“Gandhi is overrated.” “Gandhi’s contributions are grossly exaggerated.” “Gandhiji didn’t win us freedom. It was a natural outcome.” Statements like these are overrated, grossly exaggerated and often blurted out by individuals who don’t get the price of freedom but somehow seem to enjoy it way too naturally. For several reasons, actually. The most pertinent being the truth that somebody didn’t read up a lot. But that didn’t stop them from cultivating absurd opinion about a person who accomplished far more than humanly possible. We are talking about someone who created the idea of a nation-state in us. Before he happened, people were happy looking out for themselves. There was nothing Indian about us. Bombaywallahs cared for Bombay while Madrasis were happy worrying only about Madras and the Punjabis about Punjab… The script pretty much remains the same for other provinces and presidencies as well. (The Revolt of 1857 wasn’t India’s First War of Independence; it was merely a series of underplanned revolts. Period.) What Gandhi managed to do, over the decades, was inculcate the idea that we too can have a nation of our own. A nation where people could be together under one umbrella. It was a massive project and he was our first national leader and so far, our last national leader. No one since his death could call himself a national leader. Nope, not even Nehru, whose shortsightedness in lingual matters made him a figure of mistrust in the South. It’s been almost seven decades and we are yet to find Gandhi’s replacement. Going by the standards of politicians our society offers, that pedestal is going to stay vacant for a long(er) while. Discrediting others is a common desi trait but the plot gets thicker when people who are benefiting from the seeds sown about a century ago do it. Seeds that were sown by a man who could peek into the future. A man who travelled far and wide to grasp what kind of people we really are. A man who didn’t care for taking the credit for a job well done. No wonder you don’t see him releasing pigeons into the sky in the pictures celebrating our independence. He had bigger things to do: mitigate the effects of riots at the border.
Ingrate’s Syndrome
Ingrate’s Syndrome
Ingrate’s Syndrome
“Gandhi is overrated.” “Gandhi’s contributions are grossly exaggerated.” “Gandhiji didn’t win us freedom. It was a natural outcome.” Statements like these are overrated, grossly exaggerated and often blurted out by individuals who don’t get the price of freedom but somehow seem to enjoy it way too naturally. For several reasons, actually. The most pertinent being the truth that somebody didn’t read up a lot. But that didn’t stop them from cultivating absurd opinion about a person who accomplished far more than humanly possible. We are talking about someone who created the idea of a nation-state in us. Before he happened, people were happy looking out for themselves. There was nothing Indian about us. Bombaywallahs cared for Bombay while Madrasis were happy worrying only about Madras and the Punjabis about Punjab… The script pretty much remains the same for other provinces and presidencies as well. (The Revolt of 1857 wasn’t India’s First War of Independence; it was merely a series of underplanned revolts. Period.) What Gandhi managed to do, over the decades, was inculcate the idea that we too can have a nation of our own. A nation where people could be together under one umbrella. It was a massive project and he was our first national leader and so far, our last national leader. No one since his death could call himself a national leader. Nope, not even Nehru, whose shortsightedness in lingual matters made him a figure of mistrust in the South. It’s been almost seven decades and we are yet to find Gandhi’s replacement. Going by the standards of politicians our society offers, that pedestal is going to stay vacant for a long(er) while. Discrediting others is a common desi trait but the plot gets thicker when people who are benefiting from the seeds sown about a century ago do it. Seeds that were sown by a man who could peek into the future. A man who travelled far and wide to grasp what kind of people we really are. A man who didn’t care for taking the credit for a job well done. No wonder you don’t see him releasing pigeons into the sky in the pictures celebrating our independence. He had bigger things to do: mitigate the effects of riots at the border.