Unanimous Notion...that hurts...

On a routine day when I returned back from office I observed that an unusual, distinct and rather grave discussion was fomenting among roomies....what they were discussing has always been a violent controversy over decades.... while I was changing my dress in my room I overheard their discussion......they often spoke with pauses and sometimes in a very loud pitch, concurrently, with everyone trying to convince his own belief......each one was charging onto opposition to emphasize gravity of his ideas which made their speech absolutely unclear.......some just stayed put to their notions and were not ready to listen what other said....

So 30-Jan was close and now you too could imagine what the subject of discussion would have been....of course MK Gandhi.....and this discussion brings with it a giant avalanche of questions which are too sensitive and delicate to be answered by anyone so as not to hurt a particular community, believers or followers.....


I was never going to write anything on this matter....for, I never comment on things for which I have no or little confidence....but then I thought if, by a little chance, I can make people realize a different aspect of affairs, I would deem that my efforts did not go in vain.....I would try not to conclude and prove as to what approach was best and who was superior.......since I too do not know.....even if I had known....I would never have reached to a juncture to reason out something that commensurate with the expectation of such muti-faceted and interwoven ideas of Indian Diaspora......I will just try to uncover how inappropriate is the regular Indian mindset and belief about its own leaders of country......


Coming back to discussion at home......the assembly was trying to conclude what had went wrong during Indian struggle for Independence.....and its aftermath .....some marked Gandhi's non-violence as a miserably slow weapon of gaining independence......some praised extremists and Bhagat singh.....some were for Sardar Patel.....some for Godse.....and as soon as I was asked for a view......I surrendered first hand saying that:

"All were freedom fighters and all deserve respect.....there is no way you mark a line as who was best or who did perfect.....they all had one goal "Independent India"....just their approach were different and often conflicting from one another......which is obvious and bound to happen because of multicultural heritage of country and passionate feelings for it.....some wanted an immediate independence...while some were ready to trade-off the time lag for a non-violent and systematic approach to freedom.......and I am not sure what was best for the country......but I really feet disheartened when I see my roommates venting out their frustrations on non-violence and ghandhism....."

Afterwards, I came across some comments like......

"Gandhi makes me sick and he doesn't deserve to be father of nation"
"Nehru shouldn't have been prime-minister...it should have been Sardar Patel"
"Bhagat singh and his comrades had a correct approach......"
"Non-Violence and civil-disobedience were pathetically slow movements....."

Before I begun......I asked my question to everyone......"Please let me know.....what have you done for this country?...and who are you to decide what went right or wrong?"

You absolutely have no rights to judge or conclude what was right or wrong.....because we will never know what was all that country was going through in those days....what was it that enforced rift between India and Pakistan.....we just speak from what we have learnt from text books......which never discloses the political complexities that reigned the nations future those days........above all......we have not done even an ounce for our country and we are always ahead when it comes to blame the freedom movement or freedom fighters for that matter.......

ok....lets stop crying over spilt milk....and forget what happened.....do you have guts to stand for things which you think went wrong after independence?? Can you devote your time, money, profession, possessions, family etc for those things?? Do you have time, money and guts to lead a mass and protest?? If your answer is NO.....then my friend.....please use your right to remain silent....Just cease speaking of things you don't have handle upon and let things go their way.....who cares what you think or whom you denounce? What's the deal if you don't like Gandhi? What difference does it make to India or to world? Please keep your contemplations upto you....until you contribute something to the country.....


Gandhi devoted his entire life to country.....he renounced his possessions, his family, his profession just for the sake of country.....same holds good for sardar patel....Shaeed Bhagat Singh gave up his life for country at 23 which I believe was the costliest price country ever paid..... you name any freedom fighter and they all have same story.....each of them tried all of their might to make what is today call independent India.....they ran heither-theither without food-water-shelter......and we sit comfortably on cushioned chairs here in our rooms discussing who did best job.....shame!.....it hurts when I hear such rude, dishonoring and insensitive discussions about them. Today every youth hates Gandhi for no particular reason.....we all understand that he did take some decisions which favored more to mankind than the interests of country......but aren't we all bound to make mistakes? Do all your decisions turn out efficient and cost-effective always? Gandhi was human after all......and he was ready to surmount all odds to honor his belief of non-violence......which didn't see borders....which did not distinguished people as hindustani or pakistani......he was equally committed to everyone......and whatever he did was to stop manslaughter......we will not understand his belief...until we see our own kins being sacked for money or land......

To conceive his belief.....we will need to come out of a typical Indian thinking which instantly forms paradigms on every lose opportunity.....

"I don't know......I don't like Gandhi......because no one today likes him......"

Huh.....unanimous notions.......really hurt.....