Fareed Zakaria: prediction

Transcript context

…I went to Amritsar the year before, and it was one of the most magical feelings I’ve ever had in any place. I’m still not sure what exactly I can trace it to — I am not a Sikh, of course. But what, for you, accounts for the strong, powerful, wondrous feeling one gets from that place? It’s a very good question because I also have that feeling. I think it might explain, for example, Amritsar is the most important place for the Sikh religion and has a beautiful temple. It’s called the Golden Temple. When Indira Gandhi, as prime minister, stormed it because there were a group of separatists who had holed up there — that really is what triggered enormous, enormous pain and anger in the Sikh community, which eventually led to her assassination. I bring that up only to emphasize your point that it has a special magical feeling for Sikhs. I think there’s something about it architecturally, which is that there is a serenity about it. Sometimes you can find Hindu temples that are very elaborate. Sikhism is a kind of offshoot of Hinduism. The Hindu temples can be very elaborate, but very elaborate and ornate. This somehow has a simplicity to it. When you add to that the water — I’ve always thought that water adds an enormously calming effect. It’s something about that combination, I think, but I’m just speculating. What languages did you grow up speaking?…

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