One fine afternoon, I ventured to the balcony and gazed at the trees and chirping birds with amusement. A flock of them was parked on the branches of a mango tree and having an animated discussion in a language only they could understand. A squirrel popped in and a couple of parrots too perched on that branch. Wow! It looked like a party I would love to be invited to :) Meanwhile, a group of dogs started howling from different locations in synchrony, it was almost like having an impromptu concert with everyone pitching in from their location without the assistance of technology...Ha! This was so much better than our coordinated Zoom or WhatsApp calls.

At times I can’t stop marveling at the wonder and intelligence prevalent in nature, birds and animals. In contrast, we humans are intelligent dolts. This oxymoron can’t be more apt — we think we are the most evolved among all species and rulers of this planet. We have put names to continents, oceans, seas and rivers, demarcated borders, made various currencies and trade policies, and created governance and civil structure, most importantly rules and regulations in societies. Unlike animals and birds, our babies grow up to go to school and college, and then work, travel, network, forge relationships and multiply. What a way to keep us busy right? It’s good to have a societal structure in place, but do we need it? How about coexisting peacefully? What makes us have rules, policies, armies, wars, police and courts to punish and prevent crimes? I think this is partly attributable to our ‘intelligent civilization’.

When our planet is seen from space, no borders are visible. It’s a beautiful orb of blues, greens and browns. Then who came up with the idea to define borders? Without borders and the greed to capture resources and colonize nations, we wouldn’t have had all those wars in the past and the present. I am sure our first line of homo sapiens will sit with their head in hands in the sky if they happen to have a glimpse at our world right now, especially this situation of pandemic and the climate change crisis among other atrocities. In a way, humans are the creators and must be blamed for all the troubles of our planet.

Imagine One World — a world with no borders and a unified global governance and currency across, wouldn’t life be less complicated? There will be no power tussle among countries and perhaps minimal social and economic disparity. My conjecture is the crime rate too will fall dramatically with equity in income, business and work opportunities, healthcare and nationalities. We could travel anywhere we want minus any restrictions or procedures and settle at places where we love the people and culture rather than being influenced by factors such as economic status, social stature and work opportunities because these would be nearly the same at all places. Thus, with this idea of One World, we wouldn’t have situations where people have to work and live away from their families just because another country has higher pay scales and a better quality of life than their native country. It will be more of a choice influenced by the culture and a liking for the place rather than the need.

In One World, there will be more equitable distribution of population, as many of us will be more mobile and become global citizens. Imagine, living in country A for 4 years, moving to country B for 2 years, and then finally settling at country C because it felt like ‘home’. After sometime, I shift for a year to country D because I want to explore its vibe and then visit country E for a short trip before finally going home in country C because no place has felt better than C yet. I will travel again soon to explore the remaining countries when I feel like and maybe live in those for a few months, but C will always have my heart. This is what I call freedom in real sense! I know of Auroville, a town in South India, which aspires to be a universal town of global citizens and is based on the ethos of peace and humanity, rising above the creeds of politics. There is no circulation of money within this town and it thrives on volunteering, which takes care of your lodging, food and other needs. Unique right?

The unified global governance agency of One World will support local governance in all countries and ensure fair play and harmony. There will be no oil-wars and tussles for other natural resources. With this, the exploitation of our planet too could reduce largely as the unified governance will work in harmony with local governance at all places. All countries will have the same policies for emissions and carbon credits, curbing pollution, reliance on renewable resources and most importantly building humane cities with peace and no stress.

Wonderful, isn’t it? Call me crazy but, it does feel like utopia and I can’t imagine a world which will be better than One World in times to come.