January 30th
1948 is a day which no Indian can overlook in the calendar. A day when in
actual terms the earth stood still, a day when mankind took its last breath and
a day when the whole country wailed because the father took an eternal depart
from his children. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi a great barrister and the saviour
of our country who saved us from the ruthless Britishers took an eternal depart
to the other world on this gloomy day.
He always fought for justice, truth and furtherance
of mankind with his lethal weapon of non-violence and truthfulness. He was one
of the bravest people the world has ever seen and he always taught the mankind
to live a peaceful life by maintaining peace in this world and yes, that man
gave us freedom. After 66 years of his death Mahatma Gandhi is still remembered
in our country but is this remembrance of any importance?
His birth anniversary is celebrated
throughout the country, national flag is unfurled on government buildings,
schools and colleges are given a day off and most importantly 2nd
October is observed as a ‘dry day’…. A nice initiative by the government to
give respect to the Father of the Nation but wait a second! A beer shop opens furtively
and at a double price supply the need of a customer. He abuses the shopkeeper
for the hiked price, then abuses the government for such rule and then abuses the
‘birthday boy’ for being born on that day! In a survey conducted by The
Tribune, Chandigarh in year 2006 the team found that many vendors sold liquor
in Durgi, Sarbha Nagar, BRS Nagar, Kochar Market and many other parts of the
city. The worst part was that the shops were illuminated more on the eve of 2nd
October to increase the sales and the banner of one of the shops displayed a
notice which read, “Vend would remain closed on October 2 in view of Dassehra”.
No one objected on such a notice, not even the Excise Department. The shopkeepers
were happy that the last minute sale was high. This maddening scene can also be
seen in other parts of the country. A student wakes late in the morning and
enjoy the day out with friends in an expensive restaurant, but he doesn’t know
the reason for the day off. He heard the teacher saying last day that due to
Gandhi Jayanti, school will be closed tomorrow but he didn’t bother to know who
is Gandhi, the first reaction was, “phew! A holiday…”
Once Mahatma Gandhi said, "I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt,
or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall
the face of the poorest and the weakest man or woman whom you may have seen,
and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him
or her. Will he or she gain anything by it? Will it restore him or her to a
control over his or her own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to
swaraj freedom for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will
find your doubts and yourself melt away."- (One of the last notes left behind by
Gandhi in 1948, expressing his deepest social thought).
These words are worth thinking but does this practice apply in the present
scenario when about 27 crore people live below poverty line in our country. When
such a huge population is poor will it be feasible for us to recall a
particular face. Everyday many underprivileged people are dying and a new line
of underprivileged are being born in this country, rich are getting richer and
poor are getting poorer so my point is that in a country where millions of
people die in earthquakes, tsunamis or epidemics and no billionaire help them
with a penny so merely recalling their faces is not enough. If you were present
today Mr Gandhi, even you would have got confused with their faces because
every person you will meet today is dying of hunger and suffering from this disease
called ‘poverty’!
We do not leave any chance to remember and praise this great person. He is still loved by all and I think the robbers love him the most because they are so obsessed with collecting his photographs on the currency notes that no one else. Sanjay Dutt was seen doing Gandhigiri in his successful flick. He spread the fever of Gandhism among the youth. He was seen following the path of truthfulness in the movie but later Dutt was sent behind the bars for illegal possession of weapons….. where was the Gandhi follower gone! And the Gandhigiri was then nowhere to be seen….
Mahatma Gandhi was shot to death by Nathu Ram
Godse on this January day 66 years back. He became the biggest enemy of the
country. Before him about 6 attempts were made till 1934 to kill Gandhi but
Gandhi’s name was written on Godse’s bullet. Nand Lal Mehta filled the FIR
againt Godse for murdering his hero. With ‘Hey Ram’ as his last word, Mahatma
left this world. Godse was a murderer but think the other way…. He freed the
most honest person of the world from the country of cheats yet to come.
Thanks to Godse he saved Gandhi from a severe
heart attack which he would have experienced after seeing the Godhra riots.
Thanks to Godse for saving the Mahatma from getting a nervous breakdown which
would have got after seeing the ‘dirty politics’ of this country. Just think
for a while, what would have happened to the person who always taught ‘Satya’
as the road to success when he would have seen the CWG or 2G graft in the
country. He could not have made eye contact with Kalmadi or Raja….
The present condition of the country doesn’t allow
much to say about it….. I would only say, Thank God you are not alive Mr
Gandhi!
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