Discerning Gandhian Thoughts from Media

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Continuous Issue-46 | August– September 2020 Discerning Gandhian thoughts from Media

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhiji is not only a name he is an era which has provided direction to subsequent generations through the values he practiced. He is the incarnation of the values Satya and Ahimsa, he lived among poor and depressed class in spite of having choice of living with the richest of Indians, and worked hard for their upliftment. He is the one who had the ability to convince people to fight against injustice without any weapon but nonviolence; the inventor who gifted the world his philosophy of Satyagraha, a fakir who sacrificed his personal comforts and started to live on minimum necessity, he talked about vegetarianism in England, equal human rights in South Africa, upliftment of woman, importance of cleanliness, effective use of technology, added values and ethics to Indian politics, generated employment and worked for developing Indian economy, emphasized on self-reliance and independence, put stress on building character in education, above all his contribution in Indian freedom movement, the strong leadership he provided and the efforts he put for maintaining unity of various religions in India is unforgettable. His constructive positivism is reflected in every field wherever he worked. He said, “ I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills.”

Therefore discussing how Gandhian thoughts can save this world and India in particular is an interesting study. Furthermore, this research article also incorporates a survey on what youngsters think about Gandhian ideology, whether they really know anything about Gandhiji or they want to know about Gandhian thoughts. Addition to this, what treasure Google has about Gandhiji or what kind of information about Gandhiji is available on reliable videos on youtube. Whole of this make an interesting study of the presence of Gandhian thoughts in our day to day life as the values on which Gandhiji walked are not invented by him; those values are cultivated in Indian soil but somehow thrown away by western wind during various small and big storms. Gandhiji, incarnation of truth and nonviolence, In him, we can find ways to live better: his life teaches us to live on simple philosophy. Those are:

 Finding solution to problems  Philosophy of Truth and Nonviolence  Service to humanity

My reading of My Experiment with Truth substantiate above mentioned statements: Finding solutions to problems:

Moulding of gandhiji’s ideology started from his childhood. He had great impression of values cultivated by his mother Putlibai. Secondly, he used to experiment with the set traditions andbeliefs, he was not one who follow the things blindly, he used to analyze the problem and tried to get solutions to it. That habit of his is obvious in almost all the incidents he shared in his autobiography- My Experiment with Truth. For example :

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When Gandhi realized his habit of stealing is a misfit, he introspected on his unacceptable gestures and he himself found solution to this by confessing it in front of his father and also showd his willingness to bear adequate punishment for it and closed with it a request to him not to punish himself for his offence and Gandhi pledged never to steal again. When his father read it he started crying, recollecting this moments, Gandhi understood the power of transformation by practicing nonviolence. Later on he found that the reaction of his father to this gesture of his as first lesson of Ahimsa.

Second example, when Gandhiji was asked to present before the heads of his caste as a result of his willingness to go to England for further studies - he answered very firmly “I do not think it is all against our religion to go to England. I intend going there for further studies. And I have already solemnly promised to my mother to abstain from three things you fear most. I am sure the vow will keep me safe.” This incident not only shows his ability to find solution but his determination and convincing power too.

Third example, When Gandhiji gave the reason of antagonism between Whites and Indians at South Africa. He said that our different ways of living, our simplicity, our contentment with small gains, our indifference to the laws of hygiene and sanitation, our slowness in keeping our surrounding clean and tidy combined with difference in religion contributed to antagonism between the two.

The way he dealt during Champaran satyagraha (380) proved his analytical ability, his strategic thinking and his visionary attitude. He respected law and regulation of the government but he was skilled to argue and argue in the best possible manner: His style of argument: ‘I venture to make this statement not in any way in extenuation of the penalty to be awarded against me, but to show that I have disregarded the order served upon me not for want of respect for lawful authority but in obedience to the higher law of our being, the voice of conscience’ There are number of example which shows that Gandhji always tried to find solution throughout his lifespan, whether is it is personal, professional, social or national. Mr. Anumpam Mishra, celebrated environmentalist and Gandhian, propagated the idea of Gandhiji during his talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq5meyCdX5Y and emphasized on finding keys to the locks. He had wonderfully explained modern life style and Gandhiji.

Philosophy of Truth and Nonviolence: Second most important philosophy of Gandhiji revolves round his concept of Truth and Nonviolence. And religion is offshoot of it. Or it can be vis-à-vis. He did not question religion neither he jump into the debate of whether we really need religion to build better society, How all these happens –how far a man is free and how far a creature of circumstances- how far free-will comes into play and where fate enters on the scene—all this is a mystery and will remain a mystery. But still he tried to give meaning to his search of truth. but he read and sincerely tried to understand holy books of major religions like Hindu, Muslims and Christians and he came to the conclusion that the inquiry in to the search of truth which Hinduism allows no other religion does , furthermore he said that essence of religion is morality and truth is s the substance of all morality. That’s Truth became his sole objective. Gandhiji says, “It began to grow in magnitude every day, and my definition of it also has been ever widening. This truth is not only truthfulness in word but truthfulness in thought also and not only relative truth of our conception but the Absolute truth, the Eternal principle that is God.”( 32) he added that the seeker after truth should be humbler than the dust. His experiment with truth include experiments with non-violence, celibacy and other principles conduct believed to be distinct from truth. But For me, truth is the sovereign principle which includes numerous other principles.

Gandhiji has the ability to reduce himself in to zero when circumstances demands. That can be observed during Indian struggle for freedom. Even during his struggle at south Africa for the rights of Indian labourers , when he was asked to remove his turban in the court, he removed it – he himself said that all

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his life through the very insistence on truth has taught him to appreciate the beauty of compromise. During his true practice of law career (tolerance) He learnt to find out the better side of human nature and to enter men’s hearts. Large part of his time during the twenty years of his practice as lawyer was occupied in bringing about private compromises of hundreds of cases.

During His journey in the search of truth he experimented a lot and shaped his thoughts as per his purification of heart and thoughts. He said, “Man and his deed are two distinct things. Whereas a good deed should call forth approbation and a wicked deed disapprobation, the doer of the deed, whether good or wicked always deserves respect or pity as the case may be. Hate the sin and not the sinner.” (254) Gandhiji was greatly influenced by this Gujarat Bhajan:

Return good for evil became my guiding principle For a bowl of water give a goodly meal; For a kindly greeting bow thou down with zeal; For a simple penny pay thou back with gold; If thy life be rescued, life do not withhold. Thus the words and actions of the wise regard; Every little service tenfold they reward. But the truly noble know all men as one, And return with gladness good for evil done. ( 32)

This is how he developed. Love for poor- case of Balasundaram, a tamilian (141) indentured labourers find solace in Gandhiji. It has always been a mystery to him how men can feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow-being.

According to Gandhiji essence of religion is morality and moral character can be built by providing proper education. He regarded character building as the proper foundation for their education and, if the foundation was firmly laid, he was sure that the children could learn all the other things themselves or with the assistance of friends. Gandhiji was very particular in the choice of teachers also. He said, “My idea was never to entrust children to commonplace teachers. Their literary qualification was not so essential as their moral fiber. He had always given the first place to the culture of the heart for the building of character, and as I felt confident that moral training could be given to all alike, no matter how different their ages and their upbringing, I decided to live amongst them all the twenty-four hours of the day as their father. (307)

Religion I am using in this broadest sense, meaning thereby self-realization or knowledge of self. Pg 29. This journey can be started with observing moral practice. He was voracious reader and a good writer too. Formation and Consolidation of his beliefs are due to his vast reading. He read: Gita, Koran, Bible ( Hinduism books- Panchikaran, Maniratnamala, Mumukshu Prakaran of Yogavasistha. Leo Tolstoy’s The Kingdom of God is Within John Ruskin- Unto this Last promoted independent thinking, profound morality, and the truthfulness. So it is also important to read.

Service of Humanity: He found himself entirely absorbed in the service of the community, the reason behind it was his desire for self-realization. His religion was service of humanity. Because he felt that God could be realized only through service. Gandhiji believed that all other pleasures and possessions pale into nothingness before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy. His idea of service to humanity incorporates upliftment of women, untouchables, poor and depressed. He was against oppression in any form that idea of his led him to spread idea of cleanliness, generate public awareness regarding political issues. Every step he took for the betterment of people whether it is freedom of press,Freedom of press issue making it public, generating public opinion, public discussion. His meetings with all the then renown personalities working

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for the freedom of India, like Gopal Krishna Gokhle, Surendranth Banerji, Phirozshah Mehta, Raja Pyarimohan Mukarji, Maharaja Tagore and many more.

Gandhiji, a man of action, had immense power of communication, had ability to transmit those ideas and ability to make people believe in that ideas. Moral courage is all about nonviolence, His purpose behind introducing nonviolent movement is that all kinds of people can participate in the movement Gandhiji had constant ability to reinvent : broken the idea of fight by the idea of non-violence Galvanized whole people to become bigger self, coming out of selfish interest and work achievement of bigger goal.

Gandhiji observed that Congress is wasting a lot of time and energy during its proceedings. He also noted that Congress used to meet for just three days in a year and obviously that could not serve the purpose so he understood that service is not mushroom growth. To be a volunteer demands wiliness to devote self and then experience. He also noticed that there was no lack of will on the part of those good simple- hearted young men but their experience was nil. Thus he talked about training and education and showed tremendous patience and perseverance to train people to work for the nation and that too with nonviolence. In the process of development of his bigger-self in the service of humanity he became fearless, he started to live simple life, he volunteered in Boer war, world war, Spoke against disparity between the treatment of third class and second class traveler of the train Pg 220, his idea of aparigrah ( non- possession) and samabhava ( Equability) and trusteeship Pg 244 his idea of Satyagraha. “Satyagraha is essentially a weapon of the truthful. A Satyagrahi is pledged to non-violence, and unless people observe it in thought, word and deed, I cannot offer mass Satyagraha.” ( 430)

Now, let’s take a look at the present scenario and presence of discussion, debate and talk on Gandhian thoughts on recognized platforms like Rajyasabha TV, TED Talks, Advertisements and Movies. 2nd October is observed as International Day of Non-Violence from 2007 onwards by all the member countries of United Nation. A tribute to Gandhiji’s most important principle of resistance without bloodshed that is his philosophy of practicing nonviolence as he has cracked the idea of fight.

Recently (Oct2019) a short film has been released by India’s Prime Minister Mr Modi in which the thoughts of M K Gandhiji are recited by bollywood stars to celebrate 150th birth anniversary of Gandhijiji. Ideas float because it cannot be imprisoned. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd4tfARA8eA(recent advertisement by Rajkumar Hirani and bollywood stars) Modi government is also trying to channelize Gandhian thoughts by projecting Gandhian spectacles as a symbol of cleanliness and thus propagating swachhta abhiyan. Central government claimed that it had built nearly 100 million new toilets.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/mohatma-Gandhiji-death-70-years-india-new-delhi- influence-hindu-dalit-a8750236.html

Any give and take (transaction) cannot be without peaceful harmony, service and justice. Police head quarter of Delhi has kept portrait of Gandhiji on the building of Head Quarter. Some students of IITs and IIMs have given coaching to middle class students and help them out in becoming doctors. Thus, they tried to save these students from coaching mafias, Revadi school girls protest for upgradation of schools till 12th standard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnPGXteWu7s (Ravish Kumar) Most recently, Mr Modi has dedicated his UN environmental champion

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award to Gandhiji.

Gandhiji’s birthday on 2 October remains one of India’s national holidays; and he is a common sight in the capital’s annual Republic Day parade on 26 January, as many floats carried giant models of him.

Indian politicians are still playing with Gandhian cap though “None of the political parties have any credible claim to Gandhiji’s moral legacy,” Guha says, checking off the reasons – spectacular corruption, dynastic politics and religious division.

Thus, Gandhiji cannot be reduced to history as the principles on which he walked are universal and is continuously needed to be practiced by all the human beings to build a better society, better human life. The principle of truth and nonviolence are not only two principles they incorporates honesty, strong willpower, indelible courage, continuous hard work, powerful management, strong leadership, courage to sacrifice, courage to speak the truth and to dedicate life for the achievement of bigger goals.

It is very narrow, shallow and blinker view to discuss about relevance of Gandhi because Gandhi is a proved pragmatic philosophy of making man a man. Gandhi’s contribution in achievement of freedom for India is a small part of a big whole. “Of course Gandhiji wanted to rid this country of foreign domination, but he also urged Indians to look within at the failures and fault lines in their own society,” Mr Guha says. “His campaign against untouchability was based on the premise that if we so grossly oppress a section of our own people, we are not fit to claim freedom from the foreigner. Likewise his campaign for Hindu- Muslim harmony was based on the premise that even if freedom came, he did not want Hindu domination.”Professor Jahanbegloo says he believes that – though he may be the Father of the Nation for India – Gandhiji has taken on an even bigger role in inspiring moral leadership in the rest of the world.“I can define Gandhiji’s legacy in two words,” he tells The Independent on a tour of the new exhibition. “Democratising democracies.” he said. “If we look around the room at the leaders featured here – Mandela, Obama, Martin Luther King – they all took the message of Gandhiji and they made it their own.“Gandhiji’s message is very much alive. He taught us that you must listen, learn from others and only then can you lead. Because of the lack of moral politics the world is suffering.

Obama, who scripted history by becoming the first black President of the US in 2009, has often talked about the influence Mahatma Gandhi had on his life. The former US president also had a photo of the Indian freedom leader on the wall of his Senate office. Invoking Gandhi, Obama said he found inspiration in his principle of “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” Further obama said that Gandhiji’s message of love and justice shows us the way ahead. he influenced champions of equality in my own country including Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King called Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence and resistance as the only logical and moral approach in the struggle for justice and progress, he said this during his address to Indian parliament. He also said that Gandhi’s message was instrumental in making him the president of the United States. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/gandhi-rare-gift-to- world-how-the-mahatma-inspires-former-us-president-barack-obama-gandhi-jayanti-5381957/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UEDxLFLJ4M

One point of view can be extracted from the discussion shown in the RSTV: comparing the progress other countries which became independent along with India, India is progressing well; the life standards of middle class and lower middle class people is better due to values of Gandhiji. He gave vision and direction to live better life. But on the other hand ….India is facing many problems today but the remedy for most of the problems can be addressed by Gandhijian thoughts. instead of looking up at western ideals Indian society must rethink on effective implementation of Gandhian thoughts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UEDxLFLJ4M so the assumption that M K Ghandhi has been reduced to hollow talks; to an opinion of so- called intellectual people of India is a myth. Gandhiji is alive

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among youngsters. A survey was done to know whether youngster believe in gandhian thoughts, around 300 students participated in it. The result is;

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The survey shows that still 44.9 per cent students believe in walking on the path of gandhian thoughts. 60.7 percent students showed their interest in knowing about Gandhiji in detail and 52.8 percent students considers Gandhi as a great personality. In One of the discussion by RSTV one of the young participants rightly argued that our society is becoming individualistic, no more social and national concerns or perspectives have been discussed in homes, parents train their children to settle financially, get marry, have kids and thus end life, no bigger roles to play. So there is a need to educate children to build moral character and carry social responsibility. Need to propagate the deep message:

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Vaishnav jan to tene re kahie je pid parai jane re.. Pardukhe upakar kare toye man abhiman na jane re..

Gandhiji is still alive in government policies common men’s day to day behaviour and media too. We cannot leave our house but we can stick to truth while working, educate our children, build their moral character. Before monkey with mobile overcomes the three wise monkey we have to take concrete action. “As I did not teach for the good of my fellow-men , but simply for a livelihood, this was a failure.” – Walden Primary Source: I. Gandhiji, M.K. The Story of my experiment with truth, Navjivan press,Ahmedabad,2007 II. Guha Ramchandra, Gandhiji the years that change the world, Penguin Random House India,2018 Secondary source: I. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KF2tajhvSM (Rajyasabha Tv) II. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3ZF0yd_ewk III. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hYe7jEvarE IV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhD-cGmc1UY V. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mwrmwds9wM( Ramchandra Guha) VI. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnPGXteWu7s Ravishkumar VII. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfqxsnqaUJE relevance of Gandhiji 2015 VIII. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KF2tajhvSM Rajyasabha tv IX. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufEBmyvZ2qg Rstv(Relevance of Gandhiji) X. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oINxWlWC22Y Desh deshantar XI. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq5meyCdX5Y (Anupam Mishra) XII. http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/mahatma-Gandhiji/satyagraha-meaning-of-satyagraha- as-explained-by-Gandhiji/38533 XIII. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpZwCRInrgo (HISTORY OF GANDHIJIJI) XIV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7aMhaFFa6c Gandhiji- a great soul XV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt_MmVBUv84 (interview of Gandhijiji) XVI. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmlRstQrh1k (word of wisdom) XVII. https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/MahatmaGandhiji XVIII. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/gandhi-rare-gift-to-world-how-the-mahatma- inspires-former-us-president-barack-obama-gandhi-jayanti-5381957/ XIX. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UEDxLFLJ4M XX. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCnSuQkY0zE Prof. Varadesh Hiregange, Director, Gandhian and Peace Studies, Manipal University, Manipala XXI. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZF3TNT5LMA (Amitabh Bachchan NDTV)

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Dr Dharitri R Gohel Assistant Professor English L D College of Engineering Ahmedabad

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