Ivanka Trump in India: Congress' focus on Narendra Modi breaking protocol shows it is petty and peeved at not being invited

When we were children, we were sent to some sort of Hindi equivalent of moral science classes where we usually played ‘submarines’ or some other paper and pencil game since it wasn’t really a lesson that got us marks. But one of the basic things we learned was being hospitable and that visitors had to be treated with grace, dignity and generosity of spirit.

I quote from the official source of hospitality initiative, the guiding principles from the Taittiriya Upanishad of the Yajur Veda, which states athithi devo bhava (revere the guest as God). This affirmation of the guest as someone divine is a core concept of Hindu tradition. The Sanskrit word for a guest is _athithi (_without time) meaning someone who has no fixed day for coming.” It is customary for Hindus to visit friends, relatives and even acquaintances without notice.

A Hindu householder’s essential duties consist of offering hospitality, and manusha yagna (paying homage to humans) referring to graciously hosting guests. Tirukural, an ancient Hindu scripture in Tamil, says, “The whole purpose of earning wealth and maintaining a home is to provide hospitality to guests.”

This kind of clarifies that if someone comes to your home either on invite or on surprise, you do not worry about protocol, instead you open your home and figuratively, your arms in a welcoming gesture.

So if Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to be nice to Ivanka Trump in Hyderabad and break this so-called protocol in the great scheme of things, it is a minor infringement that does not justify the hue and cry raised by the Congress. Considering that this once dead in the water political party is enjoying some sort of a comeback makes one question if it needs to get bogged in trivial details.

Let us look at this meeting on  two levels: One, was the personal courtesy to the daughter of the President of the United States. Just because Donald Trump is not “likeable”, it does not make discourtesy acceptable. If it was Malia Obama visiting India, would anyone have made such a piteous protest over the prime minister greeting her? Not likely.

On another level, what great crime has Modi committed in attending the Global Entrepreneurship Summit which saw the participation of 1,500 entrepreneurs, investors and eco-system supporters from 159 countries. For a man who stood on the plank of ‘Make in India’, what is wrong in using this forum for a hard sell?  In fact, if he hadn’t gone to Hyderabad that would be a criminal neglect of an opportunity to call the world over to India.

Next, we go to the word ‘protocol’. It’s about time we see the word for what it is. It is not written in stone and is largely a bureaucratic code of conduct designed for political and royal masters. It is largely intended to keep them in bounds and ensure there is no faux pas, a mess that the others would have to clear up. Protocol is also used to shore up safety and security and is broken all the time.

Morarji Desai once broke ranks and marched up to a crowd at an airport because he recognised a friend. Rajiv Gandhi would grab a plane from Safdarjang and swan off to Dehra Dun (much to the agony his security). Indira Gandhi went off regularly and chose her own route. Trump was accused of messing up the lines of communication by chatting with Vladimir Putin and a big issue was made of it.

Former Indian president Abdul Kalam broke away from his security to embrace and chat with children at public functions. This was seen as endearing. In July, Prince William made news because he broke royal protocol by putting his arms around a victim of the Grenfell Tower Fire to console her.

So Modi didn’t stand on ceremony. What great loss of face happened? The Congress is miffed because Ivanka cut a glamorous figure and they were not invited to the party.