Watercooler Tidbits 19th Oct 2011 - Gandhis’ and prejudices

It’s been two days since I have had no work. The idle mind has these sudden bouts of work-hunger. I don’t know what to do. Somehow, things seem to be moving slow. I resort to writing now because I have been reading quite a bit since yesterday. What I read was probably one of the main reasons which compelled me to write. 

It all began with an article on Rahul Gandhi making rounds on the FB. It accuses him of allegedly raping a girl and keeping her and her family in captivity for several days. How far it is true, is something worth investigating. Like the chemical organic reactions, one article led to another. I further went on to read a bit more about his background. After reading a bit more, I found him quite a dull personality, almost a misfit in the “Gandhi-Nehru dynasty”. At a certain parliament session, someone in the newspaper remarked that he lacked the confidence and the commanding tone, expected of an offspring of this dynasty. May be, I am expecting too much. Why should a child be like his parents? So much of pressure on the poor chap, a billion pair of eyes banking on him, to get a high from anything good or bad uttered.

I further read about one of the politicians who could make me turn my head. Indira Gandhi. The contents on the web are copious and there’s only one line in which I could describe the lady. “You can hate, you can love her. But you just can’t ignore her.” I wouldn’t want to be very vocal about my opinions about her. Although, I would like to mention that she is someone I like and admire. From what I read, she came across like an extremely dominating personality but with her own set of insecurities. It seemed, from the material that I read, that she saw her insecurities evidently but put up an extremely strong front to the public, so much so, that most people who hate her, are in reality, somewhere, envious, I guess. Reading about her, makes one look at the self. How is she different from any other person around?

She is accused and uttered profanities, at for the Emergency she had declared on the State. I wasn’t born then, but given a chance, would have liked to experience what it means to have an unquestionable, almost autocratic rule in the country where most civil rights are revoked. Khushwant Singh, a known, maverick author, is one who still supports Indira Gandhi’s decision to declare the Emergency. He supports his case well, with chosen words. He mentioned how the turn of events of Operation BlueStar was a shock to Ms.Gandhi, as well. But to be open to a different set of probabilities with a blindfold (of any faction) on is not something that would help one to think further on the subject.

Further, I read about Feroze Gandhi; better known as Indira Gandhi’s husband. Reading about him was a complete pleasure. From the material I read, he seemed to be a courageous man who had the spine to stand against Jawaharlal Nehru, his father-in-law, thus jeopardizing his personal life. He was almost abandoned by the Parsi community for trying to nationalise the Tata group since it had reached a monopoly in the country. A simple wiki page on the man, not many words and no high drama, but words enough to point out the actions worth remembering, such is his story.

After reading about all the Gandhis’, aforementioned, reading further about Mahatma Gandhi could only, in a way, complete the circle. It was shocking to learn that the Mahatma at one time did nurse feelings of a fanatic racist against the Blacks, whom he openly, referred to as “Kaffirs”. The imprisonment in South Africa though, brought about a change in the person behind the persona. He turned rather sensitive to all sentient beings. Many people have criticized him for not proactively “saving the lives of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sahdev”. Until today, I had known the same fact. But truth or knowledge (or do we call it Wiki-truth?), comes to those who seek it and I was destined to be of different opinions, as of this day. He did try “commutating the death sentence given to the trio.” I had always respected the Mahatma and the revelation increased my respect further. Many factions still think he should have probably tried to avert their death sentence. But somehow, the consideration that the trio belonged to a different school of thoughts (“Freedom through violence and by force”), contrary to that of the Mahatma, is never taken into account, in spite of which, the Mahatma had put in efforts to reduce or alter their death sentences. On one side, they hate the Mahatma “for promoting himself as the Hero” and on the other, they still expected him to be “the Saviour”. All the weblogs and articles I have read about him are in entirety, just people’s interpretations, which are indeed, biased at most times. Thus, my perceptions, since are based on these facts, are not all first-hand.

This makes me smile, in wonderment.

I don’t know why I chose this “path” to read about the Gandhis’. But I do realise, that I have grown a bit to have a sort of discernment of my own. I see now how I segregate people’s personal life and public life. I think the reading was important, for me as a being. I needed to look at how the facts, true or false, bring about a reaction in me, how they make me feel and what is that in me, that got offended or complimented.

A witty quote of Einstein’s says, “Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.” I ponder on this, self-contemplating and further trying to figure out about where I stand as of now.