Gandhigiri in Today's world

His vision was something that transcends time. In his times, the persona called Gandhi with his Charkha was an image embedded in the millions of minds in India, and we followed him in sheer belief. 'Coz what he said made so much sense. Even today, when I think of his teachings, I can see the logic in them. "Embarass them for being mean. Don't be mean yourself." I think it would work in any world as long as beings capable of emotions inhabit that place.

I am a resident of Bangalore and very much human and hence I was happy with the State-wide 'Bundh' yesterday. Why? 'Coz I got a holiday to spend some time with my wife, my games and my family. Today though, I feel a little guilty for being part of it. Why? Because I read the newspaper and it brought to light the fact that a 'Bundh' is a holiday but is a costly holiday. For the people who earn daily wages, it was a day with lesser food than other days. A day when people like me, relaxed, but people with lesser means were truly affected.

Ok, so am I just here to confess to my guilt? Yes and no. I am confessing to my guilt of being a mere human, but am also in deep thought as to how we can overcome this inability of ours to know how to get a point across to others without hurting ourselves. The 'bundh' did register our protest but at the cost of our own economy. Gandhigiri was one way professed in the newspaper yesterday by a assortment of thoughtul people of Bangalore. And that got me thinking, hard. Really? Would it work?

Kudos to 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' for having made 'Gandhigiri' a household name in today's India. The country that has almost forgotten the father of the nation to the point of only knowing him 'coz his birthday is a national holiday. I may be saying too much, but that is where I am standing and I am guilty. Does it help to accept guilt? Yes, it makes the correction of guilt easier. And the result more satisfying.

Yes, Gandhigiri works. I had tears in my eyes while watching the movie, in the scene where the old man starts removing all his clothes to pay the bribe. In our minds, that man was old, he was fragile, what could he have done anyway, but he did do the simplest of things. He stood tall and told the other guy to remember that everyone has emotions. The conscience may be asleep, but fear of ridicule and rejection can never leave these bones. 'Coz we are human, beings capable of feeling. Right?

Though I stand with the Gandhigiri concept, I am not sure if anyone really wants to change anything in this world today. Yes, there are a lot of accidents on the roads that can be reduced by driving carefully. But who cares. Nothing can happen to them anyway and why should they care about others? How many times have you thought to yourself that nothing is ever gonna change, what can one man do, is it even worth it? I don't know the answers as I am struggling with them everyday, everytime I take a turn and almost miss a pedestrian, everytime I stand in the queue and someone tries to cut in, everytime I see people spitting on the roads, everytime I jump the yellow line knowing if I didn't someone else is going to anyway. Each of these times I do what I would not otherwise, feel guilty later and then somehow convince myself to forget about it.

But I guess for Gandhigiri to truly work in the world, there are two key elements. One we know already, the knowledge of the best and most long lasting solution. There is no point letting the other man keep hitting you just because you have to be non-violent and all that, rather we should try and embarass him for being baser than human. (I still wonder, are there people who have skins that would even deny this embarassment?) But the other and the more important ingredient is INTENT. Do we really want to change the world or are we so comfortably numb about all the things that are wrong with this world that we can no longer live in a better world and hence we don't care?

If you care for the life that your children are gonig to be living, if you care to not deny guilt, if you are fed up of being comfortably numb, if you want to be good despite its impracticalities, if you read this blog and think alike, then maybe we should get in touch. Not that I have any plans of changing the world, but I would love to know that I am not alone in this crowd.

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