I recently saw Richard Attenborough's Gandhi for old time's sake. This movie was (may be still is) played on Indian Television on October 2nd every year. This was the day the great leader was born and he went on to make such an audacious mark on history. The movie was quite an inspiration when I was a kid and I remember being in awe with Gandhi. It gave me a glimpse of who Gandhi was well before I read about him in my history books.
At around the same time I read the book 1984 by George Orwell. This is a book about Totalitarianism, but I feel that it is also a book which delves deeply into the psychology of violence. The excesses of the administration in controlling its populace is explained brilliantly by Orwell in this book that he wrote in 1949. Thankfully for all of us the reality in 1984 was not as grim as the image he portrays of the fictitious 1984.
Why talk about these seemingly disjoint works of art? Today, more than at any time in the past, the teachings of Gandhi have relevance and so does the warnings of Orwell in 1984. We are at a epoch where violence seems to be exploding in our face both in the real as well as fictitious world. There is no end to violent movies or to violent bombings.
First of all, is Gandhi believable today? I saw the movie Gandhi and asked myself the question "Would I follow Gandhi if I were a youth during the independence struggle?". As simple as the question might sound and as easy as it is to answer with an emphatic "yes" given the apparent emotional tug that we feel for our country, I personally feel that most of us would have been in a dilemma. In this time of rippling muscles, macho attitude, perceived patriotism, self obsession, amorous thirst for wealth it is hard to picture our self sacrificing totally to the cause of patriotism and then in a peaceful way at that is impossible to perceive. Is it possible to get slapped and then turn the other cheek? Do you really have the guts to do it? Yes, I say guts because it takes far more courage to hold your temper than to blow it at the first outlet.
This thought again took me to another question "How did he do it?". Yes, how did Gandhi do it? Here was a man who not only made himself strong enough to bear the violence brought forth on him but he also inspired and lead millions of people to follow his principles. Just imagine if some one suggested that an Indian soldier should go to a terrorist and bear the brunt of all his violence without retaliation then wouldn't that person be called senile and yet what would Gandhi's solution be to the biggest problem that we face today?
All this lead me to the present, "What would Gandhi have done today?". There is an extremely remote chance that we are going to see a leader of the same stature as Mr. M.K. Gandhi and so we will never know the answer to this question. But we need to still think about it. How can we implement the principles of non-violence in our lives. Non-violence against the violence of spirit and mind as much as the violence of action. I do believe that Gandhian principles can still be relevant today.
Did Gandhi facilitate India's independence for us to say, "Bloody Muslims, deserve to die.", during the Godhra riots or was it for us to say, "Goddamn Hindus, need to be killed or else they will never stop abusing us minorities", just before a fundamentalist blew a whole city up. If you were amongst either one of the group you are equally culpable. Lets give peace a chance. Lets try to answer the difficult questions that we face today. Lets make our world Gandhi's 1947 rather than Orwell's 1984.
At around the same time I read the book 1984 by George Orwell. This is a book about Totalitarianism, but I feel that it is also a book which delves deeply into the psychology of violence. The excesses of the administration in controlling its populace is explained brilliantly by Orwell in this book that he wrote in 1949. Thankfully for all of us the reality in 1984 was not as grim as the image he portrays of the fictitious 1984.
Why talk about these seemingly disjoint works of art? Today, more than at any time in the past, the teachings of Gandhi have relevance and so does the warnings of Orwell in 1984. We are at a epoch where violence seems to be exploding in our face both in the real as well as fictitious world. There is no end to violent movies or to violent bombings.
First of all, is Gandhi believable today? I saw the movie Gandhi and asked myself the question "Would I follow Gandhi if I were a youth during the independence struggle?". As simple as the question might sound and as easy as it is to answer with an emphatic "yes" given the apparent emotional tug that we feel for our country, I personally feel that most of us would have been in a dilemma. In this time of rippling muscles, macho attitude, perceived patriotism, self obsession, amorous thirst for wealth it is hard to picture our self sacrificing totally to the cause of patriotism and then in a peaceful way at that is impossible to perceive. Is it possible to get slapped and then turn the other cheek? Do you really have the guts to do it? Yes, I say guts because it takes far more courage to hold your temper than to blow it at the first outlet.
This thought again took me to another question "How did he do it?". Yes, how did Gandhi do it? Here was a man who not only made himself strong enough to bear the violence brought forth on him but he also inspired and lead millions of people to follow his principles. Just imagine if some one suggested that an Indian soldier should go to a terrorist and bear the brunt of all his violence without retaliation then wouldn't that person be called senile and yet what would Gandhi's solution be to the biggest problem that we face today?
All this lead me to the present, "What would Gandhi have done today?". There is an extremely remote chance that we are going to see a leader of the same stature as Mr. M.K. Gandhi and so we will never know the answer to this question. But we need to still think about it. How can we implement the principles of non-violence in our lives. Non-violence against the violence of spirit and mind as much as the violence of action. I do believe that Gandhian principles can still be relevant today.
Did Gandhi facilitate India's independence for us to say, "Bloody Muslims, deserve to die.", during the Godhra riots or was it for us to say, "Goddamn Hindus, need to be killed or else they will never stop abusing us minorities", just before a fundamentalist blew a whole city up. If you were amongst either one of the group you are equally culpable. Lets give peace a chance. Lets try to answer the difficult questions that we face today. Lets make our world Gandhi's 1947 rather than Orwell's 1984.
