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We named our daughter Maitri (pronounced My-three), a Sanskrit word which means friendship. But, of course, translation does not take into consideration the nuances of the language, the context, the sub-text and the various other implications of the original Sanskrit word.

My husband and I were inspired by the song Maitreem Bhajatha performed by one of India’s most respected and renowned classical singers, M.S. Subbulakshmi. Written by a saint whom millions consider their Guru (spiritual teacher), the song was first performed by M.S. on United Nations Day on Oct 23, 1966. The essential message in the song is for everyone in the world to love one another, cultivate friendship, shun hatred and to spread universal peace. The song’s tune is simple, yet beautiful and one just has to listen to its rendition by M.S to be moved beyond words, even without understanding a single syllable. The song has no reference to religion, country or language. It ends with a plea for everyone to show restraint, be generous and kind and with a prayer for universal peace and prosperity.

We feel a close connection with this song and refer to it in many of our conversations. We named our daughter Maitri, in the hope that her name would serve as a constant reminder of these great values, to us and to everyone in her life. There is no question that these are values I respect and try to uphold as best as I can. And I will certainly do my very best to imbibe them in my daughter. I want nothing more than for her to grow up to be a compassionate, broadminded, kind and generous world citizen.

However I have often been criticized for wanting something most consider Utopian. I am told that in this day and age, when even tolerating one’s neighbor is hard to do, expecting oneself or others to feel universal love is beyond impossible. The world’s problems are simply too complex to be solved with this “simplistic” approach. In a world where even siblings do not get along, how can it be expected of entire nations, I am asked.

Is Universal Peace is a Myth

I come across so many parents who say that they want to raise their kids to do the right thing, to be kind, to be truthful to themselves and to give back to the world. Are all these people wasting their energy on the unattainable?

I don’t think so. I believe that, even if a small percentage of us succeed in raising children of the world, then we are a step closer to that Utopian world. The current world scenario may not leave us with much hope and the idea of everyone loving or even tolerating each other may be considered laughable at best. But, if for one moment we could peel our thoughts away from the chaos, the crises, the wars and the animosity and just focused on one thing we could do or say to make our child a little more compassionate, I think that moment would be the beginning of the peaceful world we seek. It may not happen in our time or even in our children’s time. But, the seeds would have been sown and one day, there will be universal peace and friendship.

Photo by: Jayel Aheram