There’s this article in today’s newspaper that talks about the whole Mahatma Gandhi philosophy of nonviolence and truth that the young generation feels outdated and isn’t really able to apply. Gandhiji is the father of our nation. Truth be told, he went through a lot. He achieved the result – India’s independence. Today he’s become one of the symbols of fighting injustice with tranquility.
Gandhi's new Avatar
The question asked in the column titled ‘Yo Bappu’ was whether it was good for Gandhi to be made ‘cool’ so that perhaps the millennial generation would catch the philosophy. Turning the simple dhoti-clad-with-walking-stick image of Gandhi into a Nehru topi-wearing, guitar playing rocker may probably make the young inclined to the ideologies he had. Perhaps make them give an ear at least. Many of the respondents surprisingly had a black of white answer – either embrace Gandhiism or leave it. There couldn’t be a morphed version of the age- old philosophy that won India her independence. The article, I felt, just highlighted views instead of drawing out a way of getting the issue at hand sorted.
My own view is that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel on this. The issue is not of the youth being able to find him and his teachings ‘cool’ to apply, it’s about them finding the teachings to be relevant to their life. With increasing troubles for the youth today with studies, addictions, broken relationships or broken homes, few jobs, the picture of just standing still in the midst of the storm around is hard to digest.
About two centuries ago, Jesus went on to say “love your neighbor as you would love yourself”. Imagine today, that you were listening to that sermon by Jesus, and your neighbor was the party animal who blew the speakers off with music at any odd hour of the day. Wouldn’t you say “Ok Jesus, I’m sure you’re not talking about that guy being my neighbor!” . The funny thing is, someone did in fact get back to Jesus on that statement with this question “Who is my neighbor?”. Jesus answered with the parable of a The Good Samaritan.
The same teaching that was brought a couple of millennium ago, is still being taught with the same effect to millions of young Christians today. If those teachings could be brought in to the youth without the church re-imaging Jesus into a super-man who could even tweet and skype, then, what is lacking in spreading the philosophy of Gandhi is not the branding, but the relevance; how it will change their lives.
Anna Hazare has exemplified the fact that Gandhi’s yesteryear’s teachings still hold good today with the fast for the Lokpal bill in Delhi. His fight was against corruption. One cannot stop at just that. You don’t ‘do a Gandhi’ only when you want a bill passed. Like the faith you practice, it needs to be worked out in your own personal life daily. You need to reach out at individual levels and address core issues. The Lokpal bill is of no use if tomorrow if you bribe a cop for breaking a signal or throw dirt around your own streets.
If the teaching is relevant, the audience will pick it up, no matter how the content is delivered, or for that matter what content. For a philosophy to continue, prolonged use depends on the effect that it has and thereby its net worth. If our country cannot substantiate either, then the new Uber-Cool-Gandhi may also flop two generations down the line.
Do you think icons of yesterday need to be given a makeover to make them relevant to your generation?
