I received this book as a present when I was 14 – The Life of Mahatma Gandhi by Louis Fischer.

Born in Philadelphia and a journalist at the “New York Post”, He was one of the outstanding authorities on global politics in Russia, India and the Middle East, where he spent several years. The man’s style of writing is completely classic, be it the way the sentences dance around before coming to the point, or the way the narrative is complete and detailed, or even the way the conversations are brought completely alive.

I have attempted to read this book several times before, and I have always got stuck at the chapter which describes Gandhiji’s youthful and bachelor days. This time I directly skipped to this chapter titled “My week with Gandhi”. A beautifully written chapter, and I am going to type out two pages from this chapter which have impacted me heavily.

Old people are prone to reminiscences. Lloyd George would commence to answer a question on current events and soon be talking about his conduct of the first World War or a campaign for social reform early in the century. At seventy-three, Gandhi never reminisced. His mind was on things to come. Years did not matter to him because he thought in terms of the unending future. Only the hours mattered because they were the measure of what he could contribute to that future.

Gandhi had more than influence, he had authority, which is less yet better than power. Power is the attribute of a machine; authority is the attribute of a person. Statesmen are varying combinations of both. The dictator’s constant accretion of power, which he must inevitably abuse, steadily robs him of authority. Power feeds on the blood and tears of its victims. Authority is fed by service, sympathy and affection.

One evening, I watched Mahadev Desai spin. I said I had been listening carefully to Gandhi and studying my notes and wondering all the time what was the source of his hold on people ; I had come to the tentative conclusion that it was his passion.

‘That is right’, Desai said.

‘What is the root of his passion?’, I asked.

‘This passion’, Desai explained, ‘is the sublimation of all the passions that flesh is heir to.’

‘Sex?’

‘Sex and anger and personal ambition…. Gandhi is under his own complete control. That generates tremendous energy and passion.’

It was a subdued, purring passion. He had a soft intensity, a tender firmness and an impatience cotton-wooled in patience. Gandhi’s colleagues and the British sometimes resented his intensity, firmness and impatience. But he retained their respect, often their love, through his softness, tenderness and patience.

Gandhi sought approval; he was very happy when the great Tagore agreed with him. But he could defy the whole world and his political next-of-kin.

Gandhi was a strong individual, and his strength lay in the richness of his personality, not in the multitude of his possessions. His goal was To be, not To have. Happiness came to him through self-realization. Fearing nothing, he could live the truth. Having nothing, he could pay for his principles.

Mahatma Gandhi is the symbol of the unity between personal morality and public action. When conscience dwells at home but not in the workshop, office, classroom and market-place, the road is wide open to corruption and cruelty and to dictatorship.

Gandhi enriched politics with ethics. He faced each morning’s issues in the light of eternal and universal values. He always distilled a permanent element out of the ephemeral. Gandhi thus broke through the framework of usual assumptions which cramp a man’s action. He discovered a new dimension of action. Unconfined by considerations of personal success or comfort, he split the social atom and found a new source of energy. It gave him weapons of attack against which there was often no defence. His greatness lay in doing what everybody could do but doesn’t.

‘Perhaps he will not succeed’, Tagore wrote of the living Gandhi. ‘Perhaps he will fail as the Buddha failed and as Christ failed to wean men from their iniquities, but he will always be remembered as one who made his life a lesson for all ages to come.’

I was shocked to see the picture of notorious gangster Vikas Dubey, taken like a dog, to file his nomination for Vishrampur Assembly seat in Medininagar, Jharkhand, on Tuesday.

Notorious gangster Vikas Dubey before filing his nomination for Vishrampur Assembly seat seat in Medininagar, Jharkhand on Tuesday.

Why does it happen like this in India? Gangsters, dons, mafia and people with criminal background often use their muscle and money power and emerge victorious in the polls. Why do parties filed such candidates? Is it only because they get unlimited funds to fight polls? In return, they give criminals protection from the law and respect in society. Where is India heading towards? Is this the kind of Ram Rajya which Gandhiji often dreamt of?

Candidates facing over dozen criminal cases, including murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, extortion, loot and land grabbing, also file nominations.

The country has indeed come a full circle. Yesterday’s criminals are today’s honourables with their “bullet-proof vests.” They are the law and are very powerful. Some dons get elected from prisons, some hold meetings in jail, with all comforts, and instruct their followers by mobile phones and rule their empire, issuing orders that few dare to disobey.

When our politics is filled with candidates with criminal backgrounds, how can we expect to remove crime from the country?

I wonder why does the Election Commission makes it mandatory for candidates to disclose details of their criminal background, if any, along with their assets and liabilities while filing nominations? Is it really meant to weed out criminals or a mere disclosure?

Sometimes, I seriously feel that the laws mentioning about the word ‘criminal cases’ are not properly defined. When is a person called a criminal according to the law?  When he is punished by the court as a criminal. As everybody knows, fighting legal cases in India is a marathon process. It takes years, sometimes decades, after a person is arrested. So candidates come out clean and file nominations.

Normally, permission for going abroad or appearing in any interview cannot be granted to a person against whom a case is pending in the court. Then, how can the law allow criminals to run the affair of the state?

India is filled with illiterates and poor people. All they need is some hope, a hope which keeps them happy, even for a short while! It is time for voters, who are in a slumber and are easily swayed by the lure of lucre, to wake up before things go out of control.

Pic courtesy: Google

Before the western model brought by the British or the Church, there were ezhuthu pallis, or writing schools, run by ezhuthu ashans, or writing masters. There were also schools run by wealthy individuals in their homes for their daughters.

In these tutorials, generations learnt to read and write using writing nails, palm leaves and sand, paying fees in kind. Outside Kerala, gurukuls functioned successfully for centuries. And these were always privately-funded. Is this model better than pumping in more public money into inefficient government schools?

That is the question that James Tooley, a British researcher and writer on education, asks in his recent book, The Beautiful Tree. He sees existence of private education in pre-British India as an argument in favour of low-cost private education that can cover every child. He finds virtue in the large number of private schools that are run in the slums he visited.

This goes against the thinking of development experts, including Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze. A study by the latter argues that the solution is to improve government schools rather than close them.

Madhav Chavan, the founder of NGO Pratham, which in its study found that the poor also preferred to send their children to private schools, sat close to Tooley at the launch of the book. But he made it clear he did not share the views of the author.

To say that private schools hold the key to universal education is to say the unspeakable. As unspeakable as saying that the king has no clothes. (via Sreelatha Menon: A new lesson).

End of the road … the bankrupt model

The health care (USA), social welfare (USA), employment benefits (UK), showcase countries (Japan), are running countries into the ground. India has, as yet, not gone down that path. Though, the Indian State has been trying – quite hard.

My first glimpse of this model was through the draft of Parag Tope’s forthcoming book – Operation Red Lotus.

I say without fear of my figures being challenged successfully, that today India is more illiterate than it was fifty or a hundred years ago, and so is Burma, because the British administrators, when they came to India, instead of taking hold of things as they were, began to root them out. They scratched the soil and began to look at the root, and left the root like that, and the beautiful tree perished. (Gandhiji, at Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, Oct 1931 - extracted from Indian Models Of Economy Business And Management By Kanagasabapathi; Page 60).

Gandhiji, in correspondence with Sir Philip Hartog, (chairman of the Auxiliary Committee on Education), laid out the the pre-colonial scenario, which has now been buttressed by research by Dharampal, a Gandhian, in his book, Beautiful Tree, Indian Education in the 18th century.

Sreelatha Menon, seemingly, depends on Tooley’s own PR handouts to write this up. In the entire post in Business Standard, she never makes a mention of Dharampal, whose work is the most authoritative today. Tooley, a (for sometime) IFC-World Bank employee, this research resulted, (funded by the Templeton Foundation) in a book - of course called, The Beautiful Tree.

Between a rock and a hard place

Dharampal’s pioneering work, in 1983, has, not surprisingly, been ignored by the Amartya Sens and The Jean Drezes of the world – all their avid followers in India. Kapil Sibal has been trying to further the colonial British efforts by laying out a red carpet for foreign universities – while tying up Indian institutions into-knots-into-knots-into-knots. The ‘modern’ theory about Indian education goes that all credit for Indian education should go either to the British Colonial Raj or the Christian Missionary Benevolence.

This Indian education model was, till about a 150 years ago, unique in the world. With the highest literacy ratio in the world, and completely privately funded, it set global and historic benchmarks. This model has been buried under a mound of silence – and once in a while you get a glimpse of this.

Be the Change you want to see

Mahatma Gandhi

Let me post a useful thing now.

The greatest thing about Mahatma was that he was the change that he wanted to see. He did not stop with preaching. He practiced. And he did his practice rigorously. This set him apart from others.

Practice means hardships. It means tough decisions that appear cranky at times. In a way Life taught Gandhi several lessons, which he learnt with open mind. He followed his understanding of life’s lessons seriously, unlike many of us. This is what set him apart from all of us.

If one goes through his book “The story of my experiments with truth”, one can see challenges that Gandhi faced similar to challenges that we face in our daily life. The difference often lies in the way we resolved and he resolved. Here are some examples.

Stand out of the herd behavior

When Gandhi was on his trip to South Africa, he had befriended the Captain of the ship so much that the Captain took him on an outing in the port of Zanzibar, where the ship halted for ten days.

The Captain took Gandhi and an Englishman on this special outing. They changed boats from the ship and entered the mainland, where they were taken into a Negro Women’s Quarters. All of them were ushered into different rooms, where Negro women were waiting for them to receive.

As Gandhi entered the room, but did not want to go through the act, he was filled with a false sense of shame, for not able to make it with a woman and show his youthful bravado. But somehow Gandhi remained steadfast and came out of the room, without being moved by the woman inside, while his friends who were in other rooms continued with what they had come for.

Gandhi might have been a object of ridicule during that time for that women and his friends. Gradually over a period in his life, this false sense of shame wore away. He was filled with horror thinking how his life would have taken a turn, if he had indeed been moved by his youth and gone to bed with that woman.

He writes this was his third trial in life. And he came out unscathed. He returned as he entered. And he learnt that false sense of shame that develops when were in a group need not be adhered to.

Though one feels bad at that time for not following the group, over a period, it is better to be stand out and follow one’s values.

He learnt how to overcome that false sense of shame and be steadfast to his own principles, in particular while in a group, with multiple forces pressurizing in a particular direction.

There is no parallel to Indian National Congress that spearheaded our Independence struggle in those days. It was a diverse organization with variety of people with multitude of views converging with a single goal of nation’s independence. This quality helped Gandhi to steer India’s struggle in the right direction, irrespective of various forces acting in different directions.

Against Hatred not the Hater

During his firs term stay in Pretoria, Gandhi used to go out for a walk through the President street to an open plain. Generally he used to spend time with one Mr.Coates, who was a staunch Christian, during these walks.

The President Kruger’s house was so simple and modest, even without a Garden, unlike the houses of many millionaires who lived in Pretoria at that time. The only identity of the President’s house were some guards who used to be on duty in front of the President’s house.

In those days, colored people termed coolies or samis were not entitled to walk on the pavement. If a colored man is able to pass himself as an Arab, it is fine. Otherwise he is not entitled to walk on the Pavement.

Gandhi used to walk on pavement several times and did not face any problem. But on a particular day, the usual men on duty in front of President’s house got changed and new set of people came in.

A policeman on duty saw Gandhi walking alone on the pavement and without a warning pushed Gandhi into the street and kicked him.

Mr. Coates happened to be on the spot on horseback and he intervened. He reprimanded the policeman and told Gandhi that he is ready to be a witness if Gandhi proceeds against the policeman in Pretoria Court.

Gandhi told him “I don’t blame this man, as it is the usual plight of colored people here. I have already forgiven him for his act, as he is doing it not as an act against me, but due to the system in place here. I have long back decided not to go to court for personal reasons”

People and not power

Gandhi developed clear-cut discretion in terms of people and system, early on in his life. He never used hatred against people as a tool to unite people. Gandhi could have easily stirred hatred during Civil Disobedience Movement, fomented trouble and emerged as a strong leader. He could have accelerated India’s Independence struggle. He chose not to do it. He was not after power.

In fact Gandhi did not start his work with the aim of achieving Indian rule to replace the British rule. He started his work to help uplift the massess of India from their current state.

He wanted to work through the British System to help the masses. Later he realized self-rule as the best method, as the interest of British went against the interest of Indians. He was against partition, as that would create a long term problem in the sub-continent on religious lines. His worst fears have come true now.

He took so much pains to ensure that India is not declared a Hindu State. It was because he did not see Independence as a tool for achieving power for a group. He saw it as a method for improving the life-conditions of all sections people. He was against hatred of all forms.

And he is definitely right. Our Independence was not based on the hatred for British or Muslims or other religious groups. That’s why we as a nation have endured against all doomsday prophecies and are marching today as a strong country in the global arena.

Taken from Karthikeyan’s Blog: http://voiceforhumanity.blog.co.in/2009/10/20/musings-on-mahatma/

Mahatma Gandhi tops the list of seven people who never won the Nobel Peace Prize “but should have” in the opinion of prestigious Foreign Policy magazine.

Noting that from Henry Kissinger to Yasser Arafat, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has made some controversial picks over the years, the magazine listed Eleanor Roosevelt, Vaclav Havel and Ken Saro-Wiwa among the other deserving but deprived ones.

Gandhi, the magazine noted “was the spiritual and political leader of the Indian independence movement and an advocate of non-violent resistance as a means to effect social change”.

“History’s most famous pacifist is probably the peace prize’s most famous omission, and the Nobel Foundation has even a web page explaining its side of the story,” it noted.

“Gandhi made the Nobel short list three times: in 1937, 1947, and then posthumously in 1948. In 1937, the committee’s advisor criticised Gandhi’s dual role as a peace activist and political leader of an independence movement, writing that ‘he is frequently a Christ, but then, suddenly, an ordinary politician’”

As India and Pakistan achieved independence in 1947, Gandhi’s crowning triumph was tempered by the violence and dislocation that resulted.

“With tensions growing in the summer of 1947, the Nobel committee hesitated to award the peace prize to someone so closely identified with one of the combatants,” the magazine said.

The committee also seems to have been affected by regional and racial biases; most of the prior awards had been given to white European men, it said.

Although the committee considered awarding Gandhi the prize in 1948, following his assassination, Alfred Nobel’s will clearly required that the award be given to a living person.

However, the decision to not dispense any award that year because “there was no suitable living candidate” appears to be an implicit admission that the committee missed its opportunity to recognise Gandhi’s accomplishments, Foreign Policy said.

ગુજરાત વિધાનસભા ખાતે રાષ્ટ્રપિતા મહાત્મા ગાંધીજીની પ્રતિમાને ભાવસભર પુષ્પાંજલિ અર્પણ કરાઇ

રાષ્ટ્રપિતા મહાત્મા ગાંધીજીની જન્મજયંતિ નિમિત્તે ગુજરાત વિધાનસભાના પ્રાંગણમાં આવેલી મહાત્માજીની પ્રતિમા અને વિધાનસભા ગૃહમાંના તૈલચિત્ર સમક્ષ ગુજરાત વિધાનસભાના અધ્યક્ષ શ્રી અશોકભાઇ ભટ્ટે ભાવસભર પુષ્પાંજલિ અર્પણ કરી હતી.

અધ્યક્ષ શ્રી અશોકભાઇ ભટ્ટે કહ્યું હતું કે, રાષ્ટ્રપિતા ગાંધીજીનો જન્મદિવસ આંતરરાષ્ટ્રીય અહિંસા-દિવસ તરીકે  ઉજવાય છે ત્યારે પૂજય બાપુએ બતાવેલા મૂલ્યો અને આદર્શોને જાળવવા અને ચરિતાર્થ કરવા આપણે સહિયારો પુરૂષાર્થ  કરીએ.

આ પ્રસંગે પૂજય બાપુને પ્રિય ભજન ‘‘વૈષ્ણવ જન તો તેને કહીએ…’’ અને રઘુપતિ રાધવ  રાજા રામ… ધૂનનું ગાન … અધ્યાયન મંદિર – કોબાની વિદ્યાર્થીનીઓ દ્વારા કરવામાં આવ્યું હતું. પ્રાર્થના દરમિયાન અત્યંત ભાવસભર વાતાવરણ સર્જાયુ હતું.

આ પ્રસંગે વિધાનસભાના વિરોધપક્ષના નેતા શ્રી શકિતસિંહજી ગોહિલ, પૂર્વ અધ્યક્ષ શ્રી મંગળભાઇ પટેલ, પૂર્વ મંત્રી શ્રી ભૂપેન્દ્રસિંહજી ચૂડાસમા, ગુજરાત વિધાનસભાના સચિવ શ્રી ડી.એમ.પટેલ, ગાંધીનગર જિલ્લા ભા.જ.પ.ના પ્રમુખ શ્રી અશોકભાઇ ભાવસાર, ગાંધીનગર જિલ્લાના અગ્રણી શ્રી જશુભાઇ રાણા, શહેર વસાહત મહામંડળના પ્રમુખ શ્રી અરુણભાઇ બુચ, શિક્ષણખાતાના અધિકારીશ્રીઓ શ્રી ટી.એસ.જોષી, શ્રી રાઠોડ, શ્રી ચંદ્રકાન્તભાઇ જાદવ, ગાંધીનગરના અગ્રણી શ્રી જશવંતભાઇ ગાંધી સહિત વિધાનસભા-સચિવાલયના અધિકારીઓ / કર્મચારીઓ અને નગરજનો મોટી સંખ્યામાં ઉપસ્થિત રહ્યા હતા.

He booked the tickets in Air India .When he reached the airport, he was informed that the pilots are on

Gandhiji’s dayout on Oct2,2009

Place: Heaven,Cloud9 Airport

Date: Oct 1 ,2009

He booked the tickets for Air India aircraft .When he reached the airport, he was informed that the pilots are on Indefinite strike and so he will be accomodated in KingFisher Airlines.Hurray, he was indeed happy for a moment looking at the Air hostess, suddenly the news of Nehru’s affair with Edwina Mountbatten flashed on the ndtv screen!!

Bapu was on his way to Hyderabad to see his birthday celebrations.

Place: Mumbai,Dadar Railway station

Date: Oct 1 ,2009

Oct 2  is a national holiday, so he thought its not a problem to get train tickets.Ironically, he noticed that there is a huge crowd for the tickets , the reason being that its a long weekend and so people want to celebrate the holidays.Fine, not a problem for him.He opted for tatkal tickets(This trip is funded by Indra, the king of heaven).He was shocked to see that the quota is full for General and Sleeper classes.Mr.Rahul Gandhi is travelling in the sleeper class(Austerity drive) for maharashtra poll campaign in pune and sholapur districts.Tens of thousands of congress workers escorted him in general compartments to prevent stone pelting incidents and to safeguard Mr.Gandhi.He was perplexed and suggested some congress men to learn the meaning of Austerity.

Finally, he got the AC 3 tier tickets to Hyderabad.

Place : Hyderabad,Nampally railway station

Date: Oct2, 2009

Bapu received warm welcome at the nampally railway station.No, not his relatives.It is the FM channels which continuously played the Gandhiji s songs that made bapu very happy.”Even now, my birthday is remembered.Thats nice way to start my day”.The city buses were all over occupied, boys are travelling on foot board.However, the special buses arranged to Bapu Ghat have a deserted look.Very few were actually interested in visiting bapu ghat while many who take the special buses have their own reasons.On his way to ghat, he saw many placards,which displayed pictures of local leaders rather than bapuji.Infact, he took a deep look at the placards to notice his own picture.Bapu waited for more than 2 hrs for the CM of Andhra Pradesh.The scheduled programme was at 8AM, however,it got delayed by 2 hours.CM has his own reasons, first being his age(82,I guess) and the second being that he is actually not at all interested(atleast dont want to show interest) to attend the programme.Instead, he wanted to spend some time with the ex-cm’s son in his cottages in Pulivendula.(YSR died on Sep2,2009.).

Bapu has his own reason to forgive this delay.Andhra pradesh was hit by the floods on Oct2,2009.The government officials did not have the  information on the floods till now,else, they would have added this point to their long list of bull shit reasons of delay.

Bapu want to speak with the common man,he wanted to know from them the speciality of the day.So, he started talking.

My day Today

He began asking them “How different is this day to you??”

The reactions of various sections of people are listed down by bapu:

1.A Software professional is very happy not because it is bapu jayanthi which makes us remember him and his ideas, but just because its a national holiday.

2.Autowallas are worried because it is a holiday, so they cannot make more money on this day.

3.Parents are very happy because they can spend sometime together with their children at home.

4.Movie buffs and music lovers hate this day because they had to listen or watch the same old movies every year.(Lage Rago munnabhai being the favourite for all the channels)

5.Some said that they have to spend extra cents to get the wine .Gandhi jayanthi is a dry day!!Bapu wondered at their statements.”Where did you get the wine from?”.Answer is pretty simple. , “The wine shop”, but the only difference is that on oct 2 , hard drinks are available at the extra cost.

6.The hotels and Theater owners are very happy to see fully occupied hotels/restaurants/theaters on oct2.

7.Media(Electronic and the hardprint) happy because they have got the content to publish.

8.Politicians are happy because they have the reason to come on to the public places and face the public.

9.Beggars are happy because this is the only day on which they leave their traditional job( of begging) and eat for free.Politicians take extra care of these people on this day just to show their pseudo-humane feeling.

10.Finally, terrorists will be busy on this day planning for a blast in some corner of the country.

After a nominal funtion which was endorsed at the bapu ghat by the beloved CM, bapu went to different places in the city.For lunch, he visited one of the free meal camp organised by political party.There was a long wait for the lunch as the poor people from every corner of the city came to this camp.These people knew that this is the day on which they can have stomach full of meal, the next day being jan 26.During the lunch break at 3PM, he happened to read the latest news.Naxal attack on the Jharkhand police deeply hurt bapu.It is the naxalism thats hindering the development in many rural areas.On the flip, he was happy to know that NREGA was renamed to Mahatma Gandhi NREGA and the funds allocated to it have been increased on the occasion of his bday.Several other schemes have been launched.However, he is deeply worried at the implementation of these programmes.

Place : Public gardens,Hyderabad

Date : Oct2,2009 06PM

Bapu sat musing as the world passed by.He retrospected his experiences of South Africa, his belongs and how they were auctioned recently in canada. Bapu’s special thanks always to Mr.Vijay Mallya, who bought his belonging and his teachings and saved them from the foreign hand.However, Bapu’s musings were disturbed by many young couples who came to Public gardens to spend their quality time in serenity.Poor bapu is not aware of Hyderabad parks which are the meeting places for almost all the young unmarried couples.!!

Place : At a very private place,Hyderabad

date : Oct2,2009 08PM

Bapu getting ready for the dream dinner with the American President,Obama.’Obamavision’ says “I am a big fan of Gandhiji, I wanna have a dinner with you.!!”

Finally, after the nice dinner with Mr.Obama , its now time for bapu to look at his tweets.’Twittegandhi’ was surprised at the Shashi Tharoor’s tweet which says “Lets work on Gandhi Jayanthi. Work is workship”.

Hey Raam!! Whats happening now.!! Does Tharoor thinks that people should forget me.??If Oct 2 is a working day, people will get busy with their routine and cumbersome work and never remember  me.

However, bapu consoled himself. Now,people remember this day as gandhi jayanthi only and not my teaching/ideas.Its merely a general holiday and nothing more than that.Then its not going to make any difference except being that the later is going to benefit the organizations.

Finally,its now the time to bid adieu  to this world.Bapu boarded the Air India aircraft ( Pilots strike ended yesterday) and surprisingly he saw the Air India advertisement in the newspaper “Apologies for the Inconvenience caused due to the strike.We will not repeat it and live to your expectations!!”.Certainly, they live to our expectations!

Bye Bapu, we miss you.!

____________________________________________________

2nd October. The day all Indians enjoy a mandatory holiday. The day politicians pay lip service to M K Gandhi. The day Shashi Tharoor twittered “Gandhiji said”Work is Workship” & we enjoy holiday on his birthday. He wld hv wanted us to work harder today”. It hurt our sentiments. What a spoil sport, why prick the conscience, when life is all jingalala (!!). Anyway, Congress immediately clarified that it was Mr. Tharoor’s personal opinion, that the party respected our desire to spent the entire day in silent, non violent contemplation of Gandhian ideals.

 The malls were full in the evening, a discount sale was on, movie tickets were soldout, tourist resorts were overbooked, bars were closed but homes were well stocked, Montblanc launched a golden pen in commemoration and restaurants offered special Gandhi Jayanti meals.

As the sun set, The Father of the Nation, bent over his staff, walked along the road to oblivion, in vain search of the truth to set us free.

महात्मा गांधी के दर्शन की प्रासंगिकता आज भी है। इसमें संदेह नहीं है। अगर कहें आज अधिक है तो भी कोई बुरा नहीं है। पूरे विश्व में महात्मा गांधी को अहिंसा के पुजारी के रूप में याद किया जाता है या कहें कराया जाता है पर उस पर चलना कौन चाहता है।
पूरे विश्व में हिंसा का दौर बढ़ता जा रहा और जितना यह बढ़ेगा उतनी ही बढ़ेगी गांधी जी की अहिंसा सिद्धांत की प्रासंगिकता। महात्मा गांधी ने भारत को आजादी दिलाई यह कहना कुछ अतिश्योक्ति मानते हैं तो कुछ लोग महात्मा गांधी को अप्रासंगिक सिद्ध करने के लिये हिंसा का समर्थन भी करते हैं। मगर यह दोनों ही प्रकार के लोग घूमते उसी आजादी के आंदोलन के घेरे में ही हैं जिसका शीर्षक महात्मा गांधी के नाम से लिखा जाता है। इसी आंदोलन के कुछ नेताओं और शहीदों के नाम से कुछ अन्य लोग विचारधारायें चला रहे हैं। कहने का मतलब यह है कि वह भारत की आयु साठ वर्ष की ही मानते हैं और उनके लिये भारतीय भाषाओं और संस्कृति की आयु भी इतनी ही हैं। इतना ही नहीं भारतीय अध्यात्म ज्ञान तो उनके लिये पुराना पड़ चुका है और उसका अब कोई महत्व नहीं है।
अगर सही आंकलन करें तो आज के समाज में गरीबी, भ्रष्टाचार, भय, और अपराध के विरुद्ध चलने वाले आंदोलनों को इसी अहिंसा के मार्ग पर चलना चाहिये क्योंकि महात्मा गांधी आज के लोकतांत्रिक समाज में राज्य का विरोध करने के लिये हिंसा के पुराने तरीके हिंसक तख्ता पलट की जगह इसे सही मानते थे। आपने इतिहास में देखा होगा कि अनेक प्रकार के राजा जनता की नाराजगी के कारण हिंसा का शिकार हुए या उनका तख्ता पल्टा गया। भारतीय स्वतंत्रता संग्राम के समय का अवलोकन करें तो उस समय कार्लमाक्र्स का प्रभाव बढ़ रहा था और उसके चेले व्यवस्था का बदलाव हिंसा के सहारे कर रहे थे जबकि लगभग उसी समय महात्मा गांधी ने आंदोलनों को अहिंसा का मार्ग दिखाया। यही पश्चिम के गोरे लोग चाहते थे पर अंततः उनको भी यह देश छोड़ना पड़ा पर वह छोड़ते हुए इस देश में हिंसा का ऐसा इतिहास छोड़ गये जिससे आज तक यहां के निवासी भुगत रहे है।
मूल बात यही है कि महात्मा गांधी आधुनिक समाज के संघर्षों में हिंसक की बजाय अहिंसक आंदोलन के प्रणेता थे। उनकी याद भले ही सब करते हों पर हथियारों के पश्चिमी सौदागर और विचारों के पूर्वी विक्रेता उनसे खौफ खाते हैं। गनीमत है पश्चिम वाले एक दिन महात्मा को याद कर अपने पाप का प्रायश्चित करते हैं पर पूर्व के लोग तो हिंसावाद को ही समाज में परिवर्तन का मार्ग मानते हैं। यहां यह भी बता दें कि महात्मा गांधी राज्य चलाने के किसी सिद्धांत के प्रवर्तक नहीं थे क्योंकि उसके लिये आपको सत्ता की राजनीति करनी पड़ती है जिसका आंदोलन की राजनीति से दूर दूर तक कोई वास्ता नहीं होता। इसलिये ही सारी दुनियां की सरकारें महात्मा गांधी को याद करती है ताकि उनके विरुद्ध चलने वाले आंदोलन हिंसक न हों।
यह देश हजारों वर्ष पुराना है। भारतीय अध्यात्मिक ज्ञान तो जीवन जीने की ऐसी कला सिखाता है कि पूर्व और पश्चिम दोनों ही उसे नहीं जानते पर अपने ही देश के लोग उसे भूल रहे हैं। दक्षिण एशिया जहां एक नहीं बल्कि तीन तीन अहिंसा के पूजारी और प्रवर्तक हुए वहां हिंसा का ऐसा बोलबाला है जिसकी चर्चा पूरे विश्व में हैं। पाकिस्तान के कबाइली इलाके हों या हमारे पूर्वी हिस्से। धार्मिक और राजनीतिक क्रूर सिद्धांतों की जकड़ में हैं। एक बात यकीनी तौर से मानिए कि आज के संदर्भ में कोई भी आंदोलन गरीबों और शोषकों के नाम पर सफल होता है पर किसी का भला हो यह नहीं दिखता। हकीकत तो यह है कि इन आंदोलनों को पैसा भी मिलता है। अब यह पैसा कौन देता है यह अलग से चर्चा का विषय है। इसी पैसे के लिये व्यसायिक आंदोलनकारी किसी विचाराधारा या नारे को गढ़ लेते हैं। अगर वह हिंसा का समर्थन न करें तो शायद उनको वह पैसा न मिले। साफ बात कहें तो इन हिंसक आंदोलनों की आड़ में पैसा देने वाले कुछ न कुछ आर्थिक लाभ उठाते हैं। ऐसे में उनके लिये गांधी का अहिंसा सिद्धांत का धोखे की टट्टी है। तब भी वह अधिक दूर नहीं जाते। स्वतंत्रता आंदोलन के दौरान शहीद हुए गरमपंथी महापुरुषों की तस्वीरें लगाकर उनका प्रचार करते हैं। साथ ही गांधी जी की आलोचना करने से उनको कोई गुरेज नहीं है।
सबसे बड़ी बात यह है कि इस देश का इतिहास साठ साल पुराना नहीं है। अब एक दूसरी बात यह है कि हम आजादी की बात करते हैं पर आज जब उस आजादी पर चर्चा होती है तो अनेक प्रकार के सवाल भी आते हैं। आखिर गांधी जी किससे आजादी चाहते थे? केवल गोरी चमड़ी से या उनके राज्य से। याद रखिये आज भी इस देश में अंग्रेजों के बनाये हुए कानून चल रहे हैं। इनमें से तो कई ऐसे हैं जो इस समाज को निंयत्रित करने के लिये यहीं के लोगों ने उनको सुझाये होंगे। इनमें एक वैश्यावृत्ति कानून भी है जिसे लोग हटाने की मांग करते हैं। दूसरा जूआ का भी कानून है। कुछ लोग कहते हैं कि यह रोकना सरकार का काम नहीं है बल्कि यह समाज का स्वयं का दायित्व है। कहने का मतलब है कि लोग यही मानते हैं कि समाज स्वयं पर नियंत्रण करे न करे तो वही दायी है। जो आदमी व्यसन या बुरा काम करता है तो अपनी हानि करता हैै। हां जहां वह दूसरे की हानि करता है तो बहुत सारे कानून है जो लगाये जा सकते हैं। लोग तो सतीप्रथा वाले कानून पर सवाल उठाते हैं और पूछते हैं कि उस समय या उससे पहले कितनी स्त्रियां इस देश में सती होती थीं। जिनको होना है तो अब भी इक्का दुक्का तो अब भी घटनायें होती है। वैसे ही अगर किसी स्त्री को जबरन सती कर दिया जाता है तो हत्या का अपराध या वह स्वयं होने के लिये तत्पर होती है तो आत्महत्या का कानून उस पर लग सकता है तब सती प्रथा रोकने के लिये अलग से कानून की जरूरत क्या थी?
सीधा मतलब यह है कि अंग्रेज चले गये पर अंग्रेजियत छोड़ गये। वह भी इसलिये कि महात्मा गांधी यहां प्रासगिक नहीं रहें। वैसे भी अपने देश में उनको किस प्रसंग में याद किया जाये? हां, इसमें कोई संदेह नहीं है कि आज के युग में अपनी अभिव्यक्ति या आंदोलन के लिये उनका सिद्धांत अति प्रासंगिक हैं। उनको इसलिये नमन करने का मन करता है।
…………………………..

यह आलेख इस ब्लाग ‘दीपक भारतदीप का चिंतन’पर मूल रूप से लिखा गया है। इसके अन्य कहीं भी प्रकाशन की अनुमति नहीं है।
अन्य ब्लाग
1.दीपक भारतदीप की शब्द पत्रिका
2.अनंत शब्दयोग
3.दीपक भारतदीप की शब्दयोग-पत्रिका
4.दीपक भारतदीप की शब्दज्ञान पत्रिका
लेखक संपादक-दीपक भारतदीप

Today Gandhi Jayanthi is being celebrated by India. I sat at home doing nothing. Some how, the frivolity of ‘celebrating’ Gandhi’s birthday hit me as never before. I don’t know the reason.

I scanned the news channels. One channel was showing a Gandhi idol being worshipped, just as a God’s idol in a temple. One priest was pouring milk and others were watching the show with reverence, with hands folded in devotion.

The next channel showed an Indian with swollen face, blood all over his body, who was beaten with a baseball bat in Australia, and the channel announced the statistics as the 22^nd Indian to be beaten between June and October this year. I remembered how an Australian Minister had the audacity to visit India last month, and assured the Indians that everything was fine in Australia, and it was safe for Indian students to pursue their studies there. He was accorded a warm welcome and must have been mighty pleased.

In another channel the Home Minister was being quizzed about the fate of the Indian Fishermen who are being shot at, captured and tortured in Sri Lankan prisons, and what India is doing about it. He said India is talking to the Sri Lankan authorities about the issue.

It is one year since 26/11 which exposed our porous borders, and have we sealed the borders as yet? Refugees from Bangladesh are pouring in every day, destabilizing the economy in the North East?

China is issuing Visas to India on a plain paper instead of passports. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu is assuring Sri Lankan Tamil refugees Indian citizenship and writes to the Centre urging action. Pakistan is flooding our markets with fake currency notes clearly aimed at destabilizing our economy.

We are a proud democracy, who put even the worst offender against humanity in general and against Indians in particular Kasab, to normal trial. The killer confessed to the crime, but was surprised to find an equally proud lawyer from India defending him. He would have been shocked that crores of rupees are being spent on his trial, which would have ended in no time in his own country and he would have been long dead. He was visibly bored during the trial, sometimes sleeping and yawning at other times. So much so that, the judge warned him to be more serious when he found him grinning as the trial was in progress. We are being bombarded with the images of this killer everyday by our proud, secular press who flaunt their impartiality.

In the meantime, we made no progress with regard to handing over of the accused from Pakistan. On the other hand we are humiliated by the release of prime accused from the prison.

Our foreign ministers, stay in five star hotels at ‘their own expense’, to be politically correct, twitter about ‘cattle class’ diplomacies and wonder why we have holiday on Gandhi Jayanthi, a man who worshipped work!

Quite a few channels were showing ‘Attenborough’s Gandhi today, the only decent film made on Gandhi, by a foreigner, because we need a foreigner to make a good film on our ‘own’ Gandhi.

It has been a ritual to show this film on three occasions; the Republic Day, the Independence Day and the Gandhi Jayanthi, year after year. While it is merely a slot filling exercise by the channels, they still do it because the TRP must have been good. Gandhi was burning the passes in South Africa and was getting beaten up by the police. I couldn’t watch it any further.

What happened to the dignity Gandhi earned for us?

Are we a nation gone awfully wrong somewhere?

So, finally we had at least 3 media friendly reasons to remember Gandhiji’s anniversary this year. In past, we mostly had a Gandhiji movie and some news gossips about Bapu. So what made me write this post ‘TODAY’? It’s simply because this is the first time when I heard about Gandhiji’s anniversary 4-5 times a day through different media-

Google Doodle:

This was BIG. The first thing we usually do every morning is open a browser and hit Google. I was amazed by the Google’s  Doodle this time, featuring Gandiji over the prominent G-Letter and it looked perfect. In fact, I think this was one of the very bests of Google’s doodle! I saw this news spreading like wildfire over Facebook and other blog sites and was one of the best reason for so many internet savvy people to know about him on this day.

Montblanc’s 11 lakh Pen:

There was this other news 2 days back where Montblanc announced the launch of a luxury pen on Gandhiji’s jayanti. The pen costs whopping 11 lac Rupees and they just have 241 pens (Inspired by his 241 Mile Dandi March). This was a bit controversial as people also said that Gandhiji always led a simple life and such high profile fashion pen doesn’t suit his kind of style. Whatever the reason, we remembered him one way or other .

Shashi Tharur’s comment:

Later in the day India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor sparked off a debate on whether Gandhiji’s birthday should be a public holiday.  He said “Gandhiji always said that work is worship and hence we should also fulfill our responsibilities on this day!” Controversial enough, this also raged a roar over Facebook, Twitter and Blogs.

Overall a media friendly day for Gandhiji, he remains India’s most famous icon even on his 140th birthday.

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

On the day of his birth, if we remember Gandhiji, it is better not to hear the leaders speak on him; because we should not desecrate him with hypocrisy.

India since independence is in the hands of the right-wingers. And these leaders have changed our country from democracy to plutocracy. They have even subjected us to foreigners’ hegemony.

They have polluted our Parliament by bribing MPs to stay in power. And, by staying in power they have ruined our public sector for the benefit of black money operators.

Because of their meretricious approach to welfare, our honest countrymen, constituting the massive majority, have been perishing under slow starvation below the poverty line whereas miscreants have amassed wealth to the extent of dictating terms to the Governments.

The right-wingers, whether in Government or in Opposition, are enjoying power. And, because of being in power, they are in positions to address us on Gandhiji, whose dreams they have shattered. Nathuram had physically killed him, but these fellows have been killing his spirit.

If we really love Gandhiji, let us no more encourage the right viruses to desecrate him.

This is what Google offers on the birth anniversary of the Mahatma.

What Google wants to portray by using such design elements ?

I would love to know your views on this……….

Awaiting your replies……….

Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today led the nation in paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his 140th birth anniversary.

Mr Ansari, Mr Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of the Opposition L K Advani were among the prominent persons who offered floral tributes at Rajghat, the memorial of the Father of the Nation, here this morning.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, Defence Minister A K Antony, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and

Ministers of State Shashi Tharoor and Krishna Tirath were among others who came to the memorial to offer their respects.

US Ambassador Timothy G Roemer also offered floral tributes at Rajghat.

Leaders of various religions also offered prayers at the samadhi.

A scene spotted before the elections, where they made posters for publicity. The Father of the Nation must surely wonder where we went wrong?

All the images on this blog are protected by copyright. Please do not copy, blog or repost in ANY way. If you wish to use them please get in touch with me through email.

The Mahatma

Dear Father,

Wanted to be the first one to wish you this time. So first things first . ‘Happy birthday !’. Wish you were with me here . But then, that is life.
I’ve always written to you ‘Everything fine here.’ in my previous letters. That was because that is what i  would like you to think. But there are some harsh truths that i no longer want to hide from you. Like all children who lie to their parents i have just now after 60 years realised that it hides the truth indirectly from myself too. I was afraid to face your displeasure but now  have understood that it is better to say the truth, head held high, even if it is painful rather than smother it with lies fearing to face the pain.
I have not become what you dreamed father. I am not the beacon of hope  for the poor and hungry neither the one who leads the world in peace. Nor am i the one to whom the world looks upto in the matter of moral righteousness. I have not become what i promised to be. Instead i have become worse than many others. Heard about ‘peer pressure’ father? Well it has changed me pretty much in these years that you have been gone. And it was all for the better for the first few decades. I could atlast feed my sons and daughters without the help of others. And then they began to dream bigger and bigger and chased those dreams. I didn’t even care when they left me to make those dreams a reality. After all which parent does? But now a days it seems as their heads grew bigger and bigger it might have encroached in to their heart which has norrowed over the yeras. They learnt to see into the deep space, but forgot to look into the heart of their poor brother. I have failed you father. Failed to bring up my children as well as you wanted me to, failed where it is most necessary but succeeded in a great many trivial things. I am now a land where righteousness is fiction, honesty is a myth. Where men kill their brothers for money ,where the farmer who plants the crops eats rats. I can understand how much pain you will be in when you read this father. But then who else do i have to write to?

There, i have said what i wanted to , for all these years. Today i will go to sleep with a lighter heart than i have for years. I am not the glorious success that you wanted father. I am only the loving daughter who wishes to wish her father on his birthday and on the way seek some redemption.

Love,

India.

Gandhi is a man who believed in truth and he started the ‘Satyagraha’ movement for India’s freedom struggle. His aim was to fight for freedom without any violence. He accomplished that and preached peace to whole world.

October 2nd is national holiday and celebrated as Gandhi Jayanthi

He was born on the October 2nd 1869 in Porbander, a very small town in Gujarat.On this day, the president and Prime Minister, followed by other political leaders, pay their tribute to the late Gandhi at Raj Ghat, the memorial place of Gandhi.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also known as MK Gandhi,Bapu or ‘Father of the nation’.Gandhi’s favourite song, Raghupati Raghava, is invariably sung at all the meetings associated with him. Prayer meetings are held in various state capitals as well.

The birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, is celebrated with reverence all over the country. Gandhi Jayanti is observed all over the country, both in government and non-government forums.Gandhi Jayanti is a national holiday celebrated in India to mark the occasion of the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi.

“Live as if your were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

- Gandhiji