Orient and Occident - East-West Synergy

Scientific Essay from the year 2011 in the subject Cultural Studies - Miscellaneous, , language: English, abstract: In the following I would like to attempt an answer as to whether and how the cultural distance between East and West can be bridged. Rudyard Kipling in his days said

'Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,

Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's Great Judgement Seat;'

These are the lines which are usually quoted. However, an Indian Maharajah and former Indian Ambassador to Washington D.C., correctly added the following lines, which are

'But there is neither East nor West, Border, not Breed, nor Birth,

When two strong men stand face to face,

Though they come from the end of the Earth'

and he interpreted the two ¿strong men¿ as

When two strong ¿minds¿ meet.