It has been a week of ups and downs. A week of blessings, successes, excitement, but also of reflection. India was reeling from the success of the 18th BRICS Summit in Delhi while detractors cribbed about food choices, and the discourse on why the 80-year-old NSA munched peanuts during the plenary sessions. Some even went so far as to spread malicious rumours about the event.
But our true success lay in the fact that we managed to get 11+ senior world leaders together under one roof, and the New Delhi Declaration was signed unanimously.
The week also saw other interesting occurrences. The Congress Party’s NSUI suffered a major defeat in the DUSI elections 2026. The 56-years “young” Mr Rahul Gandhi, who is rarely concerned about the decorum in Parliament, cannot seriously once again blame their defeat on vote-chori, EVM tampering or divine interference. Perhaps it’s time for some introspection.
Whereas, internationally, seeing the success of the latest BRICS Summit, the remaining world leaders felt the need to flex their muscles. So we have that to look forward to.
I had the pleasure of meeting delegates from various nations on the sidelines of the BRICS, and everyone shared the common agenda of being treated with respect, courtesy and dignity.
As I board the flight for yet another international event. I had plenty of time for philosophical ruminations. They say history repeats itself, especially for those who forget it. But does it move in a straight line? Or can we say everything is cyclical?
The Hindu philosophy of karmic and dharmic cycles is, of course, one way of looking at it. Studies related to quantum physics also explain how subatomic rules support living processes, while the idea of a life cycle connects to energy conservation and theories of repeating cosmic loops.
Therefore, maybe it would be better to view history as a wheel, returning periodically to familiar points and questions but encountering them with different technologies, institutions and circumstances. Similar to how dharma explains the cosmic cycle in Hinduism.
The spiral of History
We like to imagine history as a straight line, a steady march, from the past to the present to a more advanced, rational and more prosperous future.
Technological achievements seem to us as a major breakthrough, moving us further away from what came before. Someone rubbed two stones together and discovered fire; the wheel was invented; weapons and gunpowder came about; then came the invention of electricity and the technology expressway with computers, the internet, mobile phones, satellites and now the new frontier: AI.
Every economic transformation is presented as a new paradigm. The discovery of the barter system was replaced by precious metals, diamonds, gold, bronze, currency, and now the UPIs and digital currency platforms.
Each generation believes that they are living through their own moment. I remember how we were the rebels of our generation; questioning, querying, quibbling, as youngsters pushing back against the establishments.
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The economics of it all
Economic history presents itself with clear evidence that ideas return. They fall out of fashion and yet come back in different forms. Barter systems and traditional economies gave way to free markets and international trade in the medieval ages, which in turn made way for spice routes.
The 20th century moved through strikingly different economic philosophies such as state intervention and welfare economies. These arose from the economic vagaries left over from the World Wars and the Great Depression.
Liberalisation took off in a big way during the 1980s as deregulation came along and “socialism” gave way to capitalism in all the countries that swore by that philosophy. An era of accelerated globalisation came in, and markets became increasingly integrated as world trade barriers tumbled.
Yet, the pendulum has begun to swing again. The disruption of global supply chains during the pandemic has triggered an inward look into the dependency of economies on imported products. Governments that once supported free trade are looking into building strategic industrial systems, domestic manufacturing and resilient supply chains. Thus, the international governance system changed from bipolar to unipolar and now appears to be increasingly progressing towards a multipolar system.
Possibly the first one to set up this invisible barrier to free trade was Brexit, in which the United Kingdom left the EU. Then we have President Donald Trump’s approach to Protectionism in the United States, which centres on aggressive, unilateral tariffs and an “America First” economic nationalism designed ostensibly to reduce trade deficits but more likely to pressure global competitors.
India finds itself in the crosshairs of Trump’s 100 per cent tariffs again for its ability to stand up to the pressure in its own interests of trade and oil, but even Trump’s closest neighbour and long-term ally, Canada, has not been spared.
Are we then in for an era of protectionism and state intervention?
Political pendulum: freedom, order and balance
How free are we really? I recently read an article about a US court which held that you have to submit your phone to the Border Control Officer for a check on entry into the United States. This is applicable even to US citizens and creates a significant tension between government border authority and personal freedom/digital privacy, especially for those who believe their mobile phones are an extension of their physical selves. So Big Brother is now watching your digital footprint by peering inside your mobile phone too.
Citizens in the Middle East were recently in trouble for posting videos of the war as it was not in the interest of national security. Whereas in China, access to certain websites, subscribing to certain ideologies remains banned. I remember being informed that various social media networks collect 70 to 90 data sets from unsuspecting users .
Demand for collective security is required to be balanced by openness and control. Periods of political upheaval often produce a hunger for order and this is reflected in the current political tension the world. We often hear clamour of autocracy and “democracy is threatened” with respect to freedom of speech in our country, but no country tolerates anti-national activity, especially in a digital age.
While these developments suggest that the balance between liberty and authority is constantly negotiated, we are faced with a paradox that societies rarely choose freedom or order in isolation.
They seek both, and when either one is threatened, the pendulum often begins to move toward the other. The enduring challenge then becomes one of finding a balance that protects individual freedoms without leaving societies incapable of responding to collective threats.
Case in point is years of propaganda by our neighbours on Kashmir. Look at the irony of the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir territory being addressed as “Azad Kashmir”, which is constantly being persecuted.
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AI and a cycle of creation and destruction
Doomsday predictors are always talking about the apocalypse and the end of life as we know it. But when the CEO of the world’s largest AI company makes a prophetic statement, the world listens.
The technological optimism surrounding AI is now being replaced by warnings that could be straight out of a sci-fi or dystopian novel.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has described advanced AI as potentially one of the most dangerous technologies in human history, warning of scenarios involving loss of control, catastrophic misuse and the concentration of extraordinary power. There’s a 2011 Netflix series called Person of Interest, which is eerily predictive of how AI-based super technology could act in the hands of the wrong people.
Closer to home, increased dependency on AI is frying the brains of our youth (and even our elderly), and I have been screaming myself hoarse over this. I am hearing instances of “ChatGPT is my best friend”, “I don’t need a therapist, I have Claude”, and even extreme cases of human relationships replaced by AI. Just two days ago, a brilliant young IITian committed suicide over unpermitted use of ChatGPT in his exam. Where are we headed with this AI dependency, and that’s not even considering the regular currency being spent on subscriptions?
All civilisations, from Harappa to Mesopotamia, come to an end. Is the cycle of civilisational destruction going to repeat itself? And is it AI that will be behind our downfall? This question will not be answered by my generation for sure.
Philosophers, Western systems and modern system have placed enormous faith in the autonomy of the individual, including the right to choose, consume, create and define one’s own life. Yet, are these choices really free? As conglomerates are monitoring everything that we are consuming through data and directing options to us based on our individual thoughts and preferences, is human cognition, autonomy and sovereign existence at stake?
At the same time, there is a renewed search for community, belonging and a collective purpose. A common cause can bring together thousands. The country poured out to light lamps and diyas across streets on PM Modi’s birthday, and thousands more are getting together for the Sewa Sankalp Abhiyan.
Today, there is a visible tension between personal freedom and social responsibility; global citizenship and cultural identity, material success and the need for meaning.
And so, a return to the Indian philosophical tradition offers a fresh perspective.
The individual cannot exist as an isolated unit, but exists as a larger web of relationships and responsibilities. The Bhagavad Gita highlights this philosophy, and the cycle comes back to the beginning of the universe.
Meenakshi Lekhi is a BJP leader and lawyer. Her X handle is @M_Lekhi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)