The Mahatma has been dead for more than 60 years now. He left behind a legacy of non violence, compassion and equality for us to follow. And he practiced what he preached because he led by example. He cared for each and every human being of this country and he showed us how to care for our destitutes. He showed us how to live our lives and most importantly he made the mighty British to not only listen but, dare I say, obey him by not as much as raising even a stick. He managed to achieve what he did by his steely resolve for what he believed in. If we are a free democratic country today there is only one person whom we should thank- Mahatma Gandhi. Indeed he was a Mahatma in every sense of the word.

Had he lived for few more years he would’ve surely made those virtues part of our ethos and culture. But it was not to be. As a result, the values that he left behind have long been dead. Pick up any newspaper and you’ll come across horror stories of how violent and unequal our society has become. In fact, if there is any incident of non violence and compassion, it’s news these days but they are very few and far between. We may have forgotten his values but we continue to squabble over his material things like his spectacles or his letters to someone, which though important, are insignificant compared to what we should be actually caring for- his legacy.

Pertinent to point out that whatever the Mahatma preached was nothing new to start with. Non violence and compassion have always been an integral part of Hinduism. We all grow up learning these values but over a period of time we get so involved in our day to day lives that we forget what we’ve learnt. They were just rediscovered by him so as to unite us against the British. He managed to shake the conscience of hundreds and thousands of Indians by focusing on those three things- non violence, compassion and equality. And we did become conscious of all these virtues while he was alive. The nationalist fervor that he whipped up created a country out of a colony. It would not be wrong to say that had he not been there our country would not have become united in the struggle against the British. We needed a man like him who could force us to unite, not by physical force but by the force of his words, his character and resolve. We felt compelled to listen to him and obey his command.

Yes, we are like that. We need to be directed as to what we should be doing. Even after the Mahatma, there have been a few leaders and gurus who have done that but to a far lesser extent. There have been leaders like Vinobha Bhave and Jai Prakash Narayan who have managed to whip up nationalist fervor but not like the Mahatma. On the religious and spiritual front there have been gurus like Sai Baba and in the more recent times, Swami Ramdev who have been a source of immense physical inspiration and spiritual satisfaction to a very large section of our society. Especially Swami Ramdev, who has metamorphosed Pranayam and Yoga into an ideal on which lakhs of Indians have now based their life upon. Like the Mahatma, he too did not invent these these things. Pranayam and Yoga have also long been part of Hinduism for times immemorial. Swami Ramdev was only instrumental in leading the people in that direction, again by example only. Indians while following him in multitudes have opened up their coffers for him because of which he has been able to turn the entire thing into a movement to encompass the entire health related issues of a human being. To the extent that today he has clinics giving medicines and health foods all across the country. And the man has achieved all this just by sheer determination.

To his credit, apart from teaching yoga to people he also talks of issues the country is concerned with. And Indians listen to what he has to say. They may not agree with him but they still listen to him. I too, do not agree with him on many fronts which include his stand on gays and more importantly his animosity towards multi national companies. Thankfully, his sphere of influence does not include politics and he does not plan to physically enter that sphere either. Nonetheless the fact remains that he has managed to direct the country’s vast majority of population towards a healthy life. Like I said earlier, Indians need such people who can tell them what to do.

This is the reason why I say that today India needs another Gandhi who can not only guide us towards a better future but be our mentor and guide. We need a person whom we all can idolize and identify with. We need someone who while being above party politics can still be involved in politics of the country. All the leaders and gurus that we’ve had after Gandhi including Swami Ramdev fall way short of that kind of an all encompassing leader. Can that Gandhi be someone from the Gandhi family? Well, Rahul does have his merits but he’s just starting off. He has to learn to rise above his family first and then the party. He has a long long way to go. Moreover, it is not so easy being the Gandhi that we want, if he wants to be like The Gandhi that is. Wishful thinking, do I hear you say?

Related Post

Why Rahul Gandhi does not deserve a cabinet berth?

My issues with the Gandhi family

 If you like this post subscribe to my RSS feed. See how?

Register for Newsletter | Email this post | Download this post

Posted on October 3rd, 2009 India calling • Tags: Gandhi, Hinduism, Politics, pranayam, Rahul, Ramdev, Swami, virtues, yoga. • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback