MY personal view about Gandhi:
-------------------------------------
When a student during late 1940-s , I wrote a poem on Gandhi's death in ' Basumati'(Weekly ) which was accepted for publication but as they delayed (and I was an impatient poet at that young age ) , I went to Basumati office ( Baw Bazar , Calcutta and demanded my my poem Back . The Editor asked --' if you are so ompatient, how can I get any poem published ' . and I replied -' I don't want to be a poet by practicing Patience '.
Well that was then my teen - age life and even now I have no regret ,
No ! I am not a follower of Gandhi nor was a great admirer of him in my later life .
Even today I think , the title of ' Mahatma ' & 'Guridev' was a resultant bartering between between Rabi Thakur and Ghandhi
( My own quote in one of my BLOG-s once was :
'You call me Gurudev and I will call you Mahatma !'. ----- Or it may be the reverse way ! I am not sure which way it was ! . Or maybe, I am wrong in my analysis )
But I must admit that Gandhi was one of the great politicians but not greater than M.A Jinnah .
And to me the other great politicians of India was Shibaji and Indira Gandhi .
The events that turned me away from Gandhi can be put up as follows :
I . It is said in VEDANTA ( Brihadaranyaka ; [ Jagyavalka - section ]) that greatest quality of
godly- man is Self - control . In that resaect I do not think Gandhi's record ( even after his
confession afterwards was anything much admirable , to me )
On the Death-bed or on the same night of his father's death , not being able to show
expected Self - control in sexual passion , even if it was with his wife is nothing great and to make it like 'CONFESSION ' afterwards in Autobiography to grow in Stature on future
Political voyage !
Any way , without dilating or diluting it , I only submit to say that not being able to have
self - control on hormonal -hype or on sexual passion on the very night of the DEATH of
Father is neither any thing godly nor any great act to declare about in any type of confession
unless for a long term gain .
.
Recently while I was in USA , I saw the interview of Lance Armstrong with Oprah .
Lance Armstrong was 7 -times World number- ONE - Cyclist who first became world -
Champion by lying about Drug - Abuse for long - long years and then made a 'Double-
benefit - Commercial - gain' ( after being exposed) , making ' CONFESSION - Sport ' in
' OPRAH WINFREY --SHOW ' with enormous profit in money and earning even admiration
world - wide by his ' Confession-Trick ' I think
Of course in occidental World 'Confession' is a way for Divine's blessing through
'Redemption ' rituals .
[ Even a small 'fly ' like me came across and faced passions in my own life and did
prove my self - control , more than once .]
II. In 1930 -s during the very ' Democratic Election ' of Indian National Congress
. Subhashchandra Bose defeated Sitaramaiya , who was the candidate selected by Gandhi and
Gandhi could not I think, keep his ' Mahatma - stature' and accept as the verdict of people and and even declared publicly : ' his defeat is my own defeat'.
That was no proof of great democratic - soul or great leadership in Politics either !
III. When Gandhi came to in India ( 1920 -? ) he came to Calcutta and there he read about
Swami Vivekananda and his master Sree Ramakrishna . In his Autobiography ( perhaps ) he
admitted that.
He also learnt : Vivekananda asserted that ' any one to take up the Leadership
of India and lead the Nation to EMANCIPATION must take up the attire of down -
trodden grass-root Indian ' for his success The exact quote is not with me ( and I am
searching).
. I think that was the lesson he took up practiced in his next political battle though never (
perhaps ) admitted or recorded it in later life (well, -I may be wrong , - as I am
writing it from my memory ) .
IV . Finally I think , Gandhiji is not the one to claim all or even the larger share of the
POLITICAL - Freedom of India in 1947 ; ignoring the contributions from Khsudiram ,-Benoy -
Badal-Dinesh to Mangal Pandey - Bhagat Singh , Lajpat rai unto Tilak, Subhash,, Aurobindo and
so many not mentioned here .
The 1947 the happening of Free- India is , I think , a sequence and AFTERMATH effect of WORLD - WAR II , when (after 1945 ) riding on a crashing horse or Ruling over the ' COLONIAL - OCCUPATIONS ' by FEUDAL and COLONIAL RULERS was a HUGE BURDEN and even France was QUICK to give up ALGERIA and feel lighter . Thus Freedom of India would have been an inevitable effect in normal POST - WORLD WAR - II sequence .
Only difference was that in India, - the Political leaders helped the BREEDING of COMMUNAL - POLITICS in INDIA, planned by BRITISH , and I think ,that as the final OUT - COME !!
Thus and finally, I stick to my earlier comment : 'YOU call me GURUDEV and I shall call you Mahatma ' or the other way round . I admit I can not prove it in any way either !
Without feeling shy I admit that I am just a bottom -line - commoner and Gandhi is one of the greatest and immortal personality in World history . But that does not take away or cancel my own right to express my own opinion even if any one declares me disqualified or incapable .
My whole opinion and expressions may be taken or treated as 'Right to free opinion ' of a common man with limited intelligence .
That is just how I end this prints .
I have put down this 'personal view ' with another feeling ( also put in before in my Blog (Poetry.com too ) that Both Gandhi & Nehru , I think , were responsible for dividing my mother land ( Bengal ) in 19 47 and the TRAGEDY of which I have ever since suffered and stored in my Soul and shall carry it with even beyond my Death .
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
