wide attention is no exception to this universal principle.
By virtue of its irrepressible will power, unalloyed patriotism and strong survival instincts Israel not only recreated its national identity but also scaled new heights of progress and glory. Naturally Israel attracts attention of all. And I was no exception to it.
Hence when I received the invitation to join a delegation of all party spokespersons to tour Israel I accepted it instantly without a moment’s thought. Apart from the attraction of visiting Israel which manifests it irrepressible will power, being a devoutly theistic person Jerusalem held its own special attraction for me. It is the sacred land that has given the birth and nourished three major religions..viz. Jew, Christianity and Islam.
Both India and Jerusalem have had to face external aggressions. Jerusalem was destroyed and rebuilt many times in the history. But without grumbling about its limited resources or of its geographical constraints, it has accepted the challenge of the nature and gone on to create a new history. It is not easy to rebuild a flourishing country after being displaced from one’s own land. Israel has successfully accomplished that nearly impossible task.
Every day I experienced a variety of pleasant new surprises. Visiting its market place was one such experience. I had heard and read about the progress Israel has made in the field of agriculture. But I was truly zapped by its clean market places, decoratively arranged and laid out fruits and vegetables, their varieties.... onions as large as coconuts, foot long brinjals, gourds as big as one heard in grandma’s stories....( for a moment I really thought whether I should go back at all to India leaving all these goodies..). Their progress in agriculture is truly amazing. In spite of not having a single big river they have truly created a miracle making optimum use of their limited rainfall. Today only 2 per cent people undertake farming. And yet they not only fulfill Israel’s needs completely but also export their produce.
Israel’s industrial progress is also equally impressive. Today Tel-Aviv has become a start-up hub. With a view to encourage the creativity of the youth the municipal corporation pro-actively provides place and all required facilities to the start-up units. Tel-Aviv. Citizens of Tel-Aviv do not need to visit municipal corporation for lodging their complaints. They can register their complaints over their mobile from the comforts of their home. And their complaints are resolved within specified time. No wonder Tel-Aviv has been awarded the prize of smart city.
It is said that people who don’t forget history create a bright future. The history of Jews is really a very harsh and cruel one. The massacre of Jews ordered by Hitler and inhuman atrocities & cruelties inflicted on them,... Jews have conserved those tribulations of their history in a Holocaust Museum ... it preserves the memories of suffering of atrocities, destruction and ruins.
Visiting their university, understanding their water supply arrangement and sewerage system, were a part of our tour. At nights we witnessed magnificent shows displaying an inspiring admixture of their history and their achievements. An interesting dance show by a club of senior citizens made us realise that the word ‘Festival’ need not necessarily mean ‘Only for Youth’. A group of people both men & women in the age group of of around 80 were merrily lost in the rhythmic steps of lively music totally oblivious of their advanced age. 
The visit to Jerusalem, my main attraction, presented a truly enriching experience. Religion must be accepted as an indispensable part of every human being. Though the terminologies and definitions may be different for different religions. But all of them strive to inculcate values like humanity, love, ethical living, purity of thoughts, goodwill for others, etc. It is for this reason that people of different religions come together and work for the betterment of people. In India which is a country of a variety of communities I come across such inspiring incidents almost on daily basis. But in the sacred city of Jerusalem I experienced this fact more emphatically. The method of praying may be different, the places of faith and devotion may be different, method of expressing devotion may be different, the names by which people address God may also be many. But the spirit behind all this is just one and the same. The ultimate power is one and the same. And the different paths that teach noble values noble values noble values ultimately lead to the same destination. On reaching there all impurities of mind wither away. The supreme being that is present in every particle of the universe also dwells in the heart of all human beings. The tragedy is that the ugly shadow of indiscretion knowingly or unknowingly clouds this truth. After praying that this ugly shadow may be cleared from the minds of all people we left Jerusalem.
Defense is an important subject for a country. That too for a country like Israel whose existence is not accepted by many countries, whose borders are always in danger, and for securing those borders they have to be always on alert, for war may erupt any moment ...under such circumstances defense gains a very high priority. Peace and security is basic need of all living beings in contemporary world. And all out efforts must be made to maintain peace. I realised this stark fact as I met Ronnie Qaider on the border of Gaza. People living there live constantly in war like situation. People like Qaider strive continuously for peace without losing hopes or being mentally destroyed in spite of having lost close relatives. From where would she be drawing so much patience...? It is said that if the wish of an individual is sincere entire world collaborates for its fulfillment. I left Gaza border with such deep introspective thoughts.
In this tour we also got see confluence of the old and the new. Just as we saw the new developing Israel we also met committed traditionalists. On one hand we saw everywhere women who moved about freely dressed in modern clothes and attire, undertaking modern employments presenting a modern and developing Israel while on the other hand we were surprised to find that at the time of marriage the women has to undergo a course on how to be a good housewife. Otherwise if the women decides to go for divorce the court accepts the husbands version. We were also shocked to learn that though Israel adopts science whole heartedly it closes down completely for ‘Sabat’ from Friday sunset till Saturday sunset since it is traditionally considered by Jews to be day of rest.
People like me came from different parts of India for this tour. We were spokespersons of different political parties representing different ideologies......We were meeting for the first time... yet our conversation began with a feeling as if we knew each other since long. Just as the means of communications is changing rapidly in modern time so also our conversation began with a collective selfie and it also ended with a collective selfie.
We were all staying together and visiting different places. A special relationship had developed amongst us. Though we represented different ideologies the string of our discussions remained positive aspects like progress, development, peace, unity........
The foreign tours of PM Narebdra Mody during past 3-4 years have attracted widespread discussions and criticism as well. However tours are very important. And many positive results can be accomplished through them. So long I used write about such points. And have also discussed them in my TV debates. But I experienced it first hand during this tour. The dawns and the dusks of all countries are similar. But your experiences differ. Because the level of one’s experience gets widened. This tour of Israel proved to be an enhancer of the horizon of my experience.
- Keshav Upadhye
- @keshavupadhye
Writer is a Spokesperson of Maharashtra BJP and head of Media Department of State BJP
A very good article @keshavupadhye
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