So what does Gandhi mean to the world, to India and specially to us, who are born in India and brought up to almost worship him. We tagged him with the prefix ‘Mahatma’ with has mythic and religious symbolism.
And there lies the problem. We have such a wonderful way to consign a life to a figure to be worshipped on the mantle piece and thereby distancing ourselves from him . No longer do we feel the pangs of guilt of not being able to imbibe values of another human being simply because, after all, he/she are no longer human beings but Gods to be worshipped, aren’t they ?
After all, just think of the massive corrupt deals being made in rooms and offices where a huge picture of Gandhiji hangs from the wall.
I have struggled a lot to distance myself from the word Mahatma. Not easy when the greatest heroes in my eductaion system were Bapuji and Chacha Nehru. I have got over Chacha Nehru as I have grown up. Recognizing the incongruity of Panchsheel and Bandung Conference by studying the dictatorial lives of his comrades like Sukarno of Indonesia and Nasser of Egypt. And wondered on what basis Nehru chose his non – aligned friends.
The more I learn about the Partition of India, the more I realize that Chacha Nehru too, was as complicit in that horrendous event as was Jinnah. It was after all, the battle to be the first Prime Minister of India that laid the tragedy of partition at the feet of personal ambition. The huge public sector projects that ultimately were doomed to be hot beds of inefficiency and corruption. The tragedy of the War with China that Chacha Nehru refused to face up to, despite repeated warnings form his military chiefs. Refusing to believe that his charisma and diplomatic skills were not enough to prevent China from dealing a devastating blow to India’s ill equipped armed forces at the cost of thousand of lives. Of soldiers sent directly to battle to a terrain and weather that would need months of training to exist in.
So many soldiers just froze to death in their bunkers.
Yet Chacha Nehru did have vision. And used the force of his personality to get his way. He did see India in its modern traditions long before anyone else did. He did foresee the need for education and formed the IIT’s that gave rise to the beginnings of pride in being Indian in the modern world and made the world suddenly wake up to modern India. India and the world saw Nehru as India, and India as Nehru.
The problem was Chacha Nehru too, saw Nehru as India and India as Nehru. Something his daughter inherited to devastating effect.
It has been less easy for me to drop the mantle of hero worshipping Gandhiji. Yes there are rumors of him sleeping naked with his nieces to prove himself celibate, Stories I think are exaggerations. Yes he was a mule of man. Obstinate to a fault. Like all men like him, including Nelson Mandela, who’s obstinacy destroyed their immediate family.
Yet it was this obstinacy that that brought the British down to their knees. Of course the British were wounded and limping after the war and could no longer hold on to a huge colony like India if it rebelled. But Gandhi used yet unknown tools of political warfare to ferment one of the most famous freedom struggles in the world.
It is said that no one understood the roots of India more than Gandhi. That’s absolutely true. But no one understood the roots of the great British Empire and world politics more than Gandhi. I will never forget the picture of Gandhi entering the British Parliament in his white Dhoti in a sea of black suits and very British dresses. Being applauded by the very people he was causing Indians to rebel against.
Gandhi has the sharpest political mind of the modern history because he understood the value of myth. He created a mythology that was Gandhi in the world of politics that was mysterious, unfathomable and unshakable. In his own lifetime. That in itself was amazing.
To Indians he created a figure that came right out of the roots of India’s culture. The worship of sacrifice. Of ‘Tyag’. He became the epitome of ‘Tyag’, the giving up of all worldly addictions, material or personal. Whether he deliberately created himself into that myth, or he deeply believed in those values will always be a mystery. Thats what Myths are.
Yes. Gandhi was once a bit of a Anglophile. You can tell by the way he dressed before he gave up Western clothes. He aspired to be at the bar at London. You can tell by the way he wrote his letters, even signing himself off as ‘your sincere friend’ to Hitler! I will never work out why he did that.
Yes there is a really amazing picture of a very young Gandhi, proudly posing in the clothes of a British soldier as he serves in the British army in the medical corps during the Boer War. Yes, it is possible that the Gandhi the world knows was born of a personal feeling of insult and humiliation by the British in South Africa, that ultimately led to a wider national and international perspective. But that’s the story of all great revolutionaries and freedom fighters.
But try as hard as I can I cannot easily shake of Gandhiji as one the greatest human beings that lived in the 20th century. And a man (not the picture on the mantlepiece) that needs to be studied, understood and learnt from. His perspective and knowledge on India economics are now abundantly clear to us from the mistakes we have made in the last 65 years. Gandhiji always insisted that true India lived in its villages and that economic prosperity and wealth should grow from grass roots by encouraging enterprise and innovation in those grass roots levels.
And today, six decades after independence, as India struggles to come to terms with its vast inequalities and the world writes reams of books on ‘bottom of the pyramid’ and economic planners struggle with how to encompass a billion people into the new economic order, it will be well worth today, the day of Gandiji’s birth, or Gandhiji Jayanti, to stand up and say :
Gandhiji warned us so.
I don’t know how much of India’s independence can be attributed to Gandhi’s “freedom struggle” and how much to simply the fact that the British simply gave up and left. India was the last, if not one of the last country’s that the British gave up. And, I’m pretty sure if they didn’t want to do so by themselves in 1947, they wouldn’t have. Gandhi’s legacy has been more damaging than beneficial to India. I’m glad to note that even though it took some time, you were able to see the damage than Nehru wrought upon India. It will probably be a couple of years before you would say the same about Gandhi, more categorically.
“Gandhiji always insisted that true India lived in its villages and that economic prosperity and wealth should grow from grass roots by encouraging enterprise and innovation in those grass roots levels.”
65 years of failure by pursuing those policies should have convinced everyone by now how faulty that thinking was. Gandhi approved the charkha but not industrialized looms, why? Aren’t the latter more efficient? Is there some greatness in having 100 people rotating a wheel as opposed to 10 running a power loom?
It is said that no one understood the roots of India more than Gandhi. That’s absolutely true. But no one understood the roots of the great British Empire and world politics more than Gandhi. I will never forget the picture of Gandhi enters the British Parliament in his white Dhoti in a sea of black suits and very British dresses. Being applauded by the very people he was causing the Indians to rebel against.
I am thrilled to read this above paragraph about Mahatma Gandhi!!!!!!!!!!
Look, I won’t say I am a great follower of Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi but at the same time I won’t ridicule him just for the sake of it! I too have heard weird stories about his personal life, but that should not take away his glories. I like the point that you have mentioned in the beginning itself, the problem is those people who praises him but don’t want to follow his principle. And those who hate him, don’t want to know about his good deeds. Very truly, it’s all about perceptions. Unfortunately, I am not so positive about Nehru. So, no comments there!
Gandhiji is a very unique leader to study to understand what qualities made him such a leader. As you have referred, no other leader has understood the psych of the Indian people better than Gandhiji. The way he utilized his political life and its ups and downs for his spiritual quests / path of self realization is amazing. As his goal was self realization, he is able to stood above all the narrow thinking/ideologies. Every student of Leadership should study him deeply. Thanks for your article…
To know everything about any person or leader is difficult, but, if any person or leader inspire you to do good thing and encourage you to work for humanity, specially for an ordinary people nothing more is required…
Shekarji, Do read this when you can. http://appliedgandhi.blogspot.in/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00%2B05:30&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00%2B05:30&max-results=6 . I stumbled on it by chance and it has a lot to offer. Some beautiful insights.
I feel it takes great courage to see through the Indian Political Scene.Gandhi understood the roots of India more than anybody,he manupilated every situation to his benefit,including the so many fasts unto death?.Dr Ambedkar is the classic example .
It will surely take some time for you to see through Gandhis greatness as you have seen for nehru.
But, the article is wortha read.
It is a very brilliant note that even convinces a staunch un gandhian as me.. i do not apply his personal doings or misdoings to his merit as a statesman but he along with Nehru have a great hand in the dishonesty that spread in the Indian veins and prevails till this day.. The could have done some good but not the most, today is the birth anniversary of Lal Bahadur Shastri too but not acknowledged at all. Why? is it because we have been trained and conditioned to be dazzled by only that glitters ? and well who taught us all this ? who designed our history books? why were those whop really fought for this nation and died for it were concluded in only a couple of pages? We have Shekhar been mesmerized into believing in the wrong ideals, to worship people who did not deserve to be and not even cast a glance on the ones who were killed. The history has glorified the Gandhi and the Nehru’s cosmetic arrests but spoke nothing about the real arrests and murders that happened in the British jails Why? This was not at all a non violent freedom, there is a long trail of violence that goes about to come to a conclusion called Gandhi. WE AS A NATION HAVE UNFORTUNATELY LEARNT THAT TO SIDE WITH WHAT IS RIGHT WILL ONLY DIMINISH US and this is because we have been learning to worship the unworthy.. Was this not a complete ploy to influence and keep the whole of the coming generation under a vicious spell? if all the theories were right what is it that went wrong, why do we have a country that we are having today?
Basically, we are all selfish for our motivational reasons. Situations turn us into leader or Mahatma. Up on the leadership ladder it is necessary to force our opinion time and again, to hover on the top and in the process we make sacrifices. Decisions taken may not always turn out to be favourable in the leadership category. Similarly, if someone is perceived as Mahatma, the instinct will force him to only think in Godly manner and in the process makes him a true Mahatma (like Devanand in ‘Guide’).
Is it making true sense of your blog?????
Gandhi once said: “Civilization, in the real sense of the term, consists not in the multiplication, but in the deliberate and voluntary reduction of wants.”
When someone makes a sacrifice, we presume that he or she is larger than the average amongst us. Thats probably because we think only about the sacrificed bit and the consequences of that sacrifice. We rarely try to peep into the mind that worked before the sacrifice could happen. Certain people with sharp minds have the capacity to look beyond what is ordinarily perceived, think out-of-the-box, evaluate the consequences with a bit of foresight and shrewdly take some chances, which the average person doesn’t! Why could Gandhiji have thought about giving up a certain type of clothing? It not only allowed him to create this perception of a sacrifice, which was considered as a virtue, but it also allowed him to create a unique image for himself, which was drastically different than Nehru, Patel, Jinnah & the group of other young & active Congressmen. With a single chance that he took, he could leap miles ahead of the other Congress leaders of that time in terms of popularity. Gandhiji was far too shrewd & intelligent. He knew that he was entering into the struggle for India’s freedom, which already had several thousands of people with hundreds of leaders fighting for a common cause. When he arrived here from South Africa, he realised that he had to do something in order to overtake those who were already in the leadership race. Looking at his temperament, he couldn’t have settled down being just another freedom-fighter. The make-over that he gave himself surprised everyone and it happened to be talked about by everybody and thus, his popularity grew leaps & bounds! In fact, when Gandhiji was in South Africa, he was fighting with a different set of objectives and when he returned to India, he adjusted his goals to align with the common cause of those fighting for India’s freedom. He was very good at understanding situations and had a very good political acumen. It is worth thinking that when someone can change the very reason for what he is fighting for, he could go to any extent to establish himself as a leader!
I did not see Anil Kapoor’s movie “Gandhi, my Father” in it’s entirety, but my impression is that it shows that he did not give money to his son who wanted to start a business (and not become a politician). When his son goes to ask him for money, Gandhi tells his son he has already donated his money (to some ashram, I guess). And he does not help his son to secure a loan.
“What does a man achieve if he achieves the whole world, but loses his soul!” I am paraphrasing St. Francis Xavier. Similarly, what did Gandhiji achieve by impressing the whole world, but not help his own son. My facts are fuzzy, but would like to hear from some of Gandhiji’s descendants. Or, in another perspective, did Gandhiji sacrifice his family for the nation? Does Anil Kapoor’s movie critize Gandhi for not helping his son, or praise Gandhi for the personal sacrifices made for the nation?
But politically, Gandhiji did have many impressive achievements. His non-violence is not the non-violence of cowards, but of the brave to take on the strongest punch the enemy can deliver.
In yet another perspective, just because someone is good in activity “A”, does not mean he is good in all activities. I hope (movie) star crazy fans realize this. Stars are also humans.
good speculations on the two leaders. you are right about Nehru, he was certainly not a visionary and when it came to international relations, he was a failure. he did not have the ability to make proper decisions in the sense he did not see how much it could affect the future generations or even the next two generations.
Gandhi on the other hand was a giant. Shrewd, inspiring and whats more, he led through example. Perhaps he did need to go through all the initial stages of ‘anglophile’ and in my opinion thats what shaped him to become what he did. At some stage every human being does get that insight, Gandhi not only got that insight, he used it to carve his philosophy. Nowadays it has become fashionable pull him down and criticize him but he left a huge vacuum of leadership on the political front that has not been filled to this day
I will like to suggest u to go through the literature about Gandhi,written by Osho.
From a Tehelka article:
Gandhi’s friendship with Ghanshyam Das Birla (1894-1983) was a mutually beneficial affair. Birla was a source of limitless finance for Gandhi. In a letter to Birla on 10 January 1927, Gandhi wrote, “My thirst for money is simply unquenchable. I need at least Rs 2,00,000 — for khadi, untouchability and education. The dairy work makes another Rs 50,000. Then there is the Ashram expenditure. No work remains unfinished for want of funds, but God gives after severe trials. This also satisfies me. You can give as you like for whatever work you have faith in.” As Sarojini Naidu sardonically noted, it cost a lot to keep Gandhi poor.
IF THE local Congress office today arranges quilts when Rahul Gandhi and UK Foreign Secretary David Milliband decide on some poverty tourism in a Dalit ghetto, such window-dressing was the task of the Birlas when Mohandas Gandhi decided to occasionally spend time in ‘bhangi’ bastis. Margaret Bourke-White, the Life photojournalist who chronicled Gandhi, notes that half the residents of the ghettos were moved out, and the huts prettified before Gandhi’s visit. Dinanath Tiang of the Birla Group rationalises the improvements in the Dalit colony to White thus, “We have cared for Gandhiji’s comfort for the last 20 years.” Cooked food for Gandhi would also be sourced by the Birlas.
In 1928, when Gandhi complained that people were buying mill-produced khadi mistaking it for homespun, Birla read this as a veiled criticism of his mills and riposted, “Do you not think that you are unnecessarily exaggerating the results of the khadi propaganda? You could find this out yourself if you send hawkers with mill-made as well as shuddha khadi who may ask some villagers to select their choice after explaining the latter properly about the quality as well as the price of the cloth, I have not the least doubt that if you made the experiment you will find that 90 per cent of the consumers will pick up the cheaper and more lasting of the two stuffs. Mill khadi is popular because people find it cheap, durable besides it being swadeshi make.”
Leah Renold, an American scholar who has examined Gandhi’s relationship with GD Birla, says Gandhi did not wish to precipitate the issue for he was financially dependent on Birla, his patron, in whose palatial Delhi home Gandhi stayed for over 25 years. She says, “Gandhi never allowed the khadi issue to become an object of contention between himself and Birla. Instead he found a place for mills in the khadi movement.” In 1930, Gandhi wrote to Birla, “I am convinced that the boycott will be successful only through khadi. This does not mean that the mills have no place in the scheme at all. The mills can have their deserved place by recognising the worth of khadi. The conception of God envelopes all Gods.”
Well, to me Gandhiji represents the Power of “ONE” . How One individual can affect the lives of Millions, even long after he’s “gone”.
I mentioned this in my Radio Show on VoiceAmerica.com yesterday, and I felt it significant that my Debut show on Intent Healing was on Gandhiji’s Birthday !
love,
Raji
I don’t really understand whether Gandhi was too good or too bad but i can surely say that most of our politicians still ‘live’ and ‘earn bread’ by abusing his ideas may be about simplicity, khadi, truth, non-violence etc..
A great story of man told by a great story teller.
sir u r correct and i’m glad tht a personality like you also support truth..isse padh le
गांधी संत या कंस ? –
आपसे निवेदन है की इसे पहले पढे !!
फिर बहस करे
पाकिस्तान से दिल्ली की तरफ जो रेलगाड़िया आ रही थी,उनमे हिन्दू इस प्रकार बैठे थे जैसे माल की बोरिया एक के ऊपर एक रची जाती हैं. अन्दर
ज्यादातर मरे हुए ही थे,,गला कटे हुए.रेलगाड़ी के छप्पर पर बहुत से लोग बैठे हुए थे,,डिब्बों के अन्दर सिर्फ सांस लेने भर की जगह बाकी थी.बैलगाड़िया ट्रक्स हिन्दुओं से भरे हुए थे.रेलगाड़ियों पर लिखा हुआ था,,”आज़ादी का तोहफा”
रेलगाड़ी में जो लाशें भरी हुई थी उनकी हालत कुछऐसी थी की उनको उठाना मुश्किल था,,दिल्ली पुलिस को फावड़ें में उन लाशों को भरकर उठाना पड़ा. ट्रक में भरकर किसीनिर्जन स्थान पर ले जाकर,उनपर पेट्रोल के फवारे मारकर उन लाशों को जलाना पड़ा इतनी विकट हालत थी उन मृतदेहों की.भयानक बदबू……
सियालकोट से खबरे आ रही थी की वहां से हिन्दुओं को निकाला जा रहा हैं. उनके घर,उनकी खेती,पैसा-अडका, सोना-चाँदी,बर्त न सब मुसलमानों ने अपने कब्जे में ले लिए थे.
मुस्लिम लीग ने सिवाय कपड़ों के कुछ भी ले जानेपर रोक लगा दी थी. किसी भी गाडी पर हल्ला करके हाथ को लगे उतनी महिलाओं-बच्चियो को भगाया गया.बलात्कार किये बिना एक भी हिन्दू स्त्री वहां से वापस नहीं आ सकती थी. बलात्कार किये बिना…..?
जो स्त्रियाँ वहां से जिन्दा वापस आई वो अपनी वैद्यकीय जांच करवाने से डर
रही थी.डॉक्टर ने पूछा क्यों ???
उन महिलाओं ने जवाब दिया,,हम आपको क्या बतायेहमें क्या हुआ हैं ? हम पर कितने लोगों ने बलात्कार किये हैं हमें भी पता नहीं हैं…
उनके सारे शारीर पर चाकुओं के घाव थे. ”
आज़ादी का तोहफा”
जिन स्थानों से लोगों ने जाने से मना कर दिया ,उन स्थानों पर हिन्दू स्त्रियों की यात्रा (धिंड) निकाली गयी. उनको बाज़ार सजाकर बोलियाँ लगायी गयी.
1947 के बाद दिल्ली में 400000 हिन्दू निर्वासित आये.और इन हिन्दुओं को जिस हाल में यहाँ आना पड़ा था,,उसके बावजूद पाकिस्तान को पचपन करोड़ रुपये देने ही चाहिए ऐसा महात्मा जी का आग्रह था…
क्योकि एक तिहाई भारत के तुकडे हुए हैं तो भारत केखजाने का एक तिहाई हिस्सा पाकिस्तान को मिलना चाहिए था.विधि मंडल ने विरोध किया,, पैसानहीं देगे….
और फिर बिरला भवन के पटांगन में महात्मा जी अनशन पर बैठ गए…..पैसे
दो,,नहीं तो मैं मर जाउगा….
एक तरफ अपने मुहँ से ये कहने वाले महात्मा जी , की हिंसा उनको पसंद नहीं हैं,,
दूसरी तरफ जो हिंसा कर रहे थे उनके लिए अनशन पर बैठ गए.
दिल्ली में हिन्दू निर्वासितों के रहने की कोई व्यवस्था नहीं थी.इससे ज्यादा बुरी बात ये थी की दिल्ली में खालीपड़ी मस्जिदों में हिन्दुओं ने शरण ली
तब बिरला भवन से महात्मा जी ने भाषण में कहा की दिल्ली पुलिस को मेरा आदेश हैं मस्जिद जैसी चीजों पर हिन्दुओं का कोई ताबा नहीं रहना चाहिए.
निर्वासितों को बाहर निकालकर मस्जिदे खाली करे..
क्योंकि महात्मा जी की दृष्टी में जान सिर्फ मुसलमानों में थी हिन्दुओं में नहीं…
जनवरी की कडकडाती ठंडी में हिन्दू महिलाओं और छोटे छोटे बच्चों को हाथ पकड़कर पुलिस ने मस्जिद के बाहर निकाला.
गटर के किनारे रहो लेकिन छत के निचे नहीं. क्योकि,,तुम हिन्दू हो…..4000000 हिन्दू भारत में आये थे,, ये सोचकर की ये भारत हमारा हैं….
ये सब निर्वासित गांधीजी से मिलाने बिरला भवन जाते थे तब गांधीजी माइक पर से कहते थे,,,
क्यों आये यहाँ अपने घरदार बेचकर,,वहीँ पर अहिंसात्मक प्रतिकार करके क्यों नहीं रहे ??
यही अपराध हुआ तुमसे अभी भी वही वापस जाओ..और ये महात्मा किस आशा पर पाकिस्तान को पचपन करोड़ रुपये देने निकले थे ?
सरदार पटेल ने कहा की ठीकहैं अगर भाई को इस्टेट में से हिस्सा देना पड़ता हैं तो कर्ज की रकमका हिस्सा भी चुकाना पड़ता है गाँधी जी ने कहाबराबर हैं…
पटेल जी ने कहा,,”फिर दुसरे महायुद्ध के समय अपने देश ने 110 करोड़ रुपये कर्ज के रूप में खड़े किये थे,अब उसका एक तृतीय भाग पाकिस्तान को देने का कहिये,,आप तो बैरिस्टर हैं आपको कायदा पता हैं.
” गांधीजी ने कहा,,नहीं ये नहीं होगा
अब आप ही बताये ……… कंस या संत .
Ji or Mahatama or sir or this or that may make somebody a great, greater or even a greatest human being for us common people but are just entangled into a bit greater web for the nature while the goal of all is the same – to break free.
Did Gandhi, Hitler, Socrates, Mandela or all of their category suffered because of the same problem – of having superego?
Read in this just a 650 worded book. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009DL5RTG
Very sorry if some readers find their cherished names side by side with those they may loathe the most, but nature is not human-hearted as one wit said.
For further solace remember Ramana Maharshi’s words: “Where is the world except in your mind?” If such be the case why we should be overawed by one name and overloathe an other?
Gandhiji is considered by most of the Indian as the epitome of sacrifice and non-violence. I agree with you that he had an immense understanding of World Politics as well as very well understood the roots of British Empire. I feel that the India-Pakistan partition would have never happened if Gandhi would not want it. He knew how to motivate people but in my view the true fighter are those who have sacrificed their lives for the motherland.
I must admit it is an awesomely written post. Thanks for writing such an wonderful post.
It was Nagar Seth(Mayor) of Jetpur Shri N. B. Mehta who was the first to use and bestow the title ‘Mahatna’ to Karam Chand Gandhi on January 21st, 1915. From then he is considered as ‘ Mahatma Gandhi’. Before we go for analyzing or criticizing his contribution towards ‘struggle for independence’ and think him as God, let us know the character of ‘Atma’, ‘Mahatma’ and ‘Paratma’.
‘Atma’ means spirit or soul.
‘Mahatma means Maha+Atma (Spiritual Master, Guru, Saint…but not God.
‘Paramatma’ means Parm+Atma (God, Allah, Rabb)
During the period of independence the people who came forward to sacrifice their life were considered to be almost ‘God’ in the eye of the common people. But they were nothing but ‘Freedom Fighter’ and hence should be considered as a ‘Great Soul’.Among all fighters Gandhiji was definitely different and much ahead of others so far as the intellect, philosophy, courage etc. etc. are concerned. But he was not God, not ‘Paramatma’, he was merely a human being and obviously likely to do mistakes. Similarly, what was he in his personal life should not be taken into account when we think about his sacrifice, dedication and contribution towards making India free. Since he was not God he had his limitation also. But is there any doubt about his intention towards making India as ‘Free from British Rule ?
Autobiography of Gandhiji “The Story of My Experiments with Truth” covering his life from early childhood through to his death.
Gandhiji united the country and made people to take part in his movements. Freedom from British was his secondary concern but awakening Indian people was his top priority. He tried to free Indians not just India.
I believe partition was mutual decision of INC leaders and not just Nehruji. I think we can’t blame him for having dictators as comrades from other countries. eg. China is kind of dictatorship regime but it doesn’t mean we should stop talking with them.
Dear Shekhar ji, I was impressed by your first and only then the film “TOOTE KHILONE” was judged Best Actor – Director will … I am writer-Editor of Nawya Trimonthly magazine. please sent sent yr Email and phone number- Pankaj Trivedi M-09660214007
what i know about gandhiji is that he gradually became a personality and when the fruit was ripe to be eaten ,some greedy faction compelled gandhiji to go for partition.this was the first mistake secondly if partioned happened it should have happened decisively as india for hindus and pakistan for muslims,i don’t think india would have been suffering till date if that had happened. presently,the so called leaders think it better to paint some beloved people to be rich thereby declaring india to be a prosperous nation.come on ,the ship is sinking.
Gandhi new generation can partly visualize comparing to ANNA. But Nehru and his clan has done lot og damage to India and its society. Nehru blind mans vision is what we are facing now be it corruption or Kashmir or population or religious intolerance ete you name it. Nehru laid strong foundation for Dynastic rule and his vision limits there itself. Nehru didn’t see lay the foundation for future of India but continued with Inherited British rule later leading to ruins particularly morality attitude of politicians and bureaucracy. If small village like Singapore can be economic giant within short span why cannot India with all rich resources. His socialism and Non Aligned Movement are proved disaster for India. But India his own dynasty ruling so there is lot of cover ups jingoism created by ruling dynasty which in fact ruined India.
A very (belated) happy Gandhi Jayanti to all. Everytime I wake up – I remind myself that all is temporary and that everything will eventually pass on. And so I remind myself (when in conflict) that “An eye for an eye will only make the world blind”.
On another note (to Shekhar): I wish there was a better way of reaching you. Here’s a song (my first song ever) that I’ve written and produced and I need your opinion on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zwJh6oaVpg
Cheers !
Aimen
Mahatma Gandhi. Love. Truth. Sacrifice.
Sir your posts are really knowledgeable…but do read the cons of knowledge http://vrushti-bloomingbuds.blogspot.in/2012/05/greatest-trap-knowledge.html
Mr.Gandhi ko Mahatma bana dia…baat khatam…its over…now those people ensured that he is beyond us…why only Gandhi…Krishna, Buddha…yehi toh problem hai Hindustan kay saath
Sheik err, is up to it again.
the problem with the so-called ‘ educated’ , especialy english educated indians like Sheik err , is that , they have been brain wahsed for decades – robert mcaulay’s dream of ‘indians , brown on the outside but english in ideas’ has given us people like the fake ‘mahatma’, followed by his clan of slavish followers , their generations , mostly embiciles with good english.
lastly , the abiding curse on india – so-called ‘ gandhi family’ is a gift of this fake mahatma. the indian government spent our tax money of 700 Million no less , buying this closet homosexual ‘s love letters to kallenbach from christys in london.
India ‘s independence was due in 1921 , but this fake mahatma delayed progress , kileed momentum just because a few british officers were burnt by us, indians. what a hypocrite.
this fake mahatma – lets stop calling him that !!!! an insult to real mahatmas like swami vivekananda , swami aurobindo , and sardar patel !!, this fake mahatma , is responsible for emasculating india and selling this country to the british along with Nehru – the other vermin.
Nehru’s affair with Edwina is what ensured indian partition and kashmr issue. these traitors and descendents of traitors are ruling india. but for how long ?
their time is up – all truth will out , and they will have no place to hide. Gandhi , the fake mahatma , is a curse on india , and we shd get rid of this name from our national psyche and build a world conquering , all powerful Maha Bharat !
Jai ma Bharati !
We can hide behind the screen of words, or follow a teacher, or run to a church, or lose ourselves in a debate Always depending on somebody else. And that dependence inevitably brings conflict and disorder. We go to another to give us energy. Can any system make us intelligent? We may go through the kind of a system, acquire degrees, and so on; but will we then be educators,
or merely the personifications of a system? To seek reward, to want to be called an outstanding educator, is to crave recognition and praise;and while it is sometimes agreeable to be appreciated and encouraged, if one depends upon it for one’s sustained interest,
it becomes a drug of which one soon wearies.
To expect appreciation and encouragement is quite immature.
We can hide behind the screen of words, or follow a teacher, or run to a church, or lose ourselves in a debate Always depending on somebody else. And that dependence inevitably brings conflict and disorder. We go to another to give us energy. Can any system make us intelligent? We may go through the kind of a system, acquire degrees, and so on; but will we then be educators,
or merely the personifications of a system? To seek reward, to want to be called an outstanding educator, is to crave recognition and praise;and while it is sometimes agreeable to be appreciated and encouraged, if one depends upon it for one’s sustained interest,
it becomes a drug of which one soon wearies.
To expect appreciation and encouragement is quite immature.
J.Krishnamurti
I don’t know much about Gandhi but he was adamant in his ways. The fasting and anshans were a way of blackmailing (emotional) , he used Indian’s guilt feelings as he will die if they don’t do as he says.
I can’t say it was for greater good or not but today how his ways are used to manipulate and deteriorate life of an ordinary Indian is shame.
Any community wants reservation they stop trains and declare strike, Bharat band has become a cliche. Now we have mastered our guilty conscience due to over usage . These hypocrites take stage and some media persons and go to fasts but where there is real need of attention , nobody gives a damn.
If you feel I am wrong then look what is happening to Irom sharmila and swami nigamananda , are they wrong to fight for their/our cause.
I m a big fan of you sir…
http://uniquezoneco.com/
i am too imbecile a person to comment on such farcical “mahatma”; i am lucky that i can now say after 65 years of independence – that i wish to forget if at all he visited india in 1915.