“My life is my message is a famous quote by Gandhiji. Yes, Gandhiji told the right thing. But the first question which comes to my mind is that how far Gandhiji’s doctrine is significant in the present world scenario. The message of peace cannot be digested by the present world. Why is it so is a matter worth thinking.
If a person can’t spread even a smile, how can he spread the message of peace ?? Today’s world has no smiling face. Even if the face is smiling, mind may be filled with hatred. There lies the greatness of children. They know how to smile, even their hatred persists only for a few seconds. Their minds are as pure as crystal.That’s why Jesus told “I wish everyone were like little children, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these”.
Recently, I got a nice idea from a movie. There are only two types of people in this world. “Good” people and “bad” people.If someone does a good thing, he belongs to the first category and when he does something which can upset other fellow beings, then he belongs to the second category. No other discrimination should be there.This is an essential lesson which should be taught from childhood itself.
I remember a quote by Gandhiji. “I do not believe in the doctrine of the greatest good of the greatest number. It means, in its nakedness, that in order to achieve the supposed good of 51%, the interest of 49% may be, or rather should be sacrificed. It is a heartless doctrine and has done harm to humanity. The only real, dignified, human doctrine is the greatest good of all and this can only be achieved by uttermost self sacrifice”. But in the present world, no one is doing a small compromise. Then what is the point in talking about self sacrifice?
Then comes the habit of sharing. Today’s nuclear family structure doesn’t permit children to understand what sharing is. In my own opinion, when a chocolate is divided into two and shared among two friends, the sweetness of it gets doubled. I used to think a lot about the chemical reaction that is responsible for this increase in the sweetness. But I am not yet able to find it out.
The next thing I would like to mention about is love. No one knows the real meaning of love. Is it something that brings pleasure? No. Is it something that brings hurt? No.Is it materialistic? No. The most suitable definition about pure love is given in Bible itself. “Love bears all things, believes all things, and endures all things”.
I think that love is a sort of empathy. Wikipedia tells that empathy is an ability with many different definitions. They cover a broad spectrum, ranging from feeling a concern for other people that creates a desire to help them, experiencing emotions that match another person’s emotions, knowing what the other person is thinking or feeling, in short, blurring the line between the self and the other. in a physical point of view, I like this definition by D.M.Berger – “Empathy is the capacity to know emotionally what another is experiencing from within the frame of reference of that other person or the capacity to sample the feelings of another”.
Some days before I saw an article in “The Hindu” newspaper and I still remember what Gandhiji told. ” There is a man who is my brother. I just don’t know his name, but I know his home and family because we know we feel the same. It hurts me when he is hungry and when his children cry. I too am a father, and the little one is mine “. I think that there is no need of explaining more about the correlation between love and empathy.
Gandhiji’s life was his message. But he was the forefather and forerunner who had great foresight about the things that are going to happen in this world. He knew that the fruit of freedom which he gained through non-violence and self sacrifice is going to be misused. And on this Independence day, while all others are celebrating, my mind is wandering through those lonely dark streets with our great forefather who cried silently with utmost agony when the whole world was in the joy of celebrations, some 63 years ago.
