Thursday, March 05, 2009

Gandhi's effects

A private individual claiming to be a disciple of Gandhiji's teachings has plans to auction some of his personal effects. This has been taken as a slight by some.
The Government of India has pledged to do what it can to prevent an auction.
The latest news of this front indicates that the would be seller has placed some stiff conditions including spending more on the poor and less on weapons.
On the face of it , this is in line with Gandhiji's teachings , and seems noble indeed.
But look a little deeper and it would appear that this is nothing but a money grab. The seller wants his payday but also wants the moral high ground. He should know that the fates of a billion people cannot be decided by his word. India is no bannana rebuplic.
Some have criticised the rich Indians(many of whom are worth billions) who haven't publicly come out and said that they would'nt allow these effects to get to the auction stage.
I wonder what Gandhji would consider more important, spending money on the betterment of his people or buying his effects so that they can be placed in a shrine.
I think we all know the awnser.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Firstly, we don't know what the situation is for this seller to come to this decision, so we cannot judge yet. Secondly, the stance that the govt. of India has taken on this looks more like a publicity stunt to protect the image of the Indian idol. If they were at all this interested Gandhi's stuff they would have looked to collect this privately long back. Also, I cannot blame the rich people for not jumping into a line to buy these stuff, as to what effect if they do not really believe in his ideals or don't consider it worth in these times? Maybe i am a little biased. I think i understand more of leaders like Bose and Bhagat Singh to Gandhi. If I was super rich i would not think twice abt buying the stuf even for kicks, and i'm a woman, i'm sure men have stronger reactions if they didn't follow Gandhi's principles.