Gandhi was assassinated on Jan 30th, 1948, just one year after he led India to its independence from British rule. On this 73rd death anniversary, some of his messages that I have found most inspiring are listed below:
- Very transparent life – he has extensively written about his views including his well- known book – ‘My experiments with Truth’. The ‘Collected works of Gandhi’ is close to 100 volumes. He strongly believed in leading by example – he is quoted to have said – “My life is my message”. If one were to imagine Gandhi living today, I am sure he would be extremely active on Facebook, Insta & Twitter.
- Inter-faith harmony – Gandhi was an absolute believer, that people of all religions need to live together in peace. Gandhi himself was a devout Hindu. However, he was completely opposed to religion becoming a wedge in society. He was extremely disappointed that he couldn’t prevent the partition of the Indian sub-continent into India and Pakistan. During the Hindu-Muslim communal riots, Gandhi was on the front-lines, giving speeches, using all his moral authority & fasting, to stop the riots – his letter to Vallabhai Patel, had this statement “My going on living depends entirely on complete peace being established in India.” Unfortunately, the world hasn’t changed too much – there continues to be several conflict zones in the world based on religion & ethnicity –for example, the large scale persecution of Rohingya in Myanmar! The world needs more leaders like Gandhi to put an end to such conflicts.
- Satyagraha – Gandhi perfected the art of non-violent resistance calling it Satyagraha(Truth force). Several leaders including Martin Luther King were influenced by this philosophy in their social change movements. Some people mistake Satyagraha as being weak – however this form of resistance needed people to be extremely brave. Gandhi and other freedom fighters in India faced several hardships including spending years as prisoners.
- Simple Living – One of his famous quotes is “”The world has enough for everyone’s needs, but not everyone’s greed”. Today, as we debate Climate Change, the widening gap between the rich & the poor and the short-comings of capitalism, Gandhi’s message of simple living is extremely topical. Gandhi experimented extensively about living a monastic life. While this kind of lifestyle is not for everyone, we should all reflect about the lifestyles we lead!
gopaldevanahalli 