Clearly, the proposition is hypothetical but immensely promising for the fertile minds to take off on a flight of fascinating imagination. It is reassuring to those who seek but do not possess plenty, it is exhilarating for those who love money, and it is overly exciting to those who have tasted the passion of enterprize.
But it is taxing too, specially for those who consider money as merely a means of living a want-free life and whose adrenalin levels do not substantially shoot up by the thought of a windfall. They find the prospect extremely disquieting and disturbing. A lot of money that is what one billion dollar constitutes, unnerves them. A million questions and doubts spring up in their naive and unsophisticated minds. They become miserable. I perhaps pitifully belong to this very genre.
But what an unusual and exceptional opportunity to give wings to one’s imagination and to pursuit of dream about untasted luxuries of life or use this corpus to multiply itself through financial wizardry and foresight, or even registering one’s name among the greatest philanthropists and be counted as one. There could be hundreds of ways in which this money could be utilised but one will be severely circumscribed by the width and depth of one’s mental faculties, and the emotional qualities of one’s world view.
But a practical question first. Is this money unencumbered and tax free or does it also figure as a bright blip on the radar of Revenue administration. The latter possibility significantly dampens the exhilaration. But, nevertheless!
One of the first impulses may be to immediately move to a paradise and a tax-haven like Cayman Islands or some such destination. For men who can endlessly live in the lap of luxury without getting taxed by work or want, nothing could be better. After all, no one works in the Paradise, if indeed, there were one. Then why wait till one kicks the bucket. Why not enjoy paradise on earth itself?
But for those who also require a cerebral aspect to their lives, or prefer the power of pelf to get manifested in tangible, palpable authority, several other avenue open up. The possibilities then become endless and diverse. Ranging from joining politics to emerging as a leading industrialist, from becoming champion of a cause to set up institutions of excellence, from running a big corporation to set up charities of unrivalled eminence, the choices vary from the very mundane to sublime and overly exalted.
But why I must dwell on possibilities? For me the choice is one and one alone, clear, specific and fulfilling!
As a proud and active citizen of India, I see this country set on a journey of growth and prosperity. Burdened by centuries of foreign rule, exploited and bled by colonial interests, and wounded and scarred on account of her own inner contradictions, self-doubt and superstition, lagging behind in science and technology; and deficient in the spirit of nationalism, it has seen dark times where ignorance overwhelmed enlightenment, and where the wisdom acquired through ages slipped into disuse and then amnesia as not enough people survived to interpret them in modern context.
Things are changing now. The country is on a trajectory of prosperity and plenty. Yet, clearly missing is restoration and re-affirmation of its moral and ethical strength and legacy so assiduously gained through millennia of spiritual pursuits. There is a definite imperative to bring this marginalised dimension of growth centre-stage.
I will devote the one billion US$ largesse to work towards ethical and moral renaissance and resurgence of Indian nation. It’s not an ordinary challenge, nor is it to be accomplished in one life time. For, it requires a whole generation to imbibe and accept and adhere in a sustained manner a set of values that will not erode because of the up and downs, or the vicissitudes of time in a long journey of the nation.
The task will focus on the young generation that will form the citizenry 20-25 years later. A generation that will be so strong morally and ethically that no invasion, no colonisation, no subjugation will ever diminish, dilute or decimate a spirit that is the essence of India. An India populated and inhabited by the finest of human beings will be the leader, not merely in terms of political and economic influence but will be the moral beacon for the whole world, something that seems to have relegated to the background presently but without which humanity shall soon cease to evolve.
In what way and on what activities, this windfall will be apportioned is a matter of detail, that may await at the moment but essentially it will be through an institutional framework, setting up a mechanism for a a collective and massive mobilisation of ideas and actions dominated by innovations covering a wide array of disciplines.
It will not be a project, it will be a revolution.
scribo ad LX 