Mahatma Gandhi (2nd Oct 1869 to 30th Jan 1948)- Much is already known, said and written about this frail saint. A man with whom you might agree or disagree but can't avoid. A stern follower of his home made policies, medicines, philosophies and attire.
If you have to choose one man for the good or bad or whatever India faced - it has to be Gandhi. He was not liked by most of the Britishers for obvious reasons but many Indians (not necessarily extremists) also disliked him. Anything you might feel about Gandhi, but one thing is for sure, he was a man of immense will power.
After reading 'My experiments with Truth' (i would love to call it-'I, ME, MY, MINE by Gandhi' - yes yes i know it was his AUTObiography), you get to know how an underconfident man lifts himself with self proclaimed ups and downs. He faced immense humiliation at the hands of Whites, Hindus, Muslims, and loads of leaders, but life goes on for this kind of guy. For him no praise was small and no humiliation big enough.
He not only had ardent admirers and followers like Mountbatten, Nehru, Patel but also had Jinnah, S.Bose, Churchill and many extremists (Godse, Savarkar to name the influential) on the other side of his spinning wheel.
One can never undermine his achievements, but also can't forget his distinctive personality traits, i would like to elaborate some of them here:
1. His campaigns to raise awareness about sanitary cleanliness in houses is unimaginable. He rushed from vilas to houses to even huts, only because of his willingness to see Indians live a cleaner, healthier life.
2. It is said that no one can ridicule you without your consent. Gandhi is the best example. He just made a note of every disrespect in his mind but never actually felt humiliated.
3. His unbound love for the motherland, mothertongue and culture.
4. His Vegetarianism.
5. His belief in earth and water techniques (and other self experimented remedies).
6. Vocational training to others, so they can live a respectful life.
And above all, his never failing brahmastra- Fasting and that too till death (many a times) proved an aid in making him Mahatma.
Me and most people like me neither have rights nor hold any feasible reason to justify the stands of Gandhi in various struggles of his life, but one thing is for sure - He was a stern being with a lot of guts, will power, dominance streak, truthfulness and leadership skills. Somewhere in his heart he might have a will to be MAHATMA - but as i said i can't and i should not comment on that.
If you have to choose one man for the good or bad or whatever India faced - it has to be Gandhi. He was not liked by most of the Britishers for obvious reasons but many Indians (not necessarily extremists) also disliked him. Anything you might feel about Gandhi, but one thing is for sure, he was a man of immense will power.
After reading 'My experiments with Truth' (i would love to call it-'I, ME, MY, MINE by Gandhi' - yes yes i know it was his AUTObiography), you get to know how an underconfident man lifts himself with self proclaimed ups and downs. He faced immense humiliation at the hands of Whites, Hindus, Muslims, and loads of leaders, but life goes on for this kind of guy. For him no praise was small and no humiliation big enough.
He not only had ardent admirers and followers like Mountbatten, Nehru, Patel but also had Jinnah, S.Bose, Churchill and many extremists (Godse, Savarkar to name the influential) on the other side of his spinning wheel.
One can never undermine his achievements, but also can't forget his distinctive personality traits, i would like to elaborate some of them here:
1. His campaigns to raise awareness about sanitary cleanliness in houses is unimaginable. He rushed from vilas to houses to even huts, only because of his willingness to see Indians live a cleaner, healthier life.
2. It is said that no one can ridicule you without your consent. Gandhi is the best example. He just made a note of every disrespect in his mind but never actually felt humiliated.
3. His unbound love for the motherland, mothertongue and culture.
4. His Vegetarianism.
5. His belief in earth and water techniques (and other self experimented remedies).
6. Vocational training to others, so they can live a respectful life.
And above all, his never failing brahmastra- Fasting and that too till death (many a times) proved an aid in making him Mahatma.
Me and most people like me neither have rights nor hold any feasible reason to justify the stands of Gandhi in various struggles of his life, but one thing is for sure - He was a stern being with a lot of guts, will power, dominance streak, truthfulness and leadership skills. Somewhere in his heart he might have a will to be MAHATMA - but as i said i can't and i should not comment on that.
But, someone like Osho certainly can - "If a threat to kill another person is wrong , how can the threat to kill oneself be right? If it is wrong for me to make you accept what i say by pointing gun at you, how can it be right if i make you accept the same thing by pointing gun at myself?"
Don't u have anything to say about Mahatama's approach in Bhagat Singh's case?
ReplyDeleteCertainly yes.
ReplyDeleteSome people say Bhagat Singh accepted to be hanged on the condition that his family be given enough money to survive.
Some others feel he was the real hero with a real blade to fight.
And i don't idolize Gandhi, but i just want to state the impeccable impact this less than 50kg had on the so called biggest democracy created after his demise(i am not calling it assassination).
The snippet of Osho's statement is avowedly true.
ReplyDelete