Once upon a time a promising young lawyer from India embarked upon
a journey to the Dark Continent which would later prove to be the making of the
father of our Nation. While practicing there he came across the social evil of
apartheid and empathized with the locals. He himself became the victim once
when he was thrown out of a train carriage because of his complexion and in
spite of carrying a first class ticket. All this happened courtesy a white man
who felt that his purity was compromised by sharing the carriage with a colored
man. Most of us would have accepted the situation the way it was but Gandhi did
not. He wanted this racial discrimination to end. He wanted the attitude of the
white men to change. And thus to pursue this vision of his, he stayed in South
Africa for the next 21 years. He helped those who were shackled to bondage
because of their color. He educated them and made them aware of this historic
injustice. And rest is just history.
Mahatma Gandhi through his actions has always exemplified that he
practiced what he preached to others. To those who ignored his principles of truth
and non-violence at the first place, his life became a testimony and he eventually
showed them how that was supposed to be done. This statement by Mahatma Gandhi
is not just a fancy juxtaposition of words but has embedded in it, the very
philosophy of his life which can be supported by many instances. Once a woman
came to Mahatma Gandhi requesting him to ask his son not to eat too much of
jaggery as it is harmful to the body. Gandhi kept on asking them to come again
and again before simply advising her son not to do so. The woman was puzzled
and wondered why he asked them to come again and again just to be told this
simple instruction. To this Gandhiji explained that he first needed time to
rectify his own habit of eating too much jaggery!
The person from whom these precious words surfaced himself is the
greatest illustration substantiating the underlying truth and practicality of
them. When he came back to India after a remarkable stint in South Africa
fighting the apartheid, he was appalled to witness the atrocities of the
colonial rulers on his countrymen. But at the same time he did not approve of
the violent ways of revolutionary terrorism to drive out our oppressors. He
believed that this task should be only attained travelling the path of truth
and non-violence. And through the various events highlighting the national
freedom struggle, he was able to turn this superior vision into reality. The
withdrawal of the Non-cooperation movement after the violence at Chauri-Chaura
exemplified the integrity of this principled man. Imagine if he only had this
vision of these principles and devoid of the determination and capacity to
inspire the masses. It would have been so futile a wandering.
Right from the very genesis of human civilization there have been
people who have personified this statement given by Mahatma Gandhi and it has
been only due to their endeavor that the civilization has progressed, persisted
and prevailed. There have been individuals
different from the average crowd who had a better vision of the world, who had
the capacity to influence the direction in which we were heading and who came
forward to act. It is for these people that we stand here today on a
progressive path overcoming the darker era and it is for such people from our
era that we embark upon a journey to an even better world. Pondering over the
ancient era, we come across the example of Ashoka the Great who conquered
almost the entire Indian sub-continent but after the victory at Kalinga, there
came an immense change in his worldview and perception. Walking past the river
of blood and bodies marked by the overwhelming grief of their kiths and kin, he
regretted the act of war. It occurred to him suddenly that all this bloodshed
for territorial gains only suffices the greed of the aristocratic classes but
millions of innocents die in vain. But by then he had become the beacon of
expansionist policies, the valor of defeating others in war and the naked
pompous show of power. How would people accept his new radical vision? That
could have only happened by showing the change within him and in fact that is
what eventually happened. He reduced the standing armies by great proportions
and became a great believer of Buddhism. It was his act of reforming himself
first that made his followers belief in the change.
Moving on to the inspiring times of contemporary history of our
nation, one just cannot overlook the father of modern India i.e. Raja Rammohan
Roy and his numerous contributions to liberate and emancipate the Indian women
and to cure people from the malaise called religious fundamentalism and
absolutism. He worked immensely for these reforms and created many groups and
sabhas to propagate his liberal views and to end the blind faith of people. He
protested strongly against the social evil of ‘Sati’ and it was his activism
and charisma that played a great role in its abolition. He was among the few
persons in those times who could see the catastrophic repercussions of extreme
religiosity and dedicated all his life to work against it and to educate
people.
During this era, we also witnessed various other visionaries like
Ramkrishna Paramhansa and Swami Vivekananda who believed that “work is workship”.
They setup various missions and foundations which even today promote this very
idea. They dedicated all their lives to make people understand the value of
service to the mankind. Mother Teresa believed that “the hands that serve are
more sacred than the lips that pray”. She even today symbolizes selfless
service to the mankind and inspires millions of modern-day philanthropists.
These legends had a pious worldview and envisioned a far better society and via
their actions and gestures they keep inspiring the future generations to move
closer and closer to this apparent utopia. Moreover, when we talk of modern-philanthropy,
we come across names like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet who have greatly
inspired the rich to share their exorbitant resources with the needy and the
desperate. The fact is that still only a small fraction of people are cornering
most of the resources and the truth is that if they are willing to share a bit,
we can eradicate poverty and destitution. The simple yet elusive truth!
And coming to the recent post-modern era, we still find the shades
of this age-old philosophy but of course in the form of a new variant called ‘Entrepreneurship’.
Today the youth is in no mood to work indifferently and dispassionately for the
monstrous and greedy corporations and businesses that have become leviathans
unyielding to the expectations of today’s workforce. Today the youth has very
many ideas and innovations which they want to take forward and turn them into
full fledged reality. Today they dream about changing the ways of modern living
and by turning these dreams into entrepreneurship ventures they are showing the
world how to bring about change. So, entrepreneurship is nothing but the
manifestation of this age-old philosophy as evident in the present generation.
Having discussed these conspicuous illustrations we must also
answer the very basic question that what does change mean to people? Everyone
sees the world differently and influenced by their primary and secondary
socialization, they have a unique perception of the community as a whole. We
admire certain things about the society but at the same time we admonish many others.
And the commonalities are called collective conscience. Now this might not be
even close to the picture painted by us while creating our own ideal type. And
to influence this collective conscience towards this ideal type, we wish
certain changes to occur. Now most of us are complacent waiting for this change
passively. We become cynical of everything the other does as long as it is not
taking the collective conscience towards the ideal type that we created. And we
take no affirmative action while relaxing in our armchair.
This statement by Mahatma Gandhi is also like the fountainhead
yielding multiple values and virtues and showing the pathways to those looking
for a genuine direction to their lives. It talks about ‘initiative’ and how
each and every person should have the ability to move away from the herd mentality
and make a unique space for himself. And to take such initiative and to
implement it would be requiring leadership skills. To be the change or to be
the causal agent one needs to have the ability to motivate and inspire others
as undoubtedly to succeed in any given scenario, apart from the individual
brilliance there must be pivotal synergy of operation.
But often, change is not that easily achieved as there are
conservative elements which seek self-aggrandizement by means of status-quo and
fabricate various predicaments to those who seek to alter the archaic order.
Ergo in order to eventually succeed, there must be perseverance. Every failure
must be answered by renewed vigor. Another aspect of this vision is that it
promotes a progressive approach. Here the ‘change’ denotes a positive
development in the existing system to ameliorate the loopholes and thus to make
it more robust and sustainable.
So what changes are pivotal today for the community to move
forward with a substantial pace but at the same time in a sustainable manner?
The first impediment to all sorts of developments is the absence of integrity,
more commonly referred to as ‘corruption’. And the worst kind is that at the political
level as it leads to all the other kinds and is gigantic in proportion. Few years
back a bunch of social activists took this up and tried to wake the sleeping
common man who was lulled deep into slumber by the promises of democracy. But
the extent of corruption had become so colossal that we witnessed it on every
crossroad. And hence came the largest mass movement of recent times. There was
a partial victory but few among them were wise to understand that real change
can only happen when the reform the whole political system. And then we saw the
conceptualization and formation of a political party which promised governance
with integrity. So to change the political system, they became a part of it. They
protested, then contested and then they conquered. Here we also see that how
good examples can result into their imitations by others in dire need of
reforms.
Another aspect that has immense relevance today is the
conservation of natural heritage and bio-diversity to maintain the ecological balance.
Mahatma Gandhi once famously remarked that “there is enough in this world to
satisfy everyone’s need but not everyone’s greed”. We humans, most of us, have
acted with utter greed especially when it comes to the utilization of natural
resources the mindless infrastructural expansion. It is a proven fact that even
slight disturbances to the natural balance can result into catastrophic
calamities even capable of wiping out the human race altogether. Another point
here is that we have a moral obligation not to endanger the prospects and
living standards of the coming generation. We just cannot mindlessly grow and
grow at the expense of our future generations. There have been various crusaders
to the likes of Sundarlal Bahuguna, Rajendra Singh etc who have encouraged and
inspired masses to take up these cases.
Apart from these there is another fundamental change that is required.
We must change the way in which we educate the young and the restless. Who are
we to prepare ready-made moulds to shape them up into engineers and doctors? Who
are we to dictate what they should read and what they should play? The last
time I checked it was a democracy after all. We as their parents, guardians and
teachers have the obligation to make them aware of all possible directions in
which they can proceeds. We must discuss with them all the possible pathways
and avenues. And then we should just let them decide for themselves. We must
not coerce them into anything. They will choose what they are passionate
about. And also that, passion is not
manufactured, it is only discovered. So it is high time to move away from the
tools of rote learning and venture into the schools of innovation and
creativity.
Well of course this is not in any way an exhaustive list of changes
that are paramount at the moment but definitely among the relevant ones. So do
you think that the education sector is rotting and needs reforms? Be the next Yash
pal! Do you think that the healthcare advancements are out of reach for the
poor? Be the next Devi Shetty! Do you think that telecom revolution needs to revitalize?
Be the next Sam Pitroda! Do you think that the rocket propulsion systems of
India can be further sophisticated? Be the next Kalam! The essence is, be the
change you want to see!
Lastly I recall a small yet significant incident from my past that
somehow relates to the philosophy being talked about here. There was a friend
of mine who was rather a good man with only one fallacy that he used to throw
litter anywhere without any concern. I tried to lecture him many times on the
importance of hygiene but they had no impact on him. One day we were wandering
around with a common friend of ours who was so motivated to teach my friend a
lesson on cleanliness that he picked up things thrown by my friend on the road
and put them in the dust bin. He did this for the whole day. By the end , my
litter friend was so embarrassed that understood the point we were making. At
the end, these words by Paulo Coelho sum it up nicely, “The world is changed by
your example, not by your opinion”.
(2347 words)
