The Wednesday Blog Vol. 2: 4 (Gandhi) (2025)

Gandhiand the Idea(s) of Gandhi

TheWednesday Blog is (now) a bi-monthly,
published on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday.

The 1982 movie (director: RichardAttenborough) was named “Gandhi.” No honorific of “Mahatma” or “MohandasKaramchand.” Indeed, none was needed.

Today, his legacy is being calledinto question, and some activists are refusing to “respect” him as the Mahatma oracknowledge him as the “Father of the Nation,” preferring to use, instead, “ShriM.K. Gandhi.” On his 155th birth anniversary (he was born on October 2, 1869), hereis my humble essay on why Gandhi, as an idea, is relevant, nay, important toIndia and the world.

Partsof this essay refer to movies around Mahatma Gandhi. I am not an expert onmovies, and the attempt here is to portray my interpretation of the movies as apolitical analyst, not an expert on direction or screenplay writing!

Gandhipicks some key incidents of his life and plays them out on the big screen, notconcentrating directly on his message or ideology but through references. Therefore,the disturbing scene in Gandhi in which (then, still) Mohandas attempts toforce his wife Kasturba out of the house over the issue of cleaning the toiletscomes across as a great visual picturization, remembered for the intense actingtalents of Ben Kingsley and Rohini Hattangadi, and not so much as the message ofcleaning the home yourself, and not depend on labour to do what you should do, butcaste and class considerations prevent us from doing so even to this day. The movielargely presents the political Gandhi.

The2006 “Lage Raho Munna Bhai” had a scene in which the protagonist says,speaking through the voice of Gandhi (and I am paraphrasing), that even if youremove my statutes, rename the roads named after me, or take down all thephotographs in government offices, my message will remain – of Ahimsa(non-violence) and Satya (truth).

Shouldone watch Gandhi or Munna Bhai?

Gandhihad an influence on how the Western world viewed the icon, while Lage Rahowas a massive hit, with the audience enjoying the message and the medium. We,as Indians, are always happy when a foreigner (read Westerner) praises ourland, culture, or people, and therefore, each October 2nd, the Hollywood movieplays out on several channels as a ritual.

TheBollywood movie is watched throughout the year, not just as a tribute to thegreat man but as a sparkling tear-jerker with a strong message. The music of Gandhiwas by another legend, Ravi Shankar, and touched one serenely as one was watching,yet the music of a relatively unknown but already successful, Shantanu Moitra,is hummable, and the track, Bande Me Tha Dum can still bring a lump tothe throat.

Bothare important in projecting India to the world.

Therehas been much criticism of the ideals of Gandhi. That critical appraisal hasgrown over the years as it has become politically, morally, and spirituallyacceptable to find faults with the greats among us.

Contrastthat with the legacy of Dr BR Ambedkar, the champion of the oppressed and the marginalizedand the author of the Constitution of modern India. His stature has grown overthe same period to a level where it is not politically possible to point the fingerat him or his thoughts in any way less than adulating. His disagreements withGandhi and the renunciation of the Hindu faith in favour of Buddhism arepointed out as proof of his intellectual capacity. His equally persuasive argumentsabout other religious communities, the larger minorities, are brushed aside asirrelevant to any debate.

Thepublic intellectuals who consider Gandhi diminished in their eyes or lessrelevant in today’s context argue that his thoughts are problematic. He isresponsible for many of the (political and religious) problems India still faces,and he was morally ambiguous on too many issues. Therefore, he is no longer worthyof respect. We could also look at it in a larger international context, wheremany icons have been grounded based on today’s morality.

Upfront,I agree with some of that censure about Gandhi. After all, one would wish aMahatma would be a hundred percent right about one hundred percent of issues. Ifthat were possible.

Welive in a land where the Lord Ram is worshipped as Maryada Purushottam, and RamRajya is considered an ideal. Yet he is severely condemned, and now, more thanever before, for the agni pariksha of Sita, or her later banishment, from thekingdom and the sleight in arguments over the killing of Vali.

Whenhe lived, and in the first decades after his death, Mahatma Gandhi inspired many,from Einstein down. The concepts of non-violence and engaging in a conflict againsta greater physical force with quiet confidence and moral courage, rather thanmatching arms to arms or bricks to bricks, appealed to many, from Martin LutherKing Jr. to Nelson Mandela.

Thatis a great soft-power of India. Still, it will be so only if Indians followthat example rather than only proclaiming their allegiance to non-violence and quotingGautama Buddha or even Mahatma Gandhi. Particularly in the last few years,impatience with poor governance has, inexcusably, found a convenient outlet andallowed people to lynch a suspect rather than hand them over to the police and thepolice themselves to bulldoze an alleged guilty man’s home rather than wait fordue process. If we cannot follow the law of our land because of impatience withundoubtedly intransigent systems, we cannot urge the world to follow the leadof our founding fathers. If we are to successfully brand ourselves as a “peace-loving”country or people, we will have to prove ourselves with evidence of that forseveral decades, and not based on a mythical past.

Non-violencedoes not mean that we offer the other check every time we are struck on one, nordoes it mean we forgive the terrorists or allow cross-border infiltrators, insurgents,naxals, and azadi sloganeers to have a free run. Justice must always bedelivered swiftly and equally; the process must be seen & should be felt ashaving been fair and balanced to all sides.

Ina troubled world seething with the wounds of Russia – Ukraine and Israel –Palestinian, simply talking of non-violence may cause resentment rather thanbeing a soothing balm. For a nation to take on the mantle, we must buildinstitutional capacity, starting at home and spreading outwards, to resolveconflicts and consistently negotiate successful long-term deals. An occasionalindividual success would be good, even helpful and important, but it will nothelp spread the message.

Closerhome, there are other messages of Mahatma Gandhi which could be brought to fruition.

Theopening paras referenced the example of cleaning the toilets at home. It bringsto focus two issues, one public cleanliness and a caste & class schism thatwe have been unable to overcome.

Thatthe prime minister of the country had to appeal for a Swachh Bharat from theRed Fort 70 years after independence is shameful. Even more, is the derisionwith which political opponents greeted that plea and then the condemnation of"failure" at still being an essentially unclean country. We have madegood strides in multiple pockets, cities, and towns, but are we a “clean” country?Largely, sadly, it still is not! Railway stations are now clean, but the tracksleading out onto the countryside, immediately outside the stations, completely punctureour pride. Come to think of it, should we really be proud that we have a clean cityproject, or that bus stands, and railway stations are (relatively) clean, or isthat in itself a reflection of our priorities of governance that we waited so longfor a fundamental civic right? I would argue that the Mahatma’s message that “Cleanlinessis next to Godliness” is still not fully imbibed in our day-to-day lives.

Theother part of the message is about the continued failure of our collectiveconsciousness to rid ourselves of caste and class division. Many modern-dayscholars are arguing, some very convincingly, that the caste system as we see ittoday is not the original and that centuries ago, the concept was not of a hereditarysystem but based on Karma. Evidence is presented that the interpretation of castewas a Portuguese (pardon if that is a mistake) or Western interpretation of ourtexts deliberately to bring out fault lines by which to divide the people.

Letus accept that to be correct. The fact is that our social fabric on the issueis very fragile. The smallest of stones is enough to disturb the waters, andout comes the angst. From continuing the reservations policy (and I am fully behindthe logic that the current reservations scheme should continue till the lastperson is rid of that yoke) to modifying or expanding that to include the economicallyunder-privileged or excluding the beneficiaries, the newspaper, media, and the politicalarguments forget the point that “roti – beti” (& its equivalents in everypart of the country), exclusions still exist across communities, and evenwithin communities.

Forsome reason, even the maturest of political, social, and religious leaders and scholarsdo not have the moral courage or the heft to take the teaching of the Mahatmaon this all-pervasive evil, to its logical end and here I mean the end to thesystem, which I unhesitatingly call a social evil hounding our nation from thepast.

Ona different note, many Gandhi Jayanti memes are floating over the internet. Theold, hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil are replaced. One such exhorts,in all seriousness, to not forward without confirming the content, to now hearall on social media without discerning, and to not downloading without ensuringsafety. There are so many others, too.

Allof them show that we can, with some suitable modifications, “updates,” if wewish to use current jargon, continue to make the teachings of the Mahatma relevantto today’s era.

That,in brief, is the relevance of the Mahatma, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, theFather of the Nation, India, that is Bharat.

Themessage is important for Indians, the Bharatiyas (Bharat-wasis), and humankind,even if one accepts that respect for the man is an individual choice.

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Thank you for reading the Blog! Please add your views or write asuggestion in the Comments section below! Your Feedback is appreciated!

Inthis series of Blogs each of which aims to be a five to 7-minute read, it wouldbe reckless on my part to strive for complete analysis or rounded solutions!Far from that, this is a work-in-progress, with each Blog taking the thoughtprocess a little forward. Over time, these Blogs, taken together, shouldpresent a wholesome assessment of the socio-cultural-ecopolitical issues andchallenges before India.

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Author: S.Patanjali, Ph.D.: After a 30+ year career in Industry as an HR Professional, Iventured into a second career in academics as a visiting professor whileequipping myself with a Ph.D. in HR/ OB and papers in international,peer-reviewed Journals. For the record, I am a 1959 model.

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