Today is Gandhi Jayanthi…
Birthday of Gandhiji… Mahatma Gandhi…
the Father of Nation in India.
I grew in a time when one could be termed un-indian
if they do not celebrate it
But this year
someone has also unveiled the first ever statue of
Gandhi’s killer Godse
in Meerut;
Interesting…. is it against Gandhi or against Non Violence?

The remains of the bloody partition
still burn in the border
taking lives of people on either side
every year;

Gandhi while being accepted and hailed worldwide
for Nonviolence is also criticized
by some on being responsible for partition
and debated upon by some
if he truly saw equality in every class of the society
The criticism or the debate will never end…

The problem is in people’s mind
Not just in India but all over the world
they struggle to keep leaders at a level of purity
a purity that is humanely impossible to achieve
and they make figures who cannot err….
it is no more human now….
it is a built up image of nonexistence

Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh, you, me,
no one needs a commitment to purity
because ‘purity’ is a false word.
It does not exist for me… and not for you
not for Gandhi,
not for Ambedkar,
Not for Nehru
Not for Bhagat Singh
Not for anyone

some people contribute to the world
more than me and you and rest of the world
But thats not purity..
thats called being human
let them be that…. just that….

Today is Gandhi Jayanthi….
But it is not just about Gandhi….
but everyone of them from the past
If they come today and look at us
what would they say…
I don’t know
but may be this….
may be just this…

“triumphs of the unstable;
ego of the strong;
ignorance buckled in sanctity;
blindness of the masses;
Damn it is dark here
Damn it is dark here”
-Vinod-

Categories: Poetry

Tags: Gandhi Jayanthi