What India can learn from Germany

That country has been able to integrate different strands into a single flowing stream

It was surprising to see a massive menorah — the seven-branched Jewish candelabra — in the austerely beautiful 11th century Romanesque cathedral of St Kilian in Wurzburg, for the Bavarian church is a Roman Catholic place of worship. Our German tour guide’s explanation was a greater surprise. “Christ was a Jew until he was crucified,” Markus explained. “We must show respect to Judaism.”

Germany has changed since I first came here in 1960. It has come to terms with its past. The transformation is particularly appealing to a modern Indian, who is painfully aware of how the integrating process is now