REMEMBERING MAHATMA GANDHI

                                                                                        - By Milan K Sinha                  Today is national holiday -2nd October, Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday; the celebration time basically for the haves of the country. Variety of events takes place in good numbers in many cities and in some villages.  The political class in general look for this day to deliver their hackneyed speech and to shed lots of crocodile tears- saved in their "Tear Bank" for such occasions. Ironically, the million of toiling masses sustaining their life on an income which according to planning commission qualify them to be in APL (Above Poverty Line) category will be destined to earn even today's bread & salt on this special occasion of birthday of their true leader of all times. Might be for them only,  these lines were written:

जिन आंसुओं का सीधा ताल्लुक  था पेट से 

उन आंसुओं  के साथ तेरा नाम जुड़ गया . 

या 

एक बूढ़ा आदमी है मुल्क में या यों कहो 

इस  अँधेरी कोठारी में एक रौशनदान है .  

                                                                              -- दुष्यन्त  कुमार 

 It is also inspiring to know what  the Nobel Prize Winner Great Physicist, Albert Einstein have said about Mahatma Gandhi:            

• Generations to come, it may be, will scarcely believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth. 

 Amid plethora of acts of omission & commission by the affluent sections of society in the recent past and at a time when there is so much of protests  against of FDI entry in retail in the country, the relevance of Gandhi must be understood and his opinion, teachings & preachings must be revisited for the real good of the nation and its disadvantaged masses.
       

 It is well known that Mahatma Gandhi accepted,followed & preached the following ideals all through his life : 

                        TRUTH, AHIMSA, SATYAGRAHA & SWARAJ. 

   All these are not simple words, but the powerful weapons to solve all the problems of human race at large. Then, is not today (that too a holiday)  the opportune time for the educated & comparatively well off sections of our society to take a sincere look on what our beloved Bapu preached & practised and what the ruling political class & its machinery across the country have been actually doing so shamelessly and at times so boldly directly or indirectly.

  We shall take up briefly the concept of SWARAJ in the light of FDI controversy  & other issues of governance in the country to know the gap between Gandhiji's thinking and our actual doing: 

• In Gandhiji's concept of Swaraj, self-reliance, self-regulation & self -restraints are very important. He says," Real Swaraj will come not by the acquisition of authority by a few but the acquisition of the capacity by all to resist authority when it is abused.In other words, Swaraj is to be obtained by educating the masses to a sense of their capacity to regulate and control authority." He further says,"Swaraj means government by many. Where the many are immoral or selfish, their government can spell anarchy and nothing else."

 Gandhiji's life and thoughts have been & will continue to be very relevant & inspiring  for all generations and hence must be discussed & emulated accordingly.

              
          Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.