Of Gandhi, Non-violence and Gen Y

“Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

Some village-Hampden that with dauntless breast
The little tyrant of his fields withstood;
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood.”

The decision of the United Nations General Assembly to declare the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi as ‘International Day of Non-Violence’, almost six decades after the legend breathed his last, is testimony to the aptness of the beautiful lines quoted above from Thomas Gray’s “Elegy written in a country churchyard”. The lines bring out the irony of the fact that the life of Gandhi and his noble ideals have faded into oblivion with passing years, and it takes a ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ (whose male protagonist himself has been convicted for his involvement in the Mumbai serial blasts), to reinforce the ideology of ‘non-violence’ that Gandhi gave up his life for.

The euphoria in the Indian politics following this inconsequential declaration by the UN can be termed at best, illogical, and at worst, hypocritical. In a country where politics has been reduced to just another dirty word for intolerance and religious fundamentalism, I find it ridiculously funny that morally corrupt netas are celebrating the UN declaration on one hand and thwarting Gandhi’s ideals on the other. For those who believe this declaration would massage the ego of the nationalist, I can only say that any carnival would be as naïve as celebrating the rise of the Indian rupee against the US dollar, without understanding the repercussions of the same.

There seems to be much ado about nothing. What seems to have been unfortunately forgotten amongst all the hype is the very idea of non-violence that Gandhi stood for.

The sad truth about Gen Y is that it is so emotionally vulnerable that it can neither practice non-violence nor appreciate it. To the youth, Gandhi is an epitome of passive resistance. No more, no less. The fact that 2^nd October is a dry day is of more concern to them than it being declared as ‘International Day of Non-Violence’ by the UN. The fact that it is a national holiday is more pertinent to them than practising non-violence even for a day. Somewhere down the line, the very same youth and politicians who are lauding UN’s declaration on the eve of something as sacrosanct as Gandhi Jayanti have relegated Gandhi to an inanimate picture in shabby court rooms and government offices.

The fact that someone has to write an article to instil a sense of national pride and reinforce Gandhi’s ideals of non-violence, is testimony to the aptness of the famous line from The Fountainhead-“A quest for self respect is proof of it’s lack.”, in the Indian context. But Ayn Rand’s philosophy and objectivism be damned, on the eve of the ‘International Day of Non-Violence’, let us not just celebrate Gandhi’s recognition for his role in promoting peace, but also the concept of non-violence itself. Let us sing ‘Sabarmati ke sant’ one last time in the memory of the great man who has made us proud and will always make us feel proud of being an Indian. Let us watch ‘Lage Raho..’ once again not for the antics of Cirkit or the shenanigans of Munna but for the indomitable spirit of non-violence and active Gandhigiri beautifully portrayed in the movie.

To sum it up, let me evoke all the readers with something that conveys the essence of ‘Gandhigiri’, which has unfortunately been misunderstood as something passive and weak by Gen Y:-

“Once to every man or nation,
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood,
For the good or evil side,

It is then that the brave man chooses,
While the coward steps aside
Doubting in his abject spirit,
Till his lord is crucified!”

Rather than naming posh, rickety and sundry roads as the Mahatma Gandhi Road, let us walk, at least for a day, on the road shown by the selfless Bapu, so that our posterity does not have to see another ‘Babri Masjid’, another ‘Godhra’, another ‘Kashmir’…. That, I believe, will ensure that Gandhi does not become merely the Atticus Finch of modern times. That, I believe, will ensure that we don’t wait for Lage Raho’s and the United Nation’s declarations to practice Gandhi’s school of thought. That, I believe, will be the true tribute to our beloved Bapu!

Cheers,
Tushar Kumar
PGDSM MIT 04