By Dr. Mohammad Nazrul Bari,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi’s ideologies of non-violence, truth and social justice have brought about a paradigm shift as far as India’s image to the outside world is concerned. India was previously known to the Western world in general and Europe in particular as a country of musicians and snake charmers. These inspiring values propagated by Gandhi attracted world’s attention and provided a moral canvass for the other countries to follow suit in their struggle to create a more egalitarian and just society that is bereft of violence and hatred.
This changing identity of the country can be traced in the tribute paid to Gandhi by famous scientist Albert Einstein. Einstein observed in 1939 on the 70th anniversary of Gandhi’s birthday: “Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this one ever in flesh and blood walked upon this Earth.”
A Gandhi statue in Chennai. [TCN Photo]
Gandhi’s message to young generation was built around two cardinal principles that are truth and non-violence. His slogan “be fearless” inspired the youth. He taught his countrymen the value of compassion and willingness to sacrifice for fellow brethren. Gandhi understood the significance of youth power in bringing about social change and he effectively utilized the huge reservoir of energy present in young people during the freedom movement.
Youth are naturally compassionate for fellow human beings and inclined to create an ideal society, which makes them instruments of social change. Gandhi made heroes and heroines of ordinary men and women. Those who opted for violence did not find a place in his good books. Gandhi emphasized dignity of labour and human values. Unfortunately, Gandhi’s ideals and ideas have not been fully utilized. They need to be disseminated with reinforced zeal, particularly amongst the youths, which will help them discover the revolutionary Gandhi.
Today the name of Gandhi transcends the bounds of race, region and religion, and has emerged as the prophetic voice of our time. He is remembered now for his passionate adherence to the practice of non-violence and humanism. It is true that Buddha and Mahavir reinvented the word Ahimsha (non-violence) but credit goes to Gandhi to use it as an effective instrument for social change. Gandhi in his book “My experiment with truth” said: “I taught nothing new to this world, truth and Ahimsha is as old as trees and mountains”. He was successful in demonstrating to the world the importance of truth and non-violence.
Arnold Toynbee, the famous historian, who studied Gandhi once said that “the generation into which I happen to have been born has not only been Hitler’s generation in the West and Stalin in Russia it has also been Gandhi’s in India; and it can already be forecast with some confidence that Gandhi’s effect on human history is going to be greater and more lasting than Stalin’s or Hitler’s”.
On one occasion, Gandhi wrote, “non-violence is a plant of slow growth. It grows imperceptibly but surely”. He worked for universal human values and his life is a sure guide to a meaningful existence for all of us in 21st century. Gandhi had a dream for India but realizing his dream has become a nightmare. Today, we are living a life with constant adjustments to changing conditions, which call for a different kind of discipline. Now it rests on our shoulders to see that the democratic values remain intact. The time-tested communal harmony and composite culture must be maintained while ensuring social justice and gender equality for all. If we are able to achieve this, we shall be helping in fulfilling Gandhi’s cherished dream.
Gandhi’s unfinished task is the biggest challenge before us. He had faith in his mission because he had infinite faith in the individual’s capacity to change. He firmly believed that the human nature is capable of radical reorientation; all one needs is a will to explore his own true self. This explains why Gandhi, all through his life, was striving to take humanity on to the path of spiritual and moral growth. The progress of civilization, as it has evolved through the ages, is proof that human nature is a developing entity, capable of change for the better.
Remember that the contemporary crisis demands not only a careful analysis of the roots of current social disorder and strategies of transition away from the current violent system but also demands a total rejection of some of our present narrow minded beliefs while restructuring our life-style and socio- economic institutions on radical moral lines.
Gandhi’s thoughts need to be disseminated. It is these ideas which have an impressive role in taking the human society forward towards the desired goal. It is said that, it is not the empire builders but the thought of human being, individually powerless, who are ultimately the rulers of the world.
Today Gandhi is the sign at the world’s crossroads. It is never too late to retrace the steps and follow the non-violent path of recovery shown by Mahatma Gandhi. Thank God, even after being nominated for five times for Noble Peace prize between 1937 and 1948, Gandhi did not get the award because the same nomination list also included Hitler, although it was later withdrawn.
(Dr.Mohammad Nazrul Bari is an Assistant Professor of History at the Central University of Karnataka, Gulbarga.)