Gandhi and I

“Mahatma Gandhi is the Father of the Nation”….this was my first introduction to Gandhi…….in school and everywhere in India….that’s the way all children are first introduced to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi….his birthday,on October 2 is a national holiday in India.

As I grew older,I was thrilled to discover that being born on 2 October meant the Gandhi was a Libran!Like me…..only,my birthday’s on the 12th of October..nonetheless,that gave me reason enough to celebrate my connection with him…..

I knew him like every other school going child would,through history and civics books….through visits to Rajghat and the Gandhi museum in New Delhi…..and through ads in the newspapers on his birthday,death anniversary,15th August and the Congress campaigns,as and when….there were images of his handwritten letters in books…..enough to give an insight into his handwriting……and it felt good to be able to “see” a tangible aspect of him as an individual…..and then there was Sir Richard Attenborough’s “Gandhi” which helped me look at “Gandhi “as a living person who cared as much for his goats as he did for all people around him and in the country…. fascinating and sensitive.

A major insight into Gandhi the person happened when I picked up his autobiography,My experiments with Truth…..a lot of things came to light…in a different light……Gandhi to me was now a “thinking ” being …..Sir Ben Kingsley had portrayed him magnificently in “Gandhi”,….but of course,now there was a lot more to him than what I saw and understood of him in the movie and in a few other documentaries ever since….

Over the years,I’ve read about him in various books,magazines and oftern wondered about how and who he was as the person that he was,sans “the father of the nation”,…..”the mahatma”…..

Then,when India celebrated her 50 years of Independence,on a programme being aired on Doordarshan to commemorate this histpric event,I heard Gandhi’s voice for the first time.It was a revelation!!It added yet another dimension to the person I was trying to figure out……his voice,to me,was very interesting….far from a voice I would have imagined he might have had(interestingly,thus far it had never struck me to wonder about the voice he might have had at all!), it was a gentle , kind voice……a voice I would instinctively call “meek”…and that redefined the person I’d been putting together in my head all these years….he now had another aspect to him….his voice…..distinct,unconventional…

I say “unconventional” because a cliched perception of leaders and heroes would bestow him with a with either a roaring,thunderous voice,or a deep baritone……ideal to “lead” and “inspire” masses to do what he asked them to…..On the contrary,Gandhi did all that he did….and said every single word in that atypical voice that definitely has that unmistakable element of peace and humility and even non violence(did that voice play a role in Sarojini Naidu calling Gandhi “Mickey Mouse”?)!,coupled that of courage and determination….and simplicity……

Howard Gardner’s “Extraordinary Minds” was food for the mind ….a book in which he analyses and describes the minds of extraordinary people who guide,inspire and motivate millions others…Gandhi is written about as the “influencer”……and the essay is an insight into him as a leader and as belonging to a family…..With this,I came closer to comprehending some more aspects of Gandhi’s personality……

“Lage Raho Munnabhai ” had the masses see Gandhi as a human being whose ideas can be implemented by people of all walks of life ….you don’t have to be a Gandhian to say “Gandhi”…..you could be anybody….and Gandhi speaks with anybody and everybody….you don’t have to belong to the Congress and be a part of the pre-independence India to be able to connect with Gandhi…..you did not have to be a part of the Dandi March to be ‘close’ to Gandhi……interestingly,that’s the images of him from various black and white documentary footage that millions and millions of Indians had/have grown up watching  before Raj Kumar Hirani imagined Gandhi coming to Munnabhai’s rescue with the same principles and ideals that he stood by that paved the way for India’s freedom in 1947.

It was a treat to see a new avtaar of Gandhi……and it was interesting …”Gandhism”saw a revival of sorts…..the masses began connecting with Gandhi and his ideology in their own ways….affected by the movie for sure,but for better:).

Flipping through the latest copy of “Outlook”,I just read an excerpt from a book that’ll be released on 10th October:”The Oxford India Gandhi-Essential writings”,compiled and edited by his grandson,Gopal Krishna Gandhi….it is an attempt to narrate “the story of his life as Gandhi might himself have narrated it,to a restless grandson.Narrated in time snatched between visitors,meetings,marches,mud packs,bursts of temper,explosions of love”…..

Looks like an interesting read,and I am sure it’ll add a few more layers of information and insight and understanding into the mental collage I have been working on,on the phenomenon afffectionately also called Bapu:).