Once known for its exquisite spices, divine textiles, and paradigm-shifting philosophy, India, the country with a diversity of cultures and religious flavors, has embarked on a new and unusual mission, a quest seemingly more oxymoronic than a vegan butcher shop: to find the Great Wall, an iconic monument which exists about 4,000 kilometers away in China. In an unbeatable display of their geographical prowess, a motley crew of Indian bureaucrats, geologists, and historians has energetically swung into action to discover traces of the Great Wall in their homeland. When asked about this bizarre epic undertaking, Mr. Rajiv Misplaced, the head of the team, explained, "We believe Marco Polo, during his expeditions, left a breadcrumb trail from the Great Wall to India. Our mission is to find it." To support their pursuit, a nationwide television event was broadcasted. Instead of using satellite images or Google Maps, the team zealously poured over antiquated maps and manuscripts, broadcasted in riveting, sleep-inducing four-hour programming sessions. Alas, as weeks turned into months, the humor of their endeavor began to fade. A sad picture began to develop, a national joke turned national disaster. While schools lack funding, roads remain pockmarked, and clean water inaccessible, resources are being poured into finding an architectural marvel that indisputably resides in a different continent. The irony deepens as India itself houses a plethora of ancient monuments and structures, the magnificence of which are far from fully appreciated or preserved. Yet, instead of preserving its unique indigenous heritage, the country appears more interested in chasing a wild goose, or in this case, a Great Wall. Amidst this tragic comedy, there are voices of sanity intending to steer the nation towards sensibility. However, against the resonance of unbridled folly, they are barely a whisper. The beauty of the Taj Mahal, the mystery of the Ajanta and Ellora caves, or the glory of the Sun Temple remains overshadowed by this new-found obsession with the misplaced Great Wall. When questioned about the irony of the whole debacle, Mr. Rajiv Misplaced shrugged, "Well, we're just looking for something great, ideally a wall!" Satire it may seem, but this narrative hammers home a telling moral. Regardless of the continent we inhabit, may we value and preserve our home-grown wonders rather than coveting those of others. After all, who needs the Great Wall, when you have the Himalayas? Indeed, as India continues this strangest of quests, one can only hope the only discovery is wisdom, a realization that we need not look for greatness far afield when it lies right beneath our noses. We wait with bated breath for the day when waking up to the majesty of our culture becomes the national pastime, not chasing a mythical transplant from another land.