MAHATMA GANDHI not Mahatma vs Gandhi !

-Divyansha Sharma

It is ironic that when the entire world adulates Gandhiji and the president of the US has a portrait of him in his office, he is criticized most in his own country. Sitting with bunch of my colleagues, I mentioned 2nd October, Gandhiji in particular, and before I could speak any damn thing I felt for him, I jolted out of my stupor to hear the acerbic reactions I got from them .It Is shocking that people use words like a rogue, the destroyer of India, a traitor, a betrayer, and what not for him. Of course these virulent super extra enlightened elements are a minority compared to rest.



But if you listen to these people, you get a picture that Gandhiji was no less than the malicious Shakuni mama with a façade.(and before anyone complains, that’s not an insult. So don’t take offence, when none is intended.)It is sad that when someone is being called a Gandhiji, it is more so because it is rudely sarcastic that he is adherent to his honest policies, rather than a compliment. One of the most commonly used phrases that we come across these days-
“Majboori ka naam Mahatma Gandhiji.”
I mean seriously???
There are so many majboor people all around us, how many of them step out and become Gandhiji?
How many of them would give up their family and their wealth for their country or a state! Leave alone them, how many of you would do that? He neither gave a damn as to what people thought of him then, nor does he now. Nobody’s personal opinion in any way mattered (Godse’s did matter unfortunately).


He was, is and will always be revered because his methods were novel. Non-violence was a sensation in the times of the world war. He was a great leader. How else can someone drive lacs of bare handed people along with him just by his words? He made people turn their heads coming up with a new approach to oppose invasion and authority and at least for this part of his white I fail to connote any black (may be because there is none.)Unfortunately ‘novelty’ is the same reason why people have started hating him. When you are among the millions who made Gandhiji the mahatma he never was, just saying “I dislike him” earns you a lot of attention.


Now I may not agree with everything Gandhijiji said. I’m not sure Ahinsa would have helped Jews against Hitler and he himself agreed that if ever violence was acceptable it would be against an evil of that magnitude. But he believed "that violence breeds more violence. Even violence for a right cause. It’s a double edged sword that merely deflects the injustice to another group of people if at all. Never mind what Godse stood for. If the end result is killing of someone who never preached violence and never harmed him, I want no part of what he was smoking. Shooting an unarmed man in a dhoti. So cowardly brave!!!"



An ordinary rock cannot shine for that long even if you polished it. If he is still a recipient of such an international spotlight , you can’t deny his charisma. It amazed me when I read somewhere that Obama told a student that the one person, dead or alive, he would like to have dinner with was Bapu. Such has been his aura in the last few years that even the RSS and the BJP have tried to include him in their pantheon of heroes. In March, RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat and our prime minister Narendra Modi together released Gandhiji’s book ‘Hind Swaraj’ in three languages.


We now live in the age of Munnabhai MBBS, where Gandhijigiri is made glamorous to preach or convey his messages. But it is not just about one film. In a sense Gandhijian ideas are reshaping the world’s political geography even today. He believed that long lasting peace can’t be attained with the help of violence.



There are a number of texts, films and plays that portray Gandhijiji as a great man but with his own long list of flaws he mentioned in his autobiography “My experiments with Truth”, which went against the near-perfect godlike image which school textbooks projected, doesn’t merely give anyone reasons to overreact. The demystification only made Gandhiji into an even more interesting character. He was a man with his own set of flaws, which were negligible compared to his massive achievements. And that is over and out fellas!!!!



The moral influence of his personality and of his gospel and technique of non-violence cannot be weighed in any material scale. Nor is its value limited to any particular country or generation. It is his imperishable gift to humanity.



And for those who criticise him- Fine.no problem!!!But then let the change start from you. Simply criticising and doing nothing won’t help. Be the change you want to see in the world #MahatmaGandhi. Make society a better place in the ways you find apt and if u succeed in doing so, even then Gandhiji wins ,his dream for an honest, free society wins.