Well brushing aside the worldly things that confine me in a very constricted time-line, I manage to ,for once not be self-indulgent and spare a thought for the great guy who gave me a holiday today... Not the prime minister, not my principle.. its some one they call 'THE MAHATMA'. The same person who has christened an infinite stream of roads in India, the smiling face on the currency, the face that adorns all government institutions, the guy who turned the other cheek, the one we read about in history textbooks, and yea... the one in MunnaBhai, the one in Richard Attenbrough's film too- some call him Bappuji, some Gandhi....but Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore sums it up beat with the term- "Mahatma" - the great being! Oops I almost forgot (no I didnt)he was the guy who gave us freedom, the nonviolent way.. the one who inspired some of the finest human beings in th annals of history- Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein and many others...
It has almost become platitudinous to say this... (kinda sad considering the fact that we are soo accustomed to being arrogant, aggresive, non-tolerant ...almost militant in our daily lives that we find some of his teachings absolutely out-of-place in our current context) .. still a perspicacious thought to the application of his teachings in status-quo will revel that the man had a point... to say the least.
Well all Indians have been taught throughout their lives that He was great... the satyagraha, the charkha, the South African nonviolent victory, the Dandi March, civil Disobedience Movement, the Do or Die ...the freedom glory, the tragic partition and the even more tragic death of the saint.... Yes he did all that, a simple Gujarati boy changed the way the world thinks forever...
I happened to read a few of his books during my school days(one of the rare books I can claim to have read.. coz I m not a reader). " The story of my experiments with Truth" and "India Of my Dreams" were really inspirational for me at that impressionable age. But I guess I didnt get the essence then( and I think I belong to a large group of people who havent)... And if I may be so audaciously bold to claim that I finally get it, I think his life was all about showing people that truth is supreme, you cant fight it! And it is truth and only truth that can give u the peace -both outside and within...
But then define truth... Mathematics has the concept of 'axioms'- the truths one has to accept and which form the basis of all knowledge. Spiritualism has the concept of 'the conscience'...the way I look at it, its the voice within you which pricks you when you are diverting away from the truth. And in politics truth is something that cant be manipulated to be proved to be false (cutting the crap, truth is fiction there).I think history says truth is the version of the story the victors get to boast of ( think about it...)Truth by definition cant be subjective...is it really? Doesnt the human mind induce its bias inherently in presenting, analysing and accepting the truth? So what did the man say again? I m clueless!!!!
And why should one believe that truth is good...Are humans even capable of being truthful- forget about being truthful to others..even to themselves? We all love our makeups, masks and interfaces dont we? And dont you see a corrupt guy sashaying with all the comforts and luxuries, when he blatantly shuns all truth, good et all...And have we seen heaven or hell to remind ourselves of dire consequences in afterlife? I m sure such questions have been asked and deliberated upon throughout the centuries... But the very fact that Truth is still very much a human virtue goes to say that "Uus aadmi key baaton mein kuch dum hai"!
Well, I think the trick realises in realises in realising that in the long run.. it is much easier to be truthful than to lie... or rather not be truthful (there is a fine difference between the two). Truth does give you peace, you can feel it, atleast I did. It gives you the courage to stand up for what you are convinced is correct ( thats the kinda magic that empowered a poor nation to fight against the mighty oppressors and infact win in the end) It gives the ordinary man the strength to win the world without any superpowers for the rescue. All the conflicts and confusions in the world around us and within us can be won with this immortal woord- 'Satyagraha'...(which means satya-truth.. agraha-convincing)
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