Its been such a huge gap, I am half afraid that if Blogger's would start with its own "Blogger is deleting blogs" forwards I'd top their list! So here is a little something I wrote for my cousin's school debate on the topic "Relevance of Gandhism today". She was speaking against the motion.
A word of caution: Its "slightly" longish, so read at your own risk! Don't blame me for being too verbose later:p
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever”-M.K. Gandhi.
The Mahatma dedicated his life to the quest for knowledge, to the wider purpose of discovering truth, the complicated ‘Satya’, about life itself, these experiments with truth evolved into what has become the popular jargon of today – ‘Gandhism’. The father of our nation, the man who lead us to freedom, the apostle of non-violence, the architect of Satyagrah and Non-cooperation movements… he has endless credits to his name. But the question now is his relevance in today’s day and age. Can his lofty ideals be abided by? Is Gandhigiri the solution to all our troubles and woes? Will the new found euphoria created by Munnabhai last? Could the Mahatma heal the wounds inflicted, using just his simplistic principles? Is the common man strong enough to stand by the commandments of Gandhiji in thick and thin? Can a nation afford to follow his footsteps, become the Utopia he dreamed of during his lifetime?
Well I think not. I don’t doubt his teachings and principles. Nor do I denounce his apotheoses. Just I don’t agree with my friends advocating the model of Gandhism for present times. Let us be pragmatic here. Honestly, have any of you adhered to the percepts laid down by him for a better existence, even for just a day? Forgive me for being a little presumptuous here, but I guess not. This doesn’t make us bad people. No. Not at all. It is just indicative of the fact that times have changed. We cannot afford to stagnate ourselves, our country. Stop all progress, become the model nation he wished us to be. To set an example for others? If that is what we choose, we won’t even be around to see whether it works or not because we’d be wiped out of existence by the greedier, aggressive and more powerful nations.
To drive my point home, I now take up each of his principles one at a time.
Satya or Truth in Gandhi's philosophy is "God". Yes, most of us present strive for an honest living. But the strictures laid down by the Mahatma are sometimes considered too rigid. Can we afford to always speak the truth? Imagine a situation when a harmless lie might save someone from hurt. Would you rather break his/her heart or tell the obscure truth?
Gandhi said: The Truth is far more powerful than any weapon of mass destruction. Really is it? So that implies we release all our nuclear secrets and top-secret documents for general public viewing, our enemies and radicals included. A spy when caught should be taught to speak the truth and only the truth. Or wait, why the espionage activities. Let us all live blissfully, we’ll embark on the Satyagrah again.
The consequences of the aforementioned can be catastrophic.
Ahimsa - refusal to inflict injury upon others. Gandhi was a great advocator of the theory of non-violence. Whether it worked during the freedom struggle or not, was it instrumental in delaying independence from the British Raj are questions that are still widely contemplated.
But then if we opt to be a pacifist nation. Bid a farewell to arms, will we feel safe? Are we willing to even give it a try? To relinquish all our military efforts? The Sino-Indian war of 1962, noted as the biggest failing of Nehru, is a glaring example of how terribly astray we’d go if we do. Gandhi is criticized for inspiring in his protégé the pacifism that led to the defeat of the Indian Army against a surprise Chinese invasion. Nehru neglected the defense budget and disallowed the army to prepare, which caught the soldiers in the North-eastern frontier woefully off-guard with lack of supplies and reinforcements. Result being, even till this date Indian territory in under the Chinese rule. So are we willing to take another chance, give Ahimsa another shot?
Civil-disobedience or the non-cooperation movement. The essence of this technique is that it seeks to liquidate antagonisms but not the antagonists themselves. Will this work on our corrupt politicians is for you to decide. But let me cite the reservation row as an example here. Silent protests by college students scared the authorities so much so that they needed the BSF to intervene. Innocent youth were victimized. Shelling with tear gas and lathi assaults became a norm in Delhi campuses this summer. But even then the government is all set to implement its reservation policy beginning with the new academic year. It is disheartening indeed for the youngsters who followed the Mahatma’s philosophy.
Gandhi extolled the virtues of a Buddhist economy, living in peaceful and tranquil harmony in rural surroundings as a self sufficient community, with self-regulation and a reduction of materialistic ‘wants’. Doctors, lawyers, teachers and other professionals would use their educational talents for the common good while still irrigating the land with the sweat of their brow. Sounds nice and rosy, right? Speaking for myself, I don’t think I’d ever agree to a way of life in which equal opportunity has been redefined. Equal pay for equal work, it has always been, and it should always be.
Gandhi also prophesied the doctrines of vegetarianism and celibacy. To each his own I say. These are personal choices, which no third person has a right to interfere with. May be for the Mahatma curbing his desires and longings as means of going close to God and as a primary foundation for self realization, but those were HIS experiments with truth, his perspective… imposing these on the modern man would lead to reproach and rebuke. For example many Indians who move to the west prefer non-vegetarian food over the expensive vegetarian nutrients. Though beef is a taboo for the Hindu, many who settle abroad don’t mind this cheap substitute for chicken.
A living example of the failure of Gandhi’s principles is the ‘Iron lady’ of Manipal, Irom Sharmila. It has been nearly six years that she would be on her hunger strike. She has remained without solid food since then, demanding the withdrawal from her state, of one of the most draconian laws in the statute books called Armed Forces Powers Act (AFSPA). She has endured successive one-year sentences for trying to commit suicide. Yet she remains intent, unbending, unwilling to give up. She is a legend in her own right for the Manipuri people who are fighting their present day suffering at the hands of the policy makers. But how has this helped her cause? The government of the nation of he Mahatma is still unyielding. After six years of silent protest by this martyr AFSPA remains unaltered. The government tight lipped on this issue.
Irom Sharmila is cogent evidence of the ineffectualness of the Mahatma’s principles. Estranged and alienated from her family, she continues to fight for the cause she had dedicated herself too.
I can go on and on giving millions of reasons, examples and illustrations reproaching Gandhisim, and I am sure my friends here can quote numerous instances commending it. It boils down to what is the more prudent and appropriate solution for the common man. He doesn’t have any lofty ideals; neither does he wish to be a Mahatma. The pedestal most of us can’t reach nor do we wish too. We don’t want to turn the other cheek when someone hits us, we want to hit back. We don’t want to renounce the materialistic pleasures; we work hard for the luxuries of life not to forgo them for an ascetic’s life.
Do we want to remain isolated in this ever-shrinking global village? In this era of fast paced technology does India wish remain entrapped in the meshes of old archaic beliefs which are no longer relevant. Change is the only thing permanent; can we give up on it?
Gandhiji’s most beloved disciple, the socialist Nehru couldn’t abide by all the strictures laid down by his Guru, so how can we expect the world to take a complete turnaround of ideas overnight? Human nature can be portrayed most appropriately by the shades of grey. The whites of the Mahatma have faded away. Its time to move on; to take the next step. We cannot be saddled by the yesteryears. We need to take the best from the past, combine it with the present to strive for a better future!
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