PC THOMAS
Once, a little girl saw an old man walking through the
street. He was very lean, bald and had worn only a dhoti. The Old man had worn
no shirt. A mischievous little girl
noticed him and shouted “Shame, Shame”. The old man stopped walking. He looked at the little girl and smiled
lavishly. With the smile fresh in his
lips, the old man asked “Why did you call ‘shame’ my child”? The girl replied.
“Why didn’t you wear a shirt granddaddy? That is why I called shame. The old man replied. “I don’t have shirt my child”.
The girl felt sad about the old man and offered her help: “Granddaddy
I shall buy a shirt for you, there is money in my little box”. Looking to the innocence of the little girl,
he said. “No my child, I don’t want to wear shirt at present”. You know in our
country there are large number of poor people who don’t have money to buy even
shirts. I shall wear shirt only after all people in the country are in a
position to buy shirts”. The girl was
stunned and asked the man. ‘Who are you granddaddy!’? And he replied “I am Gandhiji”.
What was the unique philosophy of Gandhiji about his
life-style with the example of his personal life? The western educated lawyer Gandhiji was
never western in dress, food habits or style, but he was half-naked, wearing
only a single white dhoti and a shawl and very simple chappals practicing
simple living and high thinking to our society.
Mahatma Gandhi became the greatest son of India with his
struggle for freedom. He fought violence
with non-violence. The man who will be
remembered for ages to come, is the Father of Nation, whose birthday is celebrated
all over India on 2nd October.
This day is also celebrated as a Dry Day, which means prohibition from alcohol. It would be worthwhile to quote Mahatma
Gandhi, “I would rather have India reduced to a state of pauperism than have thousands
of drunkards in our midst.” Gandhi’s
philosophy was to get freedom from alcohol.
Gandhiji devoted his life to the teaching of love,
non-violence and truth. He was as great
as Jesus Christ, Lord Buddha and Guru Nanak who changed the course of human
history by their teaching. The principal
love and sacrifice he took from the life of Jesus Christ. Similarly he adopted the theory of Karma Yoga
from Gita. He has his firm belief in the
existence of God. He stressed ones of
all religions. He sacrificed his life in the altar of communal harmony and
human brotherhood.
Mahatma Gandhi's idea of cleanliness and Gram Swaraj can be
interpreted and respected in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic. He used to say
that India's soul lives in its villages. He considered villages to be the basic
units of social organization. For that reason, the villages should be
self-sufficient in the matters of their vital requirements.
Mahatma Gandhi always emphasized cleanliness and
sanitation. It is in the current pandemic that health experts stressed
“Sanitation,” Gandhiji had once said, “sanitation is more important than
independence”. Cleaning of the soul was the ultimate goal of any human being.
He spent his whole life in the act of cleaning the self and soul, and he did
this by applying his self to public and social services.
We
need to pay more heed to the basic principles of Gandhian philosophy in order
to keep up the scale of human values. In the current pandemic situation,
helping others can help you cope with yourself. The only salvation for the world lies in
heeding Mahatma Gandhi’s message and following his footsteps.
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