India’s remarkable pluralism was on display after national elections in May 2004, when a leader with a Roman Catholic background (Sonia Gandhi) made way for a Sikh (Manmohan Singh) to be sworn in as Prime Minister by a Muslim (President Abdul Kalam) – in a country that is 81% Hindu. No strutting nationalist chauvinism could ever have accomplished for India’s standing in the world what that one moment did – all the more so since it was not directed at the world.