M.K.G

"Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth"

Time Magazine nominated Albert Einstein as the Man of the Millennium. The words above are Einstein's own in describing another of his contemporaries, who is to me the undisputed Man of the Millennium (no disrespect to A.E). I am of course talking of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

Over the last decade as I have learned more and more of this man, my admiration for him has grown exponentially, and I have often found solace in his words and experiences when I am faced with most daunting and insurmountable of challenges at a personal or professional front.

Enough has been said and written about him, and I have no intention of reinventing the wheel. It suffices to say that a lot of his philosphy and ideology needs to looked at beyond the narrow prism of independence struggle against the colonial empire. The moral compass provided to mankind by the Mahatama is worth reading about and ruminating upon any day.

However, what I want to highlight are a few points about this great man that can be adapted by us, lesser mortals, without turning to asceticism or running away completely from our worldly pursuits -

1. Self Learning - The title of his autobiography (The Story of My Experiments With Truth) says it all. Gandhi was not born with a sense of entitlement or a Sai Babaish divinity (the swipe at the Sai Babas of the world is intentional!). He grew and learned from his experiences, his observations and his experiments with life. The journey from Gandhi to Mahatma was entirely his own, and is a motivational parable for everyone who wants to depart a better person than he/she was born.

2. Inner Honesty/Truthfulness - The proclamations of absolute honesty, truthfulness with the rest of the world are controversial and the fact that Mahatma Gandhi achieved them makes it no easier for rest of us (mired as we are in worldly pursuits). However, one aspect of honesty we can readily adopt for our own peace and betterment - Honesty and complete transparency with oneself. That is, to see things and people including oneself (and our near & dear ones) as they are. Not in a brushed up, embellishment form that we create for our own comfort. This objectivity allows the viewing of the world in a dispassionate sense and more importantly allows us to work on self improvement. Finally, this is the easiest path towards accepting others and their viewpoints, with all their virtues and vices.
The best way to understand this point is through Gandhi's own words. He says "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony" and “One man cannot do right in one department of life whilst he is occupied in doing wrong in any other department. Life is one indivisible whole.”..

3. Dealing with doubts and failure - Several of you would remember these words of Mahatama Gandhi from Indian textbooks of the 80s and 90s -

"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test.
Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."

In my view, this is the surest receipe of dealing with disappointments and failures. A narrow reading of the talisman will point you to connotations of the freedom struggle or patriotism. While that is certainly true, another reading of the stanza can be summarized as - when faced with doubt and uncertainty look at those below you, the underprivileged and suffering millions. You will find greater sorrow, failure and dejection in their live, which will put your own doubts in perspective...

4. Non-violence - Of all of Mahatma's philosophies, this one is the most widely known and most widely misunderstood. The popular perception of non-violence is that of a philosophy deployed for a struggle or agitation against external forces. However, there is a much more practical view that focuses on the innner self. The topic is rather complicated and requires a blog entry of it's own - so stay tuned! :-)

Finally a disclaimer: I dont claim to have mastered or learned all of the above points that I make. I only claim to try and hope to get better at some of it over years. That is the best I can hope for...

Footnote: While I consider MKG as the amongst most noble and deserving of historical figures, I cannot resist taking a non-gandhian turn and point out the name of the one I consider most undeserving. That dishonor in my view goes to Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill. An arrogant vain man, clearly racist and imperialist in outlook whose only virtue was tenacity exacerbated by pompous manner and speech.