It’s October, Diwali approaching in less than a week now and instead of witnessing the scenes of white washing in the households everywhere, it was a complete devastating wash by rainwater….October witnessing floods; instead of preparing for the beautiful autumn, it seems the ‘seasons’ are in a state of utter confusion or rather they are absolutely helpless…I mean what we studied in school, April-May- for summer, June to September rains, October-November mild autumn, December to February chilling cold, March sultry dry all set to welcome April….all this is rather ‘bookish’ in today’s context…and it’s a matter of grave concern. You know what, this is the result our selfishness, our not agreeing with the proponents of the theory of sustainable development and even if we did agree and understood what it means-I guess it was too much of asking to sacrifice for future-which in anyways is uncertain-so why bother!!! Well, so here we are, in the midst of global warming spreading its wings in more than ways we could imagine…The climatic change, which is for worse, is a result of our recklessly abusing and exploiting the environment!!! Is it a catch-22 situation…whatever it is…too late to mend and make good the damage…the fact is WE ARE STUCK and STUCK BADLY…Can we now at least think about stopping this abuse and exploitation, can we adopt sustainable development as the core principle for development, can we pause and re-assess our needs v. greed…imagine what kind of damage have we caused to the environment that it has ultimately led to a dangerous imbalance in the climatic cycle…what will happen to agriculture and everything that is associated with it-OUR LIVES for sure….meanwhile at least if we all could pray with honesty and sincerity….
This 2nd October 2009, one of the movie channels showed GANDHI (that’s quite ceremonious) and I watched the entire movie…that surely forces one to think and re-think…firstly a terrible disgrace that we have taken our freedom for granted, that freedom for which millions laid down their lives-that freedom which was the only ‘romance’ for Shaheed Bhagat Singh and likes…and then there is one lean, thin, absolute ‘common man’ figure with his dream and vision for independent INDIA that he wanted to achieve through the toughest route ever-NON VIOLENCE…Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Whether one agrees or not and irrespective of our views on M.K Gandhi being responsible for the partition, we cannot ignore the determination that M.K. Gandhi had for our country freedom and that his was a charisma beyond explanation-for once you see that a person who enjoys blind following by an entire nation-did not abuse his power-imagine the same in today’s context-scary and suicidal-God forbid but if Behenji of U.P gets such a following-she would auction our country and disappear….I don’t know why, but we all somehow love criticism- ofcourse as long as we get to criticize others! That’s what we do with M.K.Gandhi…I guess some people do it to pretend being intellectuals-that criticizing M.K Gandhi is quite a fashion-blame the partition on him- I am not saying he wouldn’t have been responsible-of course being a human he too was fallible-but what I don’t agree is that why do we only see what he could not do or the wrongs that he allegedly committed-I guess it’s easier and more convenient for us because if we discuss and debate the negative aspects, no body would ask us to follow or inculcate such acts/commissions and on the other hand if we attempt to understand what his contribution is, the goodness in him, the determination, we might be expected to follow all of that-that’s not convenient-so the easy option is the blame game-after all we are the champions…
I am not saying that you don’t have a right to your own views/opinion, of course you do but before all of that just try and find out if you could inculcate or even appreciate what values and principles shaped M.K.Gandhi’s life and ultimately shaped the pace and picture of our freedom struggle…M.K Gandhi had said that India lives in it’s villages and India’s development and growth of its economy can happen only if the villages are made autonomous, self-dependent and when the local crafts are revived-you know what-it is now that I truly understand what he actually meant-I understand the gravity and importance-because now I see MADE IN CHINA labels on virtually everything that was and that is essentially INDIAN-in its origin and culture---its surely double jeopardy---I call for a SWADESI MOVEMENT all over again!
No comments:
Post a Comment