I think this is more of a category of my inspirations. I read 'My experiments with Truth' for an exam during school days, conducted by the Gandhi Museum in Madurai. I read it in Tamil and book was distributed free for the exam and I must've been in 5th or 6th standard at that time.
The book had a profound impact on me - it is what it says in its title. Gandhi's relentless experiments with his own self, his beliefs and his life. And it takes a lot of courage to write a book like that - baring the inner workings of the mind which was philosophizing all the time and also working continuously towards the Independence - slowly but steadily.
What is Truth and what to do with it? It is a difficult question - to me, who always play the truant with it - to answer. Gandhi talks about cleansing the soul of oneself and being answerable to none but one's own self. And he asks everyone to do it. There is no preaching or formulae here - just an instruction to look into yourself and criticize.
And I've found that to be the most difficult part to do as you go further into life. The amount of self-importance and hubris felt inside raises and it is difficult to find the will to look critically at one's self. But keeping at it is the only way to go about life, I believe.
And that probably is the reason why the effort to bring him down from that pedestal - it is difficult for most people to look at themselves for what they are and live with what they see. The lack of empathy and the madness of mind can only be satisfied by making sure that everyone around you is the same. This is what we have to resist.
The experiments not only have him treat everyone equally - but also his struggle to ensure that he does that with his adversaries as well. This - the need to look beyond one's religion, caste or any other matter of difference and look at the value of person is what is being eroded in today's India.
I disagree with Gandhi on a few things - his belief in the Varnashrama is something I cannot reconcile with his overall outlook at life. While he took the stand to treat everyone equal, I do not think he did not work towards the elimination of the same.
The other book that need to be written about in the same vein is Mandela's 'Long Walk to Freedom'. Like most of the books I have bought in the last 20 years, this one was also picked up in one of the airports and I spend the long flight to finish reading it in one sitting - it was that good a book.
Mandela's approach to the ANCs struggle for Independence is based on the same principle as Gandhi - in that he did not sought to eliminate his opposition but rather worked towards a world where the space can be shared with his adversary as well ("Democracy meant all men to be heard, and decision was taken together as a people. Majority rule was a foreign notion. A minority was not to be clashed by." - NM).
The book refers to Gandhi's struggle in SA and how that influenced Mandela's work in the 1960's and afterwards. It is inspiring to read that.
Now, the third person in this trinity whom I've read a little - but has a lot of respect for is, Martin Luther King Jr. Living in US for a few years of life has shown all the difficulties of being in the minority population for once and anyone who tells otherwise, I've seen that, is lying.
In a way, MLK's story and speeches are more awe-inspiring than Mandela. Because that he was part of the minority population terrorized by a majority population for a few hundred years. The moral courage displayed by him at Selma and Montgomery are something that is not to be taken lightly.
I often think what happens when a leader of such stature arise from the minorities and the oppressed of this country? Do we have a civilized response for such a leader? Do we - as a people - have the moral courage to look into us as a society and rid us of those evils? Sadly, I often feel, the answer is no.
The book had a profound impact on me - it is what it says in its title. Gandhi's relentless experiments with his own self, his beliefs and his life. And it takes a lot of courage to write a book like that - baring the inner workings of the mind which was philosophizing all the time and also working continuously towards the Independence - slowly but steadily.
What is Truth and what to do with it? It is a difficult question - to me, who always play the truant with it - to answer. Gandhi talks about cleansing the soul of oneself and being answerable to none but one's own self. And he asks everyone to do it. There is no preaching or formulae here - just an instruction to look into yourself and criticize.
And I've found that to be the most difficult part to do as you go further into life. The amount of self-importance and hubris felt inside raises and it is difficult to find the will to look critically at one's self. But keeping at it is the only way to go about life, I believe.
And that probably is the reason why the effort to bring him down from that pedestal - it is difficult for most people to look at themselves for what they are and live with what they see. The lack of empathy and the madness of mind can only be satisfied by making sure that everyone around you is the same. This is what we have to resist.
The experiments not only have him treat everyone equally - but also his struggle to ensure that he does that with his adversaries as well. This - the need to look beyond one's religion, caste or any other matter of difference and look at the value of person is what is being eroded in today's India.
I disagree with Gandhi on a few things - his belief in the Varnashrama is something I cannot reconcile with his overall outlook at life. While he took the stand to treat everyone equal, I do not think he did not work towards the elimination of the same.
The other book that need to be written about in the same vein is Mandela's 'Long Walk to Freedom'. Like most of the books I have bought in the last 20 years, this one was also picked up in one of the airports and I spend the long flight to finish reading it in one sitting - it was that good a book.
Mandela's approach to the ANCs struggle for Independence is based on the same principle as Gandhi - in that he did not sought to eliminate his opposition but rather worked towards a world where the space can be shared with his adversary as well ("Democracy meant all men to be heard, and decision was taken together as a people. Majority rule was a foreign notion. A minority was not to be clashed by." - NM).
The book refers to Gandhi's struggle in SA and how that influenced Mandela's work in the 1960's and afterwards. It is inspiring to read that.
Now, the third person in this trinity whom I've read a little - but has a lot of respect for is, Martin Luther King Jr. Living in US for a few years of life has shown all the difficulties of being in the minority population for once and anyone who tells otherwise, I've seen that, is lying.
In a way, MLK's story and speeches are more awe-inspiring than Mandela. Because that he was part of the minority population terrorized by a majority population for a few hundred years. The moral courage displayed by him at Selma and Montgomery are something that is not to be taken lightly.
I often think what happens when a leader of such stature arise from the minorities and the oppressed of this country? Do we have a civilized response for such a leader? Do we - as a people - have the moral courage to look into us as a society and rid us of those evils? Sadly, I often feel, the answer is no.
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