Change Agent

These are some of my random thoughts on Rahul R. Gandhi’s (Future PM of India, courtesy Nehru dynasty) much publicized recent visit to Mumbai: Rahul R. Gandhi ’s PR agent should be given the award of the best PR in India. The recent spurt in the North Indians Vs Maharashtrians issue had actually come up when RSS asked its member volunteers to protect any so called ‘outsider’ Indians from getting harmed on the streets of Mumbai. This was one and perhaps first such strong and unselfish support to the cause of our national unity (earlier Lalu, Nitish and other parties had made noise for political reasons). But it was Rahul R. Gandhi who stole the centre stage, with making the right noises at the right time and at the right place. Today, most of the people think it as Rahul Vs Sena conflict. But actually, Rahul R. Gandhi parachuted himself into the controversy and denied RSS the goodwill from fighting for the right cause. Shiv Sena miserably failed to stop Rahul R. Gandhi from harvesting ...

“When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous.” = Albert Einstein “When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day.” = Mahatma Gandhi “The Bhagavad-Gita has a profound influence on the spirit of mankind by its devotion to God which is manifested by actions.” = Dr. Albert Schweitzer “The Bhagavad-Gita is a true scripture of the human race a living creation rather than a book, with a new message for every age and a new meaning for every civilization.” = Sri Aurobindo "The idea that man is like unto an inverted tree seems to have been current in by gone ages. The link with Vedic conceptions is provided by Plato in his Timaeus in which it state...

In his autobiography, Gandhi ji tells about a Gujarati stanza which was his guiding principle. Here is its translation: Return Good for Evil For a bowl of water give a goodly meal; For a kindly greeting bow thou down with zeal; For a simple penny pay thou back with gold; If thy life be rescued, life do not withhold; Thus the words and actions of the wise regard; Every little service tenfold they reward; But the truly noble know all men as one, And return with gladness good for evil done. Is not it wonderful?

Gandhi ji’s autobiography “My Experiments with Truth”, presents many circumstances where he was lured by others to convert into other religions. And on each occasion, he came out unscathed. It was because he was such possessed humbleness and humility. This paragraph describes his idea: They also took me on one occasion to the Blavatsky Lodge and introduced me to Madame Blavatsky and Mrs. Besant. The latter had just then joined the Theosophical Society, and I was following with great interest the controversy about her conversion. The friends advised me to join the Society, but I politely declined saying, “With my meagre knowledge of my own religion I do not want to belong to any religious body.” I recall having read, at the brothers’ instance, Madame Blavatsky’s ‘Key to Theosophy’. This book stimulated in me the desire to read books on Hinduism and disabused me of the notion fostered by the missionaries that Hinduism was rife with superstition. Whenever someone said that the religion...

These are excerpts taken from Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography “My Experiments with Truth”, abridged version as published by Navjivan Trust. This portion comes when he describes his life in South Africa. Mr. Baker (whom Mohandas met in South Africa), besides being an attorney, was a staunch lay preacher. He is still alive and now engaged purely in missionary work, having given up the legal profession. He is quite well-to-do. He still corresponds with me. In his letters he always dwells on the same theme. He upholds the excellence of Christianity from various points of view, and contends that it is impossible to find eternal peace, unless on eaccepts Jesus as the only son of God and the Saviour of mankind. During the very first interview Mr. Baker ascertained my religious views. I said to him: “I am a Hindu by birth. And yet I do not know much of Hinduism, and I know less of other religions. In fact I do not know where I am, and what is and what should be my belief. I intend to make a ...

These are excerpts taken from Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography “My Experiments with Truth”, abridged version as published by Navjivan Trust: My father had Musalman and Parsi friends, who would talk to him about their own faiths, and he would listen to them always with respect, and often with interest. Being his nurse (Young Mohandas nursed his father who was ill), I often had a chance to be present at these talks. These many things combined to inculcate in me toleration for all faiths. Only Christianity was at the time an exception. I developed a sort of dislike for it. And for a reason. In those days Christian missionaries used to stand in a corner near the high school and hold forth, pouring abuse on Hindus and their gods. I could not endure this. I must have stood there to hear repeating them once only, but that was enough to dissuade me from repeating the experiment. About the same time, I heard of a well known Hindu having been converted to Christianity. It was the talk of the tow...

I was surprised to see that Srilanka underwent the Presidential Polls some days back. This has happened so soon after Srilankan victory over Tamil rebels and the LTTE. I feel whenever a nation or a region undergoes an exceptional and historical crisis – there should not be any immediate polls for at least one year, or till the dust settles. Its because the public and electorate are expected to cast their votes on sentiments rather than on factual realities. What we call electoral ‘wave’ – I don’t think its good for a healthy democracy. A very good example of it is when elections were carried out in the post-Godhra riot infested Gujarat state of India – the ruling party won and a fear psychology was also a major contributor in the win. Same for the case of post Indira Gandhi’s murder – it was a plain guess that Rajiv Gandhi would win the polls, not becaue he was capable but because the voters voted for him in gratitude for his mother. Same was the case soon after Rajiv Gandhi’s assisi...