Revisiting Gandhism

 

For India, this does not seem to be the opportune time to talk of Gandhi. We have recently celebrated Independence day and Gandhi’s birthday is still some way to go. But there are compulsions. As the rupee tumbles and the economy crumbles, the economists, the so called soothsayers who claim to have the magic wand but have hardly been reassuring, keep on blowing their trumpets. However, the solutions they offer for our economic woes just don’t seem to work.  Two Nobel laureates with draggers drawn at one another are advocating their straight jacket solutions which ironically are contradictory to one another. And to make things worse we keep on swapping spin doctors with IMF. The tragedy is that both the international as well as the national economy is in bad shape. Moral of the story lies in understanding the fact that a solution that cannot work will not work. Naturally, the mayhem at market continues.

Under such a grim situation it would sound out of sync to talk of Gandhism. More so, when Gandhi himself had proclaimed that there is no such thing as Gandhism. In fact, he was candid in confessing that he did not originate any new principle or doctrine and had nothing new to teach the world. He was honest in proclaiming that truth and non-violence are as old as the hills. In fact, the ancient Indian thought has unequivocally emphasized that Saanch barober tap nahin, Jhuth barober paap; jaake hridaye saanch hai, taake hridaye aap, that is, there is no worship equal to truth and no sin equal to lie; and the person who has truth in his heart, God lives there.

But that notwithstanding there is a Gandhian  way, an idealism which is, on the contrary, closer to realism. And it is this Gandhian way that can be termed as Gandhism.

As calculations of IMF and World bank economists on poverty reduction and growth rate go haywire popular misconceptions need to give way to pragmatic reappraisal. There needs to be an Indian model to solve India’s economic woes. And it is here that we need to look back to Gandhiism.  Rather, look forward to Gandhi’s prescriptions. The so called market determined theories propounded by, to name a popular Hollywood film, ‘Men in Black’ from the luxurious offices of Washington, have faltered on the ground. It is not a question of reforms versus non-reforms, or even more reforms. It is a matter of redefining reforms. Particularly, in Gandhi’s own country India. Economists have been ridiculing the Gandhian model of economic development as an unworkable proposition. But the other side of the story is that the model these so called economists have given is not working. Should it not be thought over that on one hand we are dismissing a model as utopian without trying, while on the other favoring the one that is not working despite our best efforts. This seems to be impervious  to reason.

It is time that advocates of Washington school of thought revisited Gandhi’s forgotten injunction – “Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and yourself melt away.”

As we prepare for the last leg of so called reforms before the next Lok Sabha elections, let us try to understand and revisit Gandhism. 

An agenda for the Independence Day

 

“Why old men, fools and children calculate; why all these things change from the ordinance, to monstrous quality -why, you shall find that heaven hath infused them with these spirits to make them instruments of fear and warning unto some monstrous state”. These famous words of Shakespeare from the play Julius Ceasar wring in our ears as we prepare to celebrate the 66th anniversary of our  Independence. And rightly so, given the state of affairs of the nation at large. All does not seem to be well. The mid day meal fiascos, the acid attacks, the ignominious rapes, the kids partying in pubs – something is wrong somewhere.

A very pertinent question crops up. Have we missed that tryst with destiny that Pandit Nehru had famously talked about. Perhaps, yes. India has made progress without doubt, but we have also lost much in the process. We are a trillion dollar economy. But we are more known for billion dollar scams. With mafiosi interfering in the business of the state and Durga Shaktis being victimized; with extremist elements killing people at will and officers of law enforcing agencies being blown to smithereens swaraj seems to have turned into goondaraj. For the nation these are ominous portents. The writing on the wall is clear – the nation is under attack. And from within. The agenda for this independence day should be very clear – country first.

What has to be done? And who should do it? The politicians as a class has proved that nation is none of their business. The bureaucracy, the erstwhile steel frame of the Indian state has rusted except for those sporadic flashes of Durga Shaktis. It is the people, we the people. And mind you – it is now or never. If we don’t do it our future generations will never forgive us. Independence is too precious to be frittered away. We should be proud of the independence we gained but is it  enough to celebrate it for one day and forget. Certainly not. We must live up to what our forefathers fought for. We are because of our nation and not the other way round. Remember “who lives if India dies?”

Mother nation is our most precious asset. We are reminded of the famous words of Lord Rama as given in Ramayana after the king of demons Ravana was vanquished and killed. It was in reply to Vibhisanas’ description of Lanka which was fabulously rich and beautiful and the request to Lord Rama to stay there. Lord Rama is said to have stated as paraphrased below. Even if Lanka is beautiful and full of gold, it does not enamour Rama and Lakshmana because mother and the mother nation are more sacred then even the heaven. Incidentally,  this is also the national slogan of Nepal, arguably the world’s only Hindu state.

We need to reinvent India, repackage and resell it. More than 120years ago Swami Vivekananda could prove to the world that India was not just a country of snake charmers, sanyasis and beggars. A renaissance is in order to prove that we are not a country of crooks, rapists and swindlers. All of us needs to resolve that we must do India proud. An urdu couplet from poet Iqbal is given below that sums up the spirit of what we must do –

 

 “Watan ki fikr kar Nadaan musibat aane wali hai, teri bardadiyon ke Mashwire hain aasmanon  mein

Na sambhaloge to mit jaoge ai Hindostaan waalon, tumhari daastaan bhi na hogi daastaanon mein.”

(Think of the nation O ignorant, the trouble is lurking, the signs of your doom are there in the skies; If you don’t pay heed you will perish O people of India, even your history will not be mentioned in the histories.)