Gandhi is not a Gaali

I must have been class 7 or 8- an age where teenhood sparks starts fighting to get out of parental grip. An age where dreams outdo the deeds and being the best in friend’s eye is the only motto.

Chat among we friends would always be on mundane topics, but it would be slightly different if it was independence, republic or Gandhi Jayanti days. Gandhi bashing would the trend at the slightest mention of his name. In a bid to outshine others we would bring out many lesser known false stories about him which we had heard in our general conversations outside school. Most discussed topics were how Indian National Army formed by Subhash Chandra Bose would have thrown out British with the help of Hitler and Japan had he been not killed in an accident. But Gandhi never supported Bose and even forced him out of Indian National Congress. How Gandhi was responsible for partition of India as he didn’t allow Jinnah to become the Prime Minister for he had soft corner for Jawahar Lal Nehru. Intermittently we would have many rounds of cheap and vulgar Gandhi jokes. Gandhi was a hated figure and to an extent a gali which was used for friends who either tried to be honest or if they wore circular spectacles.

I grew with time and luckily started enjoying reading books. In the process read many books on Indian independence struggle and some of the Gandhi ji’s biographies. His auto biography ‘My Experiment with Truth’ is simply great. After all the understanding gathered over a period of time, I can say with authority that there would not be a second human being like Gandhiji. He is simply the greatest. He not only preached. He lived his message. He famously remarked, “My life is my Message”. So true.

For those who say Indian National Army would have snatched independence from British with the help of Hitler and Japan, should know INC suffered a heavy jolt in north eastern part of India when they tried to enter India. Indian was still a country where industrial production was zero and to believe INC would have won with begged weapons or for that matter with indigenous swords, bow, sickle and canon etc, is the farthest of any imagination. I can’t buy this argument. India was still a divided country with no weapon production of its own. How can have we defeated British. Gandhiji realized this early and opted the way to force them to go on their own than throwing them out by defeating.

And the second incident of partition. Much has been written over it. Just recently Jaswant Singh lost his job for his book on partition. I only know by this time Gandhiji was well out of daily political negotiations. He was more of a mentor then and he did try his best to save the country from this agony. And if he favoured Nehru over Jinnah. That was the best thing to happen to our county at that time. See what Jinnah made of Pakistan. And Nehru’s work is for all to see. All the greatest institutions that make India today had been established under his leadership. Be it independent judiciary, Election Commission, Dams, BHEL, IITs etc. He gave a solid foundation to India.
I don’t say Gandhiji was faultless. There must be some weaknesses in Gandhiji as well, but after all was he not a human? Another point raised against him is about the company of women around him in his older days. Damn you…..they were his relatives……his nieces. Have you ever seen male members of family looking after the old? It’s always our mothers and sisters who look after elders’ daily chores. So was doing Gandhiji’s family. Why does it offend you?
Gandhiji is simply the greatest. And that’ why Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela follows him, Barak Obama wants to dine with him and Einstein said, “Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood.”

(Gandhi pic from Internet)