Mahatma Gandhi on Non Violence

In this world of war, strife and unrest Mahatma Gandhi is an example for non violence 

GANDHI was the greatest exponent of the doctrine of ahimsa or non-violence in modern times, but he was not its author. Ahimsa has been part of the Indian religious tradition for centuries: Hindu, Jain and Buddhist. It was Gandhi's genius that transformed, what had been an individual ethic, into a tool of social and political action. This he did in the course of his twenty-year long struggle against racialism in South Africa...

If the Indian National Congress had not accepted his basic tenet of non-violence in 1920, he would have had nothing to do with its struggle for liberation from British rule. "I would like to repeat to the world, times without number", Gandhi said in 1931, "that I will not purchase my country's freedom at the cost of non-violence..."

We must remember that Gandhi applied his method of non-violent resistance not only against foreign rule, but against social evils such as racial discrimination and untouchability. Indeed, he claimed that non-violence lay at the root of every one of his activities, and his mission in life was not merely the freedom of India but the brotherhood of man. His satyagraha was designed not only for India, but for the whole world; it could transform relations between individuals, as well as between communities and nations. In the early 1920s, when he had just emerged as the stoutest champion of nationalism in Asia, Gandhi unequivocally subscribed to the ideal of a world federation. "The better mind of the world desires today", he told the Belgaum Congress in 1924, "not absolutely independent states warring against each other but a federation of friendly interdependent states."

In the 1930s, when the forces of violence were gathering momentum in Europe, he reaffirmed his faith in non-violence. Through the pages of his weekly paper, Harijan, he expounded his approach to political tyranny and military aggression. He advised weaker nations to defend themselves by offering non-violent resistance to the aggressor. A non-violent Abyssinian, he argued, needed no arms and so succour from the League of Nations; if every Abyssinian man, woman, and child refused cooperation with the Italians, willing or forced, the latter would have to walk to victory over the dead bodies of their victims and to occupy their country without the people. The motive power of Nazi and Fascist aggression was the desire to carve out new empires, and behind it all was a ruthless competition to annex new sources of raw materials and fresh markets. In Gandhi's opinion, wars were thus rooted in the overweening greed of men as also in the purblind tribalism that placed nationalism above humanity. In the ultimate analysis, to shake off militarism, it was necessary to end the competitive greed and fear and hatred which fed it...

Gandhi's ideas have fuelled not only struggles against foreign domination and tyrannical rule, but also crusades against the piling up of nuclear weapons and the havoc being wrought by developed countries through wanton and wasteful use of the resources of the planet. Petra Kelly, a leader of the Green Peace movement in Germany who was influenced by the ideas of Martin Luther King and Gandhi, denounced methods of production which depended upon a ceaseless supply of raw materials and were leading to the exhaustion of natural resources and threatening ecological devastation. Speaking almost in the Gandhian idiom, she said, "We cannot solve any political problem, without also addressing spiritual ones."

Despite these examples of non-violent struggles over the past two decades, which have highlighted the power potential of the oppressed, it must be admitted that Gandhi's ideas and methods are still appreciated by only a small enlightened minority in the world. Gandhi himself had no illusions about their ready acceptance. He did not claim finality for his views, which he regarded within a broad ethical framework as aids for bettering the lives of his fellow men; they could be altered if they did not work. Though he expounded his philosophy of life in hundreds of articles and letters, he never tried to build it into a system. Nevertheless, the truth is that more than fifty years after his death, his deepest concerns have become the concerns of thinking men and institutions working for a peaceful and humane world.

Courtesy
The Hindu Sunday, October 07, 2001

A Travel by local trains in Mumbai

Standing at any the railway stations in the peak hours in Mumbai and looking at the crowd moving up and down, one will wonder and ask a question, where are these people going? It is surprising to know that the situation is same everyday irrespective of sun and rain. These are people with a name and a face meaning not just simply a crowd.  They have a clear destination and a purpose in their journey, be it for work, or on a trip to purchase etc..., all are rushing to their destination. Often I wonder and ask this question to myself where they are going. People literally stand out of the train, with one leg in and holding on the support system provided in the train. If you happen to be one among them, you are lead to the train and on your exit you are literary pushed out of the train. Often if you are seated, at their entry people ask a question where you are getting down, because they are waiting for the seat. There occur arguments, quarrels on this issue. It is really annoying to answer this question at every station when new people enter the train. Four passengers are squeezed on to three people’s seat. At times even if there is place, people are not so willing to accommodate others at the expense of their comfort. Old and the still valid concept of respect for the elders have vanished from the minds of people especially from the minds of young people; rather at times they are rude with them forgetting the fact that they too will be old one day. We also come across people who begin an argument with every sentence they speak.

Are they taught these values ?

There is no one who has not experienced a loss of something or someone in life.

It could be a robbery, a theft or  loss any valuables. It is hurting and disturbing when we lose something that you like the most and that which has sentimental value to us.

It was very evident during Bandra fair that opportunist wait on their prey to snatch chains and other valuables from the devotees. Do they look like professionals in robbery? Yes, they do act as professionals in robberry. They come in bike snatch the things and escape on the scooter by the by lanes and narrow roads so that no one can pursue them.

Has the society lost its ethical and moral standards? Have they forgotten the values of truth and sincerity? Are they taught these values?

Conclusion of the Bandra fair

On the 8th of September, the Church all over the world celebrated the birthday of Mary the Mother of Jesus. The people of Bandra celebrate this feast with much pomp and glory. So much so, they celebrate Bandra fair after the birthday of our heavenly Mother. The Bandra Fair refers to the celebrations that are connected with the annual Feast of Our Lady of the Mount .  

This year, the Bandra fair started on the 9^th of September and ended on the 16th of September. Mumbai’s Mount Mary fair in-fact is eight days festival of prayer and pilgrimage. Simple faith of the Ordinary people flocking to the Mother at Mount  Basilica will really prove the comforting presence of a mother assured to everyone irrespective of caste, creed,  colour and religion. Thousands of people from the state of Maharashtra and from the neighbouring states make us believe that there is something special about this Mother.  In

 spite of crowd, the perfect order, peace and silence maintained during this feast is to be admired. Together with prayerful pilgrimage, the stalls of various kinds is an attraction for the crowd come and be a part of this mega event.