Articles features
The forgotten Mahatma
By
Brij Khandelwal (15:32) We remember Mahatma Gandhi only on October 2 and January 30. The
symbolic spinning of the charkha, recital of bhajans and selling khadi
at a discount are the only activities that remind us of him.
For
the rest of the year, Gandhi remains a forgotten Mahatma, deified
like one of our numerous gods and his teachings reduced to mundane
rituals.
Long back, Albert Einstein had said that the coming
generation would scarcely believe that a man like him had ever walked
the planet earth. Einstein was probably thinking of the very distant
future when people might raise their eyebrows in sheer disbelief and
ask: "Was there a man like Gandhi in flesh and blood??
Less
than 70 years after his death, Gandhi, who preached the gospel of truth
and non-violence all his life and strove to liberate India, has become,
in his own country and among his own people, a legend and a myth. What
Gandhi said or did is mostly forgotten and we are stuck up with symbols
like the charkha and khadi.
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, known as the
"Frontier Gandhi" caustically remarked when he visited India in 1969
on the occasion of Gandhi's birth centenary celebrations: "I have come
to remind the people of India that they have forgotten the Mahatma."
Horace
Alexender rightly asked us to bring Gandhi "down to earth again as a
living man among his men, which is what he wanted to be", to strip him
of his mahatmaship and look at him, if we can, as plain Mr. Gandhi."
Unlike most leaders anywhere in the world, Gandhi knew how to risk his
popularity. Ram Manohar Lohia wrote about Gandhi: "He had a calf, the
child of a sacred cow, injected to death in a certain situation; he had
a monkey shot, he took Harijans into temples, he refused to attend
weddings unless they were inter-caste; he sanctioned divorce, he had a
large sum of Rs.55 crore and more given to Pakistan at a time when
Hindus held that treasonable; he acted and not alone spoke against
property; in brief, he hardly ever missed doing anything that brought
danger and calumny to him."
The reason why we, as a nation are
still struggling hopelessly is that we have shown more interest in
aping the West and adopting Western growth models. The result
inevitably is that while we have created "islands of prosperity", the
masses continue to exist in vast areas of darkness.
Hypocrisy
has become our new religion and falsehood our way of life. We have fatal
doses of these in all spheres of our life. Fat pundits stooge on
gullible masses; pseudo-leftists and chauvinistic scoundrels run the
circus that is our politics. Public and private monopolies sustain the
"functioning anarchy" that is our economy. Gandhi had warned us of an
ennui that will have overtaken us but we never bothered to create
conditions in which life will have some mission and purpose. Little
wonder we are overwhelmed by rank passivity and continue to wait for a
messiah for our deliverance.
The relevance of Gandhi is now
being realized the world over as mankind grapples with one vast problem
after another. The schizophrenic despair resulting from obesity in
affluent societies and the pangs of chill penury in the underdeveloped
countries calls for fresh thinking on Gandhian lines.
The poor
countries of the world particularly cannot do without Gandhi, who lit
the torch of freedom in the hearts of millions of people all over the
world. His understanding of socio-economic problems and his deep
insight into human psychology were aimed at liberating the downtrodden
from their difficulties.
He made a valuable contribution to
politics by his practical application of the non-violent weapons of
satyagraha, fasts and strikes, demonstrating how vulnerable modern
states which depend on the 'Big Lie' are.
It is a pity that the
scope of non-violent movements or peaceful resistance against
totalitarian or fascist regimes has not been enlarged. In fact, there
has been no fresh thinking on these subjects, although there has been a
large-scale proliferation of Gandhian institutes.
Unfortunately
an impression has gained ground that the real prestige of a nation is
measured not in terms of the wellbeing and prosperity of the people but
in relation to the armed might of the state. This is a fallacious
argument which needs to be countered. Unless the people of a nation are
healthy in mind and body, any amount of stockpiling of arms will not
boost its image.
(Brij Khandelwal can be contacted at [email protected])
Gandhi's Song: New documentary on centuries-old bhajan
A nearly six-centuries-old song written by Gujarat's most revered poet-philosopher Narsinh Mehta and made by Mahatma Gandhi as his life's guiding force is now a subject of an upcoming documentary.The documentary titled "Gandhi's
Song", being written and directed by Chicago-based journalist and writer
Mayank Chhaya, begins production in the next couple of weeks with
location shooting in Junagadh and elsewhere in Gujarat where Mehta spent
his life creating some of the most popular metaphysical ruminations
addressed to Krishna.
"Generations of Indians since Gandhi's
assassination on this day sixty seven years ago have grown up thinking
that 'Vaishnav Jan To' was written by him. This is a remarkable example
of the creation being more enduring than the creator. This particular
bhajan is unique in the sense that it remains so current in its moral
underpinnings about what constitutes a civilized human being," Chhaya
told IANS.
"Gandhi's Song" will be a full-length documentary
feature with a clear focus on bringing Mehta and his profound philosophy
about the universe to the attention of global audiences. Mehta, who by
most widely accepted consensus lived between 1414 and 1481, was in a
sense unwitting figure in India's great Bhakti Movement, which
flourished organically throughout the country during medieval times
between 800 and 1700 CE.
In the tradition of the figures of the
Bhakti Movement of the time, Mehta was also a pioneering social reformer
who used the power of his poetry to break down rigid caste and class
barriers.
"Vaishnav Jan To, which is easily among the most widely
sung songs in the world, was typical of Mehta's deceptively simple but
profound worldview. Each verse essentially defines what kind of moral
standards should drive humans. I would argue that the bhajan in many
ways shaped Gandhi's larger socio-cultural view that was at the heart of
the country's freedom movement. It is any poet's envy that a creation
not only lasts centuries but continues to retain its modernity," Chhaya
says.
Although "Gandhi's Song" is pegged on "Vaishnav Jan To"
because of its global recognition, the documentary will dwell on Mehta
as a poet, reformer and figure who defied constricting social norms and
worked all his life to establish societal equity among people divided by
castes.
"When Prime Minister Narendra Modi was feted at the
Maidson Square Garden, violin maestro L. Subramaniam and his singer wife
performed a re-composed version of 'Vaishnav Jan To'. No one mentioned
that it was written by Narsinh Mehta. I want to correct that huge
omission although knowing his philosophy it wouldn't have mattered to
Mehta one bit," Chhaya says.