Gandhi’s teachings hold solutions to our problems

Today, Gandhi is viewed as the ‘mahatma’ and put on a pedestal. But take a closer look at his teachings and one would find solutions to many of our problems. When there is so much of water scarcity now, Gandhi has already spoken about conserving water through dry composting. In an era of identity crisis, his philosophy — have your own identity while respecting others — rings true. Gandhi had also defined a good Hindu as one who makes his Christian friend a better Christian and his Muslim friend, a better Muslim. He was a visionary, who had foreseen the problems of the future. Instead of putting the Mahatma on a pedestal and forgetting about it, we should take look at Gandhi’s education and environmental policies. Anticipating the problems of power, he had advocated decentralisation. He was a strong advocate of Swadharma, where an individual can decide on how to live his or her life. For him, democracy was a ‘majority wins’ situation, which may or may not work everywhere.

Gandhi is a mascot for Swachh Bharat, his iconic spectacles doubling up as the logo for Modi’s pet initiative. But how far Gandhi’s policies are followed? As far as sanitation was concerned, he urged people to get rid of their fear of cleaning toilets, a fear which sprang from the Varnashrama Dharma or the caste-based system. In fact, he encouraged people to not only clean their own toilets but also the latrines of other people. He urged people to get rid of the fear of the human excreta. So, for Swachh Bharat, we need aggressive action such as ensuring waste segregating, introducing more dry composting toilets and conserving water.

Gandhi also believed in the power of the individuals. He felt that every person should come forward and work for the betterment of the society. If we don’t look at where our organic waste ends up or what happens to the waste from our toilets, we are in for a lot of trouble in the future. We have already clogged up almost all our rivers. Today, individual action is the need of the hour. The ‘Father of the Nation’ advocated dignity and self-respect. He “invited his people to think about the future with fresh ideas. He told them at the margin to discard lethargy and reject fatalism and claim their own dignity through non-violent assertion.

In a world of increasing violence, Gandhian values of peace, truth and non-violence are perceived as archaic. Gandhi advocated the use of dialogue as a means of non-violent action in order to see the opponent’s version of the truth. For him, truth was dynamic, which could change with the addition of facts. Viewed through these perspectives, Gandhi’s policies and teachings are still relevant in today’s scenario.