Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Gandhi is Dead


Walk into any govt. office and look around on the walls. You are sure to find a picture of Gandhi.



But that’s it. It’s just a picture, no more. Gandhi is dead. A well known accepted fact. And I do not say it with remorse, though I myself am a believer of his…or say, most of his ideas...
 None of my friends think (and I’m talking about friends who actually think) that Gandhism is highly impractical in today’s world. Very true. If you turn the other cheek, you’ll get a smack, not a kiss. Competition prevails like nothing Gandhi would have ever imagined. Today money rules, nothing else.







I genuinely do not mean to convert ANY one reading this into a Gandhist, so please read on.
What I think is that his ideas are still very much valid. We just don’t understand it fully. When he talks of turning the other cheek, he does not mean giving up, rather he means sticking to your guns. He has just interpreted it in a different way. Tried a different method.
Another reason for which he seems impractical is that most of us have that faultless image of Gandhi set in our minds. What I say is this—Gandhi was not God.
He was human, and had his closet of faults. He was easily influenced, was a die-hard Hindu, and his liquor ban, no-cow slaughter and no-meat eating ideas are truly annoying.

But if you look on the other side, he was incredible. He could actually connect to the people , a task in which only a few succeeded. What’s more he could shove his unconventional ideas into their heads (non-violence wasn’t really India’s legacy, till Gandhi) and then get freedom for India. Most importantly, he dared to try more.

I do not ask you to worship Gandhi. Don’t ask you to agree with ANY idea of his. But really, there was a man who had guts in him, and dared to do something. No need to even respect him for that. Just emulate him. Let his josh and confidence come into you.

You will find he was just like us. Another human. He faced what we do today. In the beginning, people tagged him as a big failure. But then he decided to spell failure differently as- S-U-C-C-E-S-S.
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Rang de Basanti and Beyond...



Unexpectedly, I got the opportunity to watch Rang De Basanti recently. I had been impressed by its reviews, critic appreciation and promos. I felt the movie was good...
But it was also to take me a step further. Into thinking. Like Alice Patten, I wonder if we really are waking up. I must say people are more aware. The media is more powerful. We know our rights and are using them more than ever. But there still exists a lull in initiation. Who will begin, that is the question. Everybody is willing to follow if someone starts walking. But few have the guts and enthu to start.







Myself, for instance. I have always wanted to begin a Voice Your Opinions sort of group in school. I know I have the ability to do it. But then, who wants to go to the Principal, ask her permission, put up notices, stand up against convention, and face ridicule in the beginning? Moreover, all the time, I’ll feel like I’m wasting precious moments and compromising with my studies.

I guess Indians have just got that laziness in them. We sort of inherit it. Just lie down and let others do the dirty work. But then, there is just too much dirt than to be tackled by a few. Think of poverty, corruption, unemployment, terrorism, and unhappiness. Think of weeping children, starving people, and precious lives lost. You will know.



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