DailyPost 1102
THE MAGIC OF THE MAHATMA
Measure him on the simplest of traits to the biggest of values he would be the only person of his kind. Finding relevance in Gandhi is not the question, how can we make ourselves so relevant to consume his thoughts and make a life out of our life. He was the ultimate blend of a prophet and a practitioner; prophets have always been and will always be relevant beyond time and space, the practitioners capability provides that cutting edge to deliver. How many of us can confidently say that we live in a relevant manner, the parameters being; read, write, think, communicate, lead, practice and execute and every single element being relevant to the community and the nation. Gandhi’s life has been the manifestation of all this and beyond.
A voracious reader and a prolific writer from Hind Swaraj to My Experiments with Truth, edited newspapers and regularly wrote letters to individuals and newspapers, he has not left much to our interpretations, the original is right there to read, assimilate and use. A master communicator who could get connected to the community as no one else and tried novel political tools with precision, finality and finesse. The tragedy of our times is our inability to read, put in a context and deliver. It is easier said than done. The first act is to realise the need and then get into the act.
While we spend hours and hours teaching leadership in classrooms / Business Schools and workshops, here is a man criss crossing three continents, learned, lived and professed leadership. Picking up civil rights activism from South Africa scaled it exponentially to the requirements of the Indian national movement. Political strategy kept getting iterated from Non-cooperation, Civil Disobedience to Quit India and beyond depending on the context but all within the parameters laid out of satya, ahimsa and satyagraha. How soon movements and agitations go out of control these days?
The urge to deliver and always be on the way, relentlessly, to achieve your goal, whatever come may, keeping your values intact is a lesson cutting across all spheres of Indian life. Community only matters. Future depends on what we do today, instant gratification is not an answer to anything. Corporate happiness cannot compensate for the inner happiness of unison of thought, speech and action.
DEFINE YOU OWN VALUE BASED DESTINY.
Sanjay Sahay