Revisiting Experiments with Truth

Remembering Gandhi in the third week of February may appear to be out of tune with the time. More so, when just around a week ago a significantly large section of our young India was all too preoccupied with Saint Valentine. Yet, the present scenario does indicate that a brush with Gandhi may be the right thing to do today, when all other experiments do not seem to be working. The nation seems to be in some kind of turmoil. Though not very apparent, the disturbances can be felt. Polity has become both tortuous and torturous and the irony is that the most hit is the common man, though he is being said to be the sole purpose of powers that be. While the popular discontent against the existing political formations did result in some kind of an experimentation, even that did not seem to offer succour and proved short lived. Naturally, a sense of despair builds up which gets further aggravated by the n number of psephological predictions prophesying for the umpteenth time that the ensuring electoral Kurukshetra may not lead to any conclusive outcome. Where do we need to look for  when all options appear equally undesirable? A crucial question that does not have answers. But it is amidst this thicket of confusion and hopelessness that a silver lining appears in the form of the name Gandhi. Though it may not be possible to reconstruct the bespectacled Mahatma, we may definitely recapitulate his ideas. At least we will come to know why things are not working the way we want. And that perhaps may helps us find out the way. Where we have gone wrong? Well, Gandhi had given the answer to this long back when he had mentioned about the seven social sins. They are politics  without principles, wealth without work , pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without  morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice. No one perhaps disagrees with the fact that it is these sins that have been responsible for our present day problems.  And no one would like to question on the contemporary significance of Gandhi’s ideas and actions. Look at the causes of our woes today. Is it not the dichotomy between spiritual and material values that is the bane of our modern Indian society? Is it not true that freedom anchored in self restraint is an imperative for a prosperous and equitable society? Gandhi advocated ethical business leadership, socially responsible investing, transformative education and care and concern for nature. Is it not the neglect of these that we can trace the roots of the problems of the present day Indian society? Let us be honest for a change. And honestly speaking Gandhi had his fingers on the pulse. Not that Gandhi was infallible. But he was modest as well as honest to admit this. And that is the problem of our politics. It lacks both modesty and honesty. This is the reason why our search for a good government ends in a blind alley. Famous American Statesman Thomas Jefferson had hit the nail on the head when he said – The whole art of Government consists in the art of being honest. And he was right because honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.