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Essay / Cosmopolitanism is defined in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy as "the idea that all human beings, regardless of political affiliation, are (or can and should be) citizens in a single community." This belief applies not only to political affiliation but also to religious beliefs, which in the case of the formation of India and Pakistan proves to be a difficult challenge to overcome. The utopian ideal of cosmopolitanism is addressed in both Bapsi Sidhwa's novel Cracking India and Salman Rushdie's The Moor's Last Sigh. Both novels discuss the difficulty of nation building in India and Pakistan after the departure of the English. Cosmopolitanism is approached in the same way by the two narrators. Throughout the two novels, we can see major challenges in the implementation of this ideology. These challenges include lack of identity, maintaining previous loyalty to political and religious parties, and the violence that ensues when unity is broken. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get an original essayA cosmopolitan is a citizen of the world, in the sense that he or she does not necessarily belong to a certain nation, religion or political party, but to the human species itself. This leads to an identity problem when self-proclaimed cosmopolitans realize that those who do not believe in cosmopolitanism have excluded them from their previous groups. Some groups in India, called Macaulay's Minutemen, belonged neither to India nor to England; instead, they were a class apart. In Cracking India, Colonel Bharucha, during his speech to the Parsee community, said: “We must be extremely careful, otherwise we will be neither here nor there” (26). In this quote he warns the community that because of their service and loyalty to England, they must be careful to remain neutral as they are a minority. The Parsis have survived by remaining neutral in times of strife and strife, which is even more important in this case with the possible departure of the English. If they supported the British, they would never be welcome in India or Pakistan, and if they supported any of the Hindu or Muslim groups vying for power, they would be excluded by both. Since the Parsis did not have an official nation of their own, they had to remain neutral and blend into the surrounding communities, which made them cosmopolitans in a sense, and also a group without an identity of their own. This lack of identity is also expressed in the Moor's Last Sigh. Moraes' first love, Uma Sarasvati, could be described as a cosmopolitan. Her past was unknown to the narrator and she did not belong to any particular group. She was simply a citizen. This plurality of her origins, however, proved to be her downfall, as Moor describes it, "a defeat in the pluralist philosophy on which we had all been raised...it was the pluralist Uma, with her multiple selves...who became turned out to be the wrong one. egg” (272). Despite Aurora's belief in cosmopolitanism, it was she who orchestrated the events that led to Uma being discovered as a liar, using this ideology to gain a foothold in a wealthy family and bring about her demise. Uma is just one example of how a cosmopolitan cannot survive in a community that does not recognize cosmopolitanism. The Moor himself also struggles with his own identity. Much like the Parsis of Cracking India, the Zogoibys could be classified among Macaulay's Minutemen in the sense that they adopted much of the Western manners and attitudes torespect for Indian culture. Vasco Miranda explicitly called them that in his drunken fit at a party. Throughout his life, Moor struggled to integrate into the community, not only because of his physical deformity, but also because of his lack of belonging to a certain culture due to the cosmopolitan views of his family. Upon his departure from India, he declared: “Nothing was keeping me in Bombay anymore. It was no longer my Bombay, it was no longer special” (376). This distance Moor describes from his hometown can be seen as the end of his cosmopolitan community. Since the battle for power over the city between Muslims and Hindus, between economic power and political power, has broken his community, he is no longer welcome. If he had attached himself to a religious group or a political party, it is doubtful that he would leave it. Presumably he would feel a sense of belonging to his city and choose to stay and help his affiliates regain control despite his family ties, frayed from the start. When unity is broken, a cosmopolitan society reacts with violence. It is impossible to maintain this ideology without a unifying force or common moral understanding. Religious differences in India between Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs give way to different beliefs and moral obligations. Only with something that binds them together can these differences be overcome. As previously stated, the country did not consider itself cosmopolitan and therefore not everyone shared the belief of being global citizens trying to live in peace. In Cracking India, the departure of the English has broken the unity between the Indian people. While fighting for independence, each religious community shared a common goal and a common enemy: the English. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Parsis would all assimilate together in the park, citizens of a common goal. Once independence was sought, Hindus and Muslims began to compete for power in order to allow their own people to prosper. The narrator, Lenny, has seen this change and says, “I became aware of religious differences. One day everyone is themselves, and the next day they are Hindus, Muslims, Sikh Christians” (101). People were no longer those of a common community, but rather members of one religion or another. This inability to separate oneself from one's religion is one of the most difficult challenges of a cosmopolitan worldview. Only these few people, united by their love for Ayah, remain cosmopolitan for a short time. Lenny notices this after being pulled away from the Sikh group in the park: “Only the group around Ayah remains unchanged. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Parsis are, as always, united around her” (105). Once this unity is broken, even this group of friends turns to violence. Ayah's love becomes a quest for power and domination, in much the same way as the quest for power in India. Ice-Candy Man supposedly kills Masseur to continue his quest for Ayah's love. The Sikhs and Hindus in the group leave to escape the community violence that takes root in their close-knit group. This group of cosmopolitans cannot resist the effects of religious segregation and violence becomes commonplace. In The Moor's Last Sigh, violence between people also occurs when unity is broken. To some extent this is seen in the Zogoiby household after the death of Francisco da Gama. This confrontation was inevitable because "the family was already hurtling toward this catastrophic conflict, the so-called 'battle of the in-laws'" (33). When the family patriarch dies, the sons inherit the business and the matriarch's greed causes the family to split and disintegrate..
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