Young India and Gandhian Philosophy

Lawyers should  abandon  their job... Doctors are good for nothing... Railways are rubbish... Factories and mills are not the sign of development ...  wait ! wait ! .. these are not my thoughts , but the one whom we affectionately call - Bapu. Yes! Mahtma Gandhi , the father of our nation. These thoughts he has shared in his very famous book called - Indian Home Rule or Hind Swaraj which he wrote in 1909 when he was traveling from London to South Africa.

But isn't it a very weird thought? I think for most of youths like me , it is. It was shocking when I read his thoughts on civilization , non-violence , truth et cectra . But these are not baseless thoughts they have solid logics behind them . They are the treasure of Gandhi's own experiences.

Gandhi writes a message in the book's preface which ends as following -
"The reader may balance against this the opinion of a dear friend , who alas! is no more , that it was (the book) the production of a fool."

Certainly , the book may sound terrible to someone who believes in "tit for tat" or "revenge" or "grabbing our right by hook or crook" But  Gandhi ji gave such logics behind his every thought that even an extremist would embrace them contentedly  .

You would say , we have attained Swaraj then what is the use of this book now? But what if I say , we have not attained Swaraj yet then? Not the one which Gandhi meant by this word? Gandhi ji explains in this book the meaning of Swaraj that it does not mean the expulsion of Englishmen but it is in fact the expulsion of English civilization , which we see has infected our country and is the root of all our sufferings. Swaraj means to rule ourselves. And one can only rule oneself when one's mind is in his own control and pure.

Gandhi ji says that his own life is his message to everyone , which is a powerful statement. He is able to say this because of his one quality that he does what he says to others. He proposes to walk on the path of Truth and Non-Violence which was propagated by all ancient saints . And he also proposes to let India untouched by modern civilization and let it be as it was in ancient times. He has strong reasons behind his thoughts , which you would come to know when you read the book yourself.

Being a youth and seeing the India affected by Globalization and Modernization , all the thoughts of Gandhi ji seem to me like a Harry - Porter world ,  though I want their implementation but they seem Impossible . We are so much drowned in the technology and modernity that it is almost Impossible to turn back now . But it does not mean that the book has nothing to offer you. It lightens up something in our heart. Something which I may call "truth" of  a soul of human being , of civilization or of a nation . It tells you that if you can not Change everything about your New World at least you can change a bit and be a true Indian . For instance - You can take an vow that you wont use English Language until its necessary , Wear Khadi , Gift handloom or craft items , Use Swadeshi items where you can.

I would highly recommend this book to every youth because I think they are really untouched by such sublime thoughts and it is a high time for us to think about such issues. Gandhi himself said that the change can not come until we become discontent with our present situations. So, its time for us to ask from ourselves that have we awakened or still  we are in the state of comatose?

From the specs of (English) , August !

Waoo! I have not wasted my last few days , I picked up an Indian novel , English , August by Upamanyu Chatteree and guess what ! I loved it like anything . I don't usually like Indian novels , firstly , because they seem to try to copy American or British style ; secondly , if they don't copy they don't show any depth or good story-line. But this one has Indianness plus a strange style which carries Indianness with it very well. What  all I mean is , it is funky , funny yet it has some original depth .

The narrator , Agstya , fashionably called by his friends August , has a very funny and weird way of viewing things. He is a modern - a representative of Lost Generation or as his father used to call - "A generation which doesn't apply hair-oil" . It is a post-colonial novel.The author goes ahead of all  modern Indian English novelists . He projects a world dominated by males . It is very shocking to see everything from the eyes of a  modern man - a man occupied with hard-drinks , marijuana , sex n alike. August is man without ambition.

About the motif , one which is very prominent is - The Gita and Krishna - Arjun. It appears whenever he is in distress and not able to accept things , carry on the fight or make a decision. One more striking thing is the Title - English , August  . It may indicates towards the Englishness of August i.e. Agstya who is not quite able to adapt  to his job which requires distinct Indianness.

The novel is very attractive for those who are on turning points of their life. Through out the novel August tries to adopt the life-style of an IAS but through out he feels he needs time ... Time to think about his life and himself as a traveler would think before choosing his way and I think its always better to think beforehand than turning back. At the end ....... ah! won't reveal the ending.

Well it was an interesting read. Enjoyed , obviously because it is full of young stuff - stimulating your own Ids - instincts. But finally shows you a good way , gives you  little wisdom not through dictating but subtly through hinting.

Now so much of outsiders ! I will have to begin my course studies. And it was good ending of my retreat. Thanks to the friend who lent me this novel.

Endangered Tradition of Letter Writing

Now a days in the time of Globalization the word "letter" seems out of the world and out dated word. Technology has become one of the epidemic of this century . I remember a beautiful thought from a friend's letter that he had always fancied to have a pen - friend who would be sitting in a far corner of the world and waiting for his letters but now instead of pen - friends we have net - friends who , we know , obviously get our message within a day . The whole process has become so obvious that "wait" has finished , and so the "excitement" with it.

Wao! What statistics ! In twenty-one years , I have hardly received three or four letters and I am afraid I sent back less than this. Of course , I am  not pleading to step back in the term of development and begin a new era of letter - writing . I could have still done that but I am afraid of those who , in the name of Go Green , would kill me for wasting paper. Well , to feel the romance of writing and receiving letters I can even labor to plant trees every weekend.

We have moved on in the world of technology ,and  I want to believe it is for good , but I have a secret sympathy for endangered traditions - ah! no no not really for institutional or religious traditions but for such sweet traditions related to old lifestyle as one is - letter writing. It is sweet because of so many psychological reasons. First , we wait for someone's letter it gives us time - may be time to think and cherish memories , teaches patience ... then with letter we see the writing of other person-  it becomes substitute for his absence , we can make out lots of expressions from his writing ,  and so on... Well, I love them because I can keep them safely and read them when ever I miss the other person. And I think at least we can save this dying tradition by sending letters once in a while and pass it on to the next generation and let them decide what to do with it. A letter , I am sure in our techno life will bring a little romance , what's say?