Happy Birthday to Bapu

Happy Birthday to the man about whom Albert Einstein said, "It's hard a believe such a man in flesh and blood ever walked on the surface of earth". He wasn't far from truth, the man he was referring to, earned it. He is non other than our Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma (the famous soul) Gandhi.

Newton's 3rd Law says every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Every violent action would naturally follow with an equal or more violent reaction, continuing the never ending cycle of revenge. But Mahatma Gandhi decided to fight violence in exactly opposite manner, something different called "Non-violence".

 

He experimented it in South Africa against Apartheid and subsequently applied the same in India against the British rule. He experimented with different vices and virtues early in his life, prompting him to write "My Experiment with Truth". However after his wife's death, his experiment of sleeping naked with his nubile niece, attracted some controversies.

 

His method of protest being unique, caught the attention of the world, at a time when electronic media was at its infancy. The world stood up and took notice, appalled when the DANDI March protesters were brutally brought down by the DANDA (stick) of British Police. The victims did not show an iota of retaliation or remorse. His ideology of non-violence was later replicated by Dr. Martin Luther King, half a world away in United States to fight for Civil Rights. Dr. King, like his idol Gandhi was assassinated, but vindicated the efficacy of "Non-violence".

When India celebrated its independence, brought arguably by the non-violence means, instead of celebrating, Gandhiji spent the day praying and fasting. He was steadfast in his pursuit for Hindu-Muslim unity, but India was partitioned amidst bloody violence on communal lines, exactly opposite to what he stood for.

 

Post partition, Pakistan asked India to pay Rs.48 crore (480 million), a princely sum those days. India refused to oblige. Bapu (as Gandhi was popularly addressed as) wanted India to pay the money to younger brother Pakistan and went on fasting, forcing India to relent. Pakistan used that lump sum amount of money to buy arms, certainly not directed towards Iran or Russia. Gandhi was an idealist. But his idealism failed as he fell to an assassin's bullet.

 

After his death, his countrymen hardly retained his ideologies. India continued to be riddled with violence of all sorts, later in form of terrorism. The current affairs of our nation can aptly be described by these few lines lifted from the Odia song LE NABEENA from 1981, depicting the sad saga of the Mahatma. (Nabeena here depicts the Odia version of Johny, no relation to any person dead or alive).

 

LE NABEENA TIKE PACHHAKU ANA,
HATHE BAADI DHARI THIA BAPUJI NANA,
BAPUJI BUDHA RA AAKHI RE LUHA,
TA RAMA RAIJE AAJI YAMA RA BHAYA

( O' Nabeena, take a peek behind.
Stick in hand Old man Bapuji is standing,
The old man's eyes are filled with tears,
Yama, the God of death has filled
His Dream Land with fear.)