India is said to be a rich country inhabited by poor people. Its natural wealth has always attracted people from other parts of the world. They have come here as looters and held sway over our gullible people, killed their initiative, dug deep holes in our land and walked away with loads of gold and other precious minerals.

We are experts in moralising. Juxtaposed against our natural wealth we have a long cultural wealth. Shorn of our power to produce goods for the foreign markets, we have tried to compensate the loss by exporting our cultural heritage.

Vivekananda's influence:
Swami Vivekananda was a great vendor of our spiritual knowledge to the western world. His message established India's uniqueness in the minds of the Westerners, who had realised that something essential was missing inside themselves.

A far earlier great achievement in the manner of that of Swami Vivekananda was that of Goutama Buddha. But his eloquent silence about a supernatural power controlling the universe and guiding the destinies of mankind did not hold sway over the teeming millions of India, and in due course, among the people of the neighbouring lands he was found to be of great export quality, our people had succeeded as exporters of our culture.

Logical sequence:
Shankara had managed to restore the centrifugal force, and he succeeded in providing a logical sequence to Buddha's thought. In the twentieth century another great thinker and visionary hogged the limelight of history. It was Mahatma Gandhi who forged the unique weapon of Satyagraha based on the concept of Ahimsa or non-violence. If it is a positive force, why do we not have an expression, which is positive? Does it not indicate that violence is basic to a living being, which was created by the supernatural force in a crude form.

Concerted effort:
It is not for nothing that great souls like Aurobindo struggled throughout their lives to rise to angelhood. Gandhi did not rest content with making this experiment in the spiritual world only, but he tried hard to extend it to the material world. His life was not just an experiment with truth; it was an experiment with Ahimsa — removal of Himsa, which in the crude state of a living being is a “positive” force — and replacement by Ahimsa. This could be achieved by Sadhana or concerted effort. All beings in their natural state have certain basic qualities, which to the civilized reformed soul are negative. Darkness, for example, exists in nature. In the beginning there was darkness. The “Big Bang” changed this state and with it light was born. The history of the universe is the struggle between darkness and light to establish supremacy. “Let us go from darkness to light”, is the eternal prayer of the Indian Sadhaka. But the establishment of light is not found to be eternal or permanent.

Poor people, rich country:
So, Gandhiji's fight was in two directions. Firstly, he was interested in changing the condition of the Indian masses, who are said to be poor people inhabiting a rich country. Its wealth, which is the cynosure of all eyes, and which is being drained by the western world, had to be restored to them. The perpetual exploitation of our wealth had become the cruelest act of himsa. Fighting the cruel act of himsa was in the material world. The principle of Swadeshi meant establishing the rule of ahimsa in worldly affair. Exploitation of all kinds is the manifestation of himsa or violence. This had to be eradicated not by force, which again is violence. Setting violence against violence strengthens violence.

Non-violence does not use physical force. Ahimsa in its pure state is moral force. Himsa or violence, which is a basic instinct, has in its armoury many weapons like greed, with which it wages a relentless war against justice, fair play and selflessness. The only potent weapon of ahimsa is courage that is refusing to submit before brute force, which in the very long run has to undergo a process of conversion of heart. The poet's or visionary's dream of rising to the stature of an angel has to be universally realised and that is the one and only hope of survival of mankind, according to Mahatma Gandhi.

An anathema:
But this is considered to be a disturbing thought among the hatred-ridden, violence-prone Indian community. The people, as they did in the case of Buddha, thought that Gandhi should be conveniently exported to the foreign countries. Gandhi is anathema to the sophisticated section of Indian society, which, when asked if Gandhi is relevant, answered in an emphative “No”. “Not surprising”, says Tushar Gandhi, a great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.

Tushar's views:
“If I were to ask the same question at Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge or to the CEO's of Google, Apple computers, Oracle, IBM, Visa, Italian Telecom, Microsoft and Audi, the answer will be a resounding "Yes," says Tushar Gandhi. He says that almost all the top league colleges and Universities in the US are incorporating Gandhian studies in their curriculum. Harvard acknowledged Mahatma Gandhi as an eminent management icon of our times. The Police in Brazil, Tushar Gandhi says, read Gandhi literature to destress and serve the people better. Coming to the purely material field, during India's freedom struggle, Gandhi used management principles to achieve his goals. The Swadeshi movement was a clever strategy to economically cripple his opponent, says Tushar Gandhi.

At the same time, it aimed to build a domestic industry. Khadi is very relevant even today. To know this, one has to go to places like Kalahandi, Vidharbha and many other backward areas where the impoverished farmers have not been able to reach basic infrastructure. For them Khadi and traditional village industries are the only option to provide a supplement income, says Tushar Gandhi.

We cannot afford to reject Gandhi, says he. Enough food for serious thought, indeed! Let us not export Gandhi, as we did in the case of Buddha.

HSK
Courtesy: Star of Mysore

Click here if you would like to Contribute or send a feedback.
Click here to go to the main page of Star of Mysore.
Click here to go to the main page of HSK.