Mahatma and the Valentine

Anger is an enemy within. This is one part of human nature we can happily mutate. In the backdrop of the recent mishap in Pune, I see the relevance of Gandhiji’s principle of peace growing. Most of the people feel that Gandhism is no more relevant in the present day context. I myself have been conflicting with this conception over the years, but now I have no doubt that Gandhiji idea was an eternal thought of superior quality. The reason why Gandhiji’s peace model ‘seems to be’ out-of-date is because of its difficulty to implement. The idea was seen as irrelevant even during Gandhiji’s contemporary days, just because it needed a huge change in the mindset of human thought. And any change to explore the ‘out-of-comfort’ zone is repelled by us. To reach a level of maturity that the Mahatma attained, it needs sheer commitment, patience, intelligence and above all tremendous amount of inner strength, which are uncommon combinations today. The relevance of a peace model should not only be judged on the difficulty of implementation, but also on the fruitful solution it can bring in, over a long period of time. The greatest way to win over the mind of an opponent is not by seeding a thought of conflict, but by enlightening them by the sheer magnitude of resolve to sustain thought of peace, not just outside, but also within. This idea consumes time, but is and always will be the permanent way to reach equilibrium.

As I write this blog, most of the world is celebrating Valentine’s Day. I welcome any thought which binds people together, and the concept of the day has a positive impact, especially on youth. However, there are now extreme schools of thoughts either opposing or supporting this day. At one end, this day has been well utilized by the corporate world to cash-in on human emotions by hyping this day. On the other end, it has been rejected as un-cultured. The reality is somewhere in between. My thought is the following: Yes, by all means celebrate love, not by restoring to the materialistic rewards of pleasantries, but by ensuring that you not only love your loved ones more, but also love those people whom you hate. After all, this is the bottom line of Mahatma’s thought.