59 years ago on this day, three bullets from a 9mm beretta ended the life of one of the greatest men ever to have walked on earth. A man whose power of convictions changed the destiny of a nation.
I am an unabashed admirer of the Mahatma.
From my childhood days, I have held Gandhi in high regard. Initially, it was mostly because of what I was told in school. I must confess for a very brief period in school, I did switch over to the other side - that of Gandhi bashers (you see, talking peace and non violence were for wimps and I did not want to be one).
As I read more about this man, what struck me most was his stubbornness of holding on to a principle no matter what the odds. My respect turned into awe. He was fighting a political cause and yet today one can still find books on him in the 'Philosophy' section. It is common to hear Indians referring to 'Rama, Krishna, Gandhi and Buddha' in the same breath. Remember, the other three are generally regarded as Gods and we have a politician creeping into this list.
Christians believe that Christ died on the cross for our sins. As a non-christian, I have not been able to really comprehend that line of thinking. But when I think of Gandhi and how he was killed by someone with an outlook a lot more limited than his, I can understand what christian thought implies.
Once during a short visit to Sydney, on my way back to the Sydney Airport, I tried chatting up with the cab driver who happened to be Turkish and I mentioned about the Australia India cricket match that was being played that day. His reaction was something I least expected, he got pretty wild at cricket, cursing(using some flowery invectives) that this was a game invented by the British and questioned how as an Indian and having been subjugated by them can I still retain love for their game.
The hatred that this man had towards the British is something that I can never share. Violence always leaves a bitter relationship that persists across a much longer time period than the violence itself. Today, if Indians do not harbour animosity towards the British, it is simply because of the efforts of one man who had the courage to act different.
The India today though, still has it's moods of violence, a lot of mess that existed before continues to exist now. The silver lining is that if in spite of all the rot the Indian society is steeped in, if we can have a Gandhi coming out of it, then we must be doing something right.
In 1948 the Nobel Committee decided not to award the Nobel Peace Prize to anyone on the grounds that "there was no suitable living candidate". Gandhi not being awarded the Nobel prize is perhaps the best thing that the Nobel committee has done. Awarding him would have been like trying to measure the earth with a foot long scale.
I do believe that Gandhi was not correct in all his stands and he made his set of mistakes as well but what he did achieve and advocate were far greater than his failures.
Strength comes not from the ability to destroy but from the ability to protect and there in lies the greatness of this man.
Come back Bapu, we need you now as much we have ever needed you before...
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7 comments:
Words cannot describe how much we would want our Bapu back to cleanse our country.
The Nobel committee's decision to not award him the Nobel Peace Prize is perhaps the best that could have happened to the Greatest man the world has witnessed in the 21st century!
Un/fortunately I belong to the other group of people who do not believe in his worldwide known greatness. I agree he was a leader and a good individual in certain aspects. However, I think he and his views have been blown out of proportion. Men in power usually get a chance to change the history written in the textbooks.
There were leaders, there are leaders and there will be more leaders. And they will be in shades of blacks and whites.
Good write up. And strength also comes from the ability to create. This great leader created an atmosphere that inspired his followers to take the less trodden path of non-violence.
I am not really sure of the impact his peace movement had on India's love for cricket! I think its a different story altogether :-)
So do you think Gandhi(highly esteemed in your eyes)would approve of the India it has become today ?
Dont you feel he could have done a better job than this?Is he also not responsible for the Hindu-Muslim clashes that we have in India now?
Could he not use his Mass appeal to do something substantial rather than pleasing his political friends(Nehru and Jinaah)? What was he doing when India was getting divided (Ind-Pak) in the name of religion? A man who could drive Britishers out of India with his principle of Non-violence, could he not reason out with his friends and his people who would have done anything on his command. What makes you think he deserves to be called "Bapu" of India?
In response to Ruth, it would be unfair to blame Gandhi or expect him to solve every bit of mess that existed in India, after all he was human not God (who, by the way, has done no better :-). Blaming Gandhi for clashes we have now is an easy way of transferring guilt away from those responsible and avoiding accountability. I know of people hating Gandhi because they think he is responsible for partition and also of people who hate him because he opposed partition. I find it interesting that two sets of Gandhi haters hate him for exactly opposite reasons !!!
I have never been in this situation before where I had to take back my sentences:-) And please dont feel it is anything to do with your answer.I was not satisfied by them anyway. I actually wanted to get back to you with proofs showing how wrong Gandhi was.
Googled and went through these sites
http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Part.html
http://www.storyofpakistan.com/articletext.asp?artid=A033
As the saying goes "Little knowledge is dangerous".I think I fall in that category.Not studying history well at school not only gets you low marks, it also makes you a fool sometimes.
I really believed Gandhi could have done something to salvage India from this partition. Looks like he had actually tried (supporting Khilafat movement). I wouldn't say you have won me over(you know as an ardent Gandhi admirer), but this incident has made me understand that not everything is black or white.There is always a shade of grey....
Hi Ruth,
I know that a couple of lines of response will not be able to change a long standing point of view. It is not important that we agree but it is important that we create an environment where in we can accept disagreement. I am glad that you (and others who have commented) took time off to read this blog and I hope you will continue to visit this site and disagree with me more :-)
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