by Anantinee ‘JHUMPA’ Mishra

On the occasion of the 74^th Independence Day of India, it is hard not to remember the building force behind the mega revolution which changed the course of history of the subcontinent. It is hard not to remember Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, the Mahatma, the leader of historic events such as The Dandi March, The Quit India Movement: the list goes on and on.

But are those events, no matter how much of a prominent role they played in the eventual, gradual and ultimate gain of freedom from more than two hundred years of enslavement, really the real reason because of which we remember and reminisce Gandhi?

We remember him due to his unwavering belief in Non-violence or ahimsa, his unshakeable honesty and also his tolerance of the opposite of these qualities directed at him.

He is remembered for his passionate adherence to the practice of non-violence and his supreme humanism, in every corner of the world.

His famous autobiography ‘My Experiments with Truth’ itself testimonies for Gandhi’s love for truth, and his view that truth was irreversible in different contexts irrespective of the urgent demand of the situation.

Mahatma Gandhi is looked upon by a nation of One Thousand Three Hundred and Seventy million people, as a man of virtues, and his dedication to upholding them, no matter what the circumstance asks for, or what the situation requires. He is looked upon because of his indifference to what the other people made of his character, and his refusal to let idle opinion make a difference in what he preached.

Gandhi’s idea of trusteeship holds major relevance in the current scenario as we selfishly, recklessly destroy the resources indebting the future generations. Ethically speaking, there is a hardcore significance because our society is witnessing the degradation of values day by day.

The secular ideologies of Gandhi not only make the base line of our very own Indian Constitution, but also hold a high esteem in the core value system of not only our own Indian society, but by a number of societies across the world.

In the world we live in today, these principles are now required more than ever. Crimes, con, cheating, duplicity: barely a day goes by when wo don’t hear of these heinous plunders being committed across the city, across the state, and don’t get me started on the numbers in which they occur nation and worldwide.

The implementation of Gandhianism is what, directly or indirectly, a major requirement. For example, Gandhi didn’t believe in the Caste System, which continues to be a taboo throughout the country despite the Indian Government’s best efforts to curb it. Instead, he believed in the Varna System, which marked the society into stages on the basis of work done, unlike the biased methodologies of Castes which classifies on the basis of birth. The encouragement of the Varna system could bring forth a major change in the mindset as well as confidence of people.

Non-violence is one of the strongest pillars on which Gandhi, as a pioneering architect of India’s freedom, built the foundation of an ideal country. Communal riots across the country on the smallest, most trivial of matters, stone pelting on celebrity figures because of their tongue and the words rolling of it: in the midst of this are we forgetting that Gandhi had single-handedly stopped the riots taking place across the country because of the infamous Hindu-Muslim hatred in the early days of the partition by staging a peaceful Hunger Fast from Calcutta to Delhi?

It is high time that we realize the importance of Gandhian principles, the beliefs of a man who barefoot led India to the waiting arms of victory. It is high time that we liven up to the historically proved efficient methods of curbing societal stigmas and issues.

It is high time that we once again start following and understanding what actually the Gandhian principles mean.

About the Author:

Anantinee ‘JHUMPA’ Mishra is a prodigy author, poet and TED speaker. She is twelve years old studying in std.8th at Apeejay School, Saket, New Delhi.  She has published two books and many stories and articles in magazines and journals. At the age of ten, she published a 21,000 worded anthology of stories called ‘Treasure of Short Stories’. Last year her debut Novel ‘Manhattan to Munnar’ got released. Recently she has been conferred with a title ‘PRODIGY AUTHOR’ and an ‘HONORARY DIPLOMA’ by the Hon’ble Vice President of  India Sh. M Venkaiah Naidu.