BAPU, Here Comes ANNA !

"Bapu", the nation calls you "Gandhiji", you are the "Father of the Nation". You are our "Mahatma Gandhi". But, most of whatever you stood for and all that you gave your life for, is hardly understood by your survivors, forget about practicing those fundamentals you embodied. Be it the political party you left behind or the individual leaders who inherited your legacy.  But, one thing is sure, everyone wants to be associated with your name. Somehow, the government disallowed use of your image on Mont Blanc pens. A lot of people are like that. People love to be associated with some of the artefacts you left behind, as legacies. Though only symbolically.  I know, some of it really is  hard stuff, like the "loincloth". You adopted them a long 90 years ago in 1921 !  I Didn't see any leader in those outfits since I was born, leave aside the generation you left behind! But yes, those caps, the "Gandhi Topi", gained some popularity. By the way, how much did it cost those days? One can get it cheap here.., but there is one problem, I know you wouldn't mind it though. All your caps carry Anna's name. "I am Anna". It's little confusing. A "Gandhi Topi" clamouring  "I am Anna". Sure, everyone adorning these caps feels proud of himself, proclaiming to be a follower of your ideology of "Ahimsa", Non-Violence", "Satyagraha" et. al. Although, the spirit you demostrated, the pride, the character, the conviction that you saw in every face beneath that "Gandhi Topi" during your age is sadly missing. But, there is a silver lining, people across political spectrum sport them without hesitation. So, it still unites people.That's great! 

And Anna, with support of millions of Indians stood firm with his cause, this time the Jan Lok Pal Bill, leveraging the magical powers of "Gandhi Topi". Bapu you'd not know this Anna. No, this is not the Anna who joined Justice Party in 1935 & later opposed Periyar's move of mourning our Independence Day in 1947. This Anna was a young boy, below his teens, when you sadly left for your heavenly abode. You'd not have see him. He is now 74, & by now a well known champion of anti-corruption movement in India. He served the nation as a soldier in the Army & fought wars for India. An astute person, his work at Ralegan Siddhi got him Padma Bhushan in 1992. He got his people the right to information. He brought in legal reforms for prohibition of alchohol. Made many ministers in the State government resign on charges of corruption. And best of all YOU are his inspiration. He believes in & practices Satyagraha & "fasting till death", for people's cause. So, Bapu... here comes ANNA a Gandhian soldier, & Indians are felicitating his arrival with "Gandhi Topi" on the perch. But, then why leave the mighty "loincloth" behind ? & wait...any one liner for that ? I am ... ?

ANNA'S ANNA KARENINA...

ANNA's ANNA KARENINA:

ANNA HAZARE's  cause is praiseworthy. The followership is great. The expectations huge, omnibus. The battle lines are drawn with both sides trying to raise their decibel levels with the sole intention of being understood first rather than trying to understand the other side first. But in the meanwhile I am getting confused with the meaning of "Satyagrah",  as holding on to Truth, "Fasting" as a weapon to reform the will of the powerful, "Ahimsa" as non-harming & peaceful approach to disarm the mighty, mortal enemy, "Service to the People" and "Service to the Nation" as the ultimate self-sacrifice. With GANDHI's larger than life size portraits on both sides of the frontier, and GANDHI  seemingly the  eternal guide and beneficiary of this movement, it's time we understood Gandhi & his approach towards ending corruption. So, I referred to the "Encyclopaedia of Gandhian Thoughts", by Anand T. Hingorani & Ganga T. Hingorani copy of which I procured during my visit to the Sabarmati Ashram in March, 1991. For the benefit of readers here are some of the quotes on these terminologies often very less understood:

"Satyagraha" : "The doctrine of Satyagraha ... is merely an extension of the rule of domestic life to the political. Family disputes and differences are generally settled according to the Law of Love. The injured member has so much regard for the other that he suffers injury for the sake of his principles withour being angry with those who differ from him" (Young India: May 11, 1919). "Satyagraha is a method of carrying conviction and of converting by an appeal to reason and to the sympathetic chord in human beings. It relies upon the ultimate good in every human being" (Incidents of Gandhiji's Life, P 282). "It is a breach of Satyagraha to wish ill to an opponent or to say a harsh word to him or of him with the intention of harming him. And often the evil thought or the evil word may be more dangerous than actual violence used in the heat of the moment and perhaps repeated and forgotten the next moment (Harijan, Apr. 15, 1933). Satyagraha is gentle, it never wounds. It must not be the result of anger or malice. It is never impatient, never vociferous. It is the direct opposite of compulsion (Harijan Apr.. 15 1933). Satyagraha is never vindictive. It believes not in destruction, but in conversion (Harijan, Sept. 15, 1946). 

Fasting: "Fasting of the body has to be accompanied by fasting of all senses" (Harijan, Jan. 26, 1933).

Fasting in Satyagraha: "Fasting is a potent weapon in the Satyagraha armoury" (Harijan, March 18, 1939). Fasting in Satyagraha has well defined limits. You cannot fast against a tyrant for it will be a species of violence done to him. Fasting can only be resorted to against a lover, not to extort rights but to reform him, as even a son fasts for a father who drinks" (Young India, May 1, 1924). "A Satyagrahi must fast only as a last resort when all other avenues of redress have been explored and have failed. There is no room for imitation in fasts. He who has no inner strength should not dream of it, and never with attachment to success" (Harijan, April 21, 1946). "If people fasted against wrongs, fancied or real, and there was yielding on account of the fast, society would be disrupted" (Harijan, May 21, 1938).

Ahimsa: Ahimsa is not merely a negative state of harmlessness, but it is a positive state of love, of doing good even to the evil doer" (Young India, August 25, 1920). "Ahimsa really means that you may not offend anybody you may not harbour an uncharitable thought even in connection with one who may consider himself to be your enemy. If you express your love -Ahimsa- in such a manner that it impresses itself indelibly upon your so called enemy, he must return that love" (Speeches & Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, P. 346). "Ahimsa is my God, and Truth is my God. When I look for Ahimsa, Truth says: Find it through me". When I look for Truth, Ahimsa says: "Find it through me." (Young India, June 4, 1925).

Corruption: "Corruption will be out one day, however much one may try to conceal it and the public can, as it is its right and duty, in every case of justifiable suspiscion, call its servants to strict account, dismiss them, sue them in a law court, or appoint an arbitrator or inspector to scrutinize their conduct, as it likes" (Young India, Dec. 6, 1928). "Instead of sueing one's calumniator in a law court for false allegations of corruption, the best and the only right course would be for the public to prevent actual corruption from taking place by maintaining a sleepless vigilance, and for the servant to keep the public on the qui vive" (Young India, Dec. 6, 1928). "Corruption will go when the large number of persons given to the unworthy practice realize that the nation does not exist for them, but that they do for the nation. It requires a high code of morals, extreme vigilance on the part of those who are free from the corrupt practice and also have influence over corrupt servants. Indifference in such matters is criminal" (Harijan, Feb. 1, 1948).

So,  have we understood Gandhi?  Nevertheless, try we must...