#GandhiJayanti: Reinterpreting the Mahatma's words in 2018
What if we tell you October 2nd is not just a national holiday. Well, it's that, too, but more. The calendar will tell you it's Gandhi Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the father of our nation, one of the country's most influential leaders, both pre- and post-independence. But no, your company HRs won't circulate memos instructing you to wear the tricolour and assemble in the canteen for a quick celebration.
So, what is Gandhi Jayanti, per se? For me, it is celebrating the knowledge (and wit, at times) of one of India's most underrated fortune-tellers.
Confused?
Just skim through our list of some of his most famous quotes, and you'd know what we're talking about.
"Hate the sin, love the sinner"
Okay, so when I said wit, I perhaps implied 'on the ears of the audience.' After all, who is a sinner, if not one with a different understanding of right and wrong (and left...)? Clearly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi had precisely that on their minds when they decided to 'hug' it out.
"An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind"
Sonam Kapoor might believe that these pearls of wisdom were from Robert De Niro, but you can actually thank this ol' man for it.
And if you have any doubts understanding the implications of these words, let's take a quick look at the ongoing Tanushree Dutta-Nana Patekar verbal war — Tanushree accused Nana of sexual harassment, Nana rubbished all allegations, Rakhi Sawant popped up (because she replaced Tanushree in the said song) and accused her of doping, Aamir Khan condemned the act but steered clear of taking sides, Amitabh Bachchan graciously pointed out that he is "neither Tanushree, not Nana" in case you didn't know, and so on and so forth.
And outside this realm is the aam janta, who've 'blindly' arrived on a verdict even before a trial.
"You don’t know who is important to you until you actually lose them"
Naa jaane kyun, from the 1976-release Chhoti Si Baat may or may not have been inspired from Gandhiji's word, but we bet an entire nation unanimously repeated these words the day we realised the king of good times was giving us a hard time.
"The future depends on what you do today"
Picture a courtroom scene in a movie, and you have to have a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi stuck to the wall behind for special effects. Seems like the portrait made its way on to the desk, when the Supreme Curt took it upon themselves to make a better tomorrow for India. Do we need to remind you of their last four groundbreaking verdicts, from decriminalising homosexuality to the adultery law?
"Speak only if it improves upon the silence"
Finally, here's something the tweeple of our country ought to follow. And you thought the quietest man in the country, Manmohan Singh, is just mum for no reason at all when he was actually just smart enough to realise he wouldn't be able to improve anything by (mere) words!
I will let 'silence' do the rest of the talking.
Also read: Remembering Gandhi's message in times of violent extremism