Vikram was happily humming a very well-known tune in preparation of the Gandhi Jayanti celebrations at his school on October 2. It brought a smile to my face and also the memory of my earliest reminisces of Gandhi. Bapu was introduced to us rather subtly as we were growing up. Papa would often hum and sing that same bhajan ‘Vaishnav jana toh tene kahiye je pida parayi jane re, para duhkhe upakara kare to ye mana abhimana na ane re,’ (Call those people of God who, Feel the pain of others, Help those who are in misery, But never let self-conceit enter their mind). We loved it and would hum along. School too had its lovely influences of screening movies of Bapu as well as Jesus Christ whose teachings Bapu was greatly influenced by. But the most intense learning came when I was working with Architect Ramesh Bandekar who would regularly quote and practice Gandhian tenets. I became curious and began to read about Bapu’s life, and his ‘Experiments with truth’, was a super revelation. He stood by his moral values and practiced these in all aspects of his life be it politics, community work or personal relationships. These were easy to understand in the context of history but seemed to be difficult to practice in current times.
It was only later in life that I found true meaning and a complete understanding of many of his guiding principles as new challenges arose from the community work that I found myself involved with. ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’ has inspired so many. When my friends and I worked on a citizen’s initiative concerning garbage and littering the first step we had to take was to lead by example. We had to adopt composting, segregation within our homes first before we could hope to influence others with our ideas. When we ideated NoMoZo (Non-Motorized Zone) and proposed the need for pedestrianisation we had to walk the talk, volunteer as traffic wardens and man the streets of Panjim so that citizens could experience the joys of a walkable street free of cars and traffic congestion.
‘Truth stands even if there is no public support. You walk alone, truth is self sustained.’ This has been a great guide to many. Rajendra Kerkar would often talk to youth about his experiences in his environmental work laying emphasis that one’s passion is the simple truth that no one can take away. He said that there were many instances where he had no support from his own people, his fellow villagers and leaders but he endured with patience and finally his efforts bore fruit. One’s work with the community is simply an extension of one’s values back home with one’s family. Many years ago we were working on a segregation and composting initiative in a residential colony. There was a lot of resistance but after efforts were made to create awareness about the ill effects and results positively impacting the community, all the residents would responsibly participate. After a couple of years when the management changed, the whole system fell apart with a lack of perseverance. Many were disheartened. But eventually the local panchayat itself made it mandatory to adopt a system of segregation and composting leaving no option but to comply with the system.
Yes Bapu’s values are very relevant today than ever before. But what do we see all around us. Gandhi Jayanti has become a mere event of paying tributes to the great leader. There is no tolerance in our thinking and the way we treat our fellow citizens. An eye for an eye has simply become the norm. Swachha Bharat has been reduced to a mere superficial cleaning of our neighborhoods, cities and towns while our inner spaces, our souls, our thoughts remain tarnished with so much litter and garbage. As we worship God with routine outer washing of our body what is required is an inner cleansing. An internal abhiyaan that will then reflect in all our actions outside.
What are the tenets that Bapu practiced and how are they relevant today? Are his values of tolerance, non-violence or ahimsa, satyagraha and belief in one’s faith truly understood and followed?
The recent incident of 2 young college students where one was stabbed shocked Goa a few days ago. It was apparently a very petty matter. Are students carrying knives to college now? Or some other weapons? We have heard of this happening quite often in the USA and other countries. One of my relatives cited statistics that explained such behavior where a lack of effective parenting and an overdose of access to gadgets, video games, etc was the cause of increasing intolerance, anger and violence resulting in extreme incidents of such a scale. What happened in Goa was basically a situation where one resorted to bullying, intimidation and threatening while the other hit back with equal anger and violence. This is also perhaps backed with the strength of power of money and political clout where these students felt that they were above the law and could get away with it all.
Our models of raising children, mentoring students and leading by example need to change. It begins with a small spark. It begins with one family unit. A family with strong moral values goes on to influence the neighbourhood, the neighbourhood influences the rest of the community and so on and so forth. Be the change as Bapu rightly preached and practiced.
(Tallulah D’Silva is a practicing architect in Goa and has recently taught at the Goa College of Architecture as adjunct professor).
