"The greatest genius is the most indebted
person" These words of Emerson, The American thinker are very true for
M. GANDHI. Inspirations both mould and give direction to life.
Sources of Inspiration could be personal
and impersonal. As for personal as well as impersonal sources of
Inspiration, M. Gandhi himself has said! "Three moderns have left a deep
impress on my life and captivated me. Raychandbhai by his living
contact; Tolstoy by his book, "The Kingdom of God is within you"; and
Ruskin by his "Unto
This Last". Besides these three personalities, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and
the Gita and the Bible were life long sources of inspiration
for Gandhi.
The first lesson one could imbibe from M K Gandhi’s life is to resolve to do away with platitudes. Language, communication, and discussion have become a complex labyrinth of context, nuances and sophistication, dependant on who is articulating. Today, very few take cognisance of the wise words that directed leaders, managers and public officials earlier: “What is right and not who is right.” For, a society based on truth and non violence, affirms a living belief in God.
Second,
Gandhiji gave great importance to belief in the right values. He was a
plain speaking person without artifice; he never minced his words.
Sarvodaya or universal uplift, trusteeship and principled leadership –
these three made up his tripartite vision for taking India forward. He
was not interested in statues in his name or highways and parks named
after him.
Gandhiji
hoped that the ideals of his vision would be like the tiny spring that
gushes forth from the Gangotri glacier high up in the Himalayas and
which flows down to the level plains as the mighty Ganga, nurturing,
serving and also sharing in the lives of the people. Gandhiji believed
in a decent standard of life for all unlike the concept of standard of
living which is a material quotient. Standard of life suggests an
integrated flowering of spiritual, cultural and material values so that
an individual is not afflicted by the seven deadly sins: wealth without
work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce
(business) without morality (ethics), science without humanity,
religion without sacrifice and politics without principle
Third,
Ganhihi’s attitude to life was that everyone ought to share and care.
The following story illustrates Gandhiji’s concept of sharing without
ownership: In the cool climes of a rural village, dawn was about to
break as the twenty men were moving between the flower beds in the
nursery. They were carefully plucking the bloom buds without bruising
the flowering miracle that was nesting within. The long stems were laid
in rows in long cardboard boxes ready for travel to the metropolis in a
few hours.
Festive lights burned bright on store fronts and Leela was
anxiously organising the engagement party of her daughter and her
childhood sweetheart. The couple had waited years to settle down and
Leela wanted the evening to be a perfect setting for their betrothal.
Flowers were in profusion with their heady fragrances. The evening was a
success and Leela was generously complemented on all the arrangements.
Laden with the flower arrangement she returned home. Next morning she
made a list of persons and requested her friend to help her distribute
the flowers to an elderly aunt, a school mate, neighbours and to her own
staff.
The flowers glowed in radiance in the soft lights of each new
home, they had travelled over eight hundred kilometres, been seen by
over a thousand persons witnessed a happy occasion, graced an ordinary
home. All this mattered little to any of the roses, lilies or orchids.
They would gently fade and drop, their presence a lingering memory of
all that is wholesome, good and true. Whom does one thank for the
flowers, who are the owners?
Trusteeship, serving people, sacrificing for them and
thus contributing to the standard of life was advocated by Gandhiji who
would say: “A person cannot do right in one department whilst attempting
to do wrong in another department. Life is one indivisible whole.”
