Monday, October 02, 2006

Bande mein tha dum

Today's 2nd October - Gandhi's birthday. While I wouldn't have normally cared about Gandhi Jayanti enough to write about it because of various reasons, I do care enough about it now that I felt the need to write. After knowing about Indian Independence in detail, I learned about Gandhi, Nehru, Bhagat Singh etc. I really liked the efforts of Bhagat Singh, and after realizing how many people died in India's independence struggle, I didn't understand why Gandhi wanted to go the peaceful way for India's independence. Little bit of compromise is always ok, right? I guess, I never learned about Gandhi as a person and his teaching well enough to understand him and his teachings. You watch movies like Gandhi, and it's essentially the same thing they teach you in India's Independence thing. I always had respect for him and his teachings, but never understood how to apply it in real life and if it was practical. And this is not just me, this is how the young generation feels about him these days.

Lage Raho Munnabhai, the part 2 of Munnabhai MBBS brings the duo of Munna and Circuit back, but this time with Munna's strange encounter with Gandhi. I heard about it before the movie was released, and I thought, must be the same kinda stuff and boring movie. Then one fine day, finally got to watch the movie.

The movie is all about Gandhi's principles and how they can be applied in the real life. In the first few scenes of the movie, you see Circuit's "social work" by helping Lucky Singh, using of force, of course. You also see how they make professors answer quiz questions. So, this movie starts with their lies etc. Later in movie, Munna "meets" Gandhi. He learns about it, he applies the principles and you understand the application.

You see Munna slapping Circuit - which was probably the most shocking part of the movie. Then Munna remembers Gandhi and apologizes from Circuit. Though it sounds easy, but probably not easy thing to do. Munna and Circuit's reunion also happened to be one of the best scenes of the movie. Also, you realize after watching Victor D'Souza, the retired teacher's case, and the panwalla problem, that Gandhigiri worked very well. You realize that Gandhi's philosophy wasn't only for the independence, but for every aspect of life. Mahatma Gandhi is back thanks to this movie. What really helped is the timely release of this movie. It brings Gandhi back, and I, along with other people, realize that Gandhigiri really worked.

I think it's time we remember Gandhi and try following his philosophy. Lage Raho Munnabhai really made us more knowledgeable about Gandhi. This movie's and Gandhi's point was that even though you might get a result using violence, but that might not be the best solution. If you follow peace and justice, the end result will be good, but that might take some time. Even though you would think what can satyagraha do to that powerful Lucky Singh. But you soon realize what a pain it becomes for Lucky Singh. We see Gandhi everyday hopefully (where??? think think... think... think... well, on Indian currency :P). But as Gandhi-ji says, rather than having his statues all over the place and pictures on all currency notes, it's better to keep him in our heart and remember him like that.

As circuit said, Gandhi didn't have a body, but a lot of daring... it takes a lot to follow the path of peace and justice even after going to jail and other problems in life. Doesn't mean that Bhagat Singh and others did wrong by not following, but this was one important part too. Let's be united and stand together... that's what we need today.

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