As I was growing up, I saw him on all currency notes. We even had chapters about him and his achievements in our school days. And not to mention, I was highly impressed with the 1982 film Gandhi. But I realized, it was not the achievements of Barrister Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi that made him great, it was his ideologies and perspective towards situations that made him stand out from the crowd.
It’s the 2nd of October today and apart from Lage Raho Munnabhai being telecasted on Set Max, our country is celebrating the birthday of its nationwide father. As a writer, I have come a long way too. From writing essays on him with the sole motive of getting good marks in the English Language Paper to exploring his ideology on an article of mine, this magnificent personality has never been unknown to us. And of course, we owe a day’s leave to him too.
Let’s try to decode Gandhiji today and figure out what made him the Mahatma.
Mr. Gandhi always believed that this Earth had enough resources for everyone on this planet, he was extremely reluctant on spending hefty amounts on things that were not a value addition to the society. It was 1908, when Mahatma Gandhi was coming out of Jail after serving the sentence for the Satyagraha Struggle. He was accompanied by his friend Kallenbach. He was a well-off architect who owned a fancy car. On the way, Kall offered him a ride on his way home. Gandhiji refused the ride and advised Kall to sell the car back, and instead asked him to do something for the people who are really in need of that money. Gandhiji focused on the essentials for a livelihood, he believed that simplicity should be a choice, as this choice can make the society more sustainable.
Gandhiji was hugely impacted by his stay in England, where he was a Law Student, he saw how Africans and Asians were humiliated, that’s when he realized that he has to find individuality for himself and for his countrymen. He knew that beauty is what comes from within and not what’s outside. This whole statement is evident if you see any of Bapu’s photographs. You will never find him in lavish clothes, he led a minimalistic life and served in giving the country its identity.
And absolutely we cannot miss out on Non-Violence, especially when we are talking about Gandhiji. Sometimes being calm and focused is the way forward. You need to keep a fire burning within yourself. Gandhiji always held this value high, his values resonated with the mindset of the downtrodden and the people who came from the roots. They formed the non-violence army for Bapu and that eventually built the foundation for the freedom of our country. To become neutral to all the abuse and arrests, Gandhiji gave a strong message to the British Government that the strive will come to an end only at the cost of freedom. And it happened.
“At the stroke of the midnight hour, India wrote a tryst with destiny”.
Bapu made it happen and he proved that any war can be won with an ideology, it only needs unity and integration of the people. Bapu’s teachings are still with us and it will serve as a bible to all the coming generations.
“इस देश का हर नागररक आपका कर्ज़दार है।
ये स्वतंत्रता आपकी दी हुई उपहार है।“
