Gandhi Journal Article-III ( May 2016 ) - Gandhian Trusteeship as an 'Instrument of Human Dignity'

Gandhi Journal Article-III ( May 2016 )

Gandhian Trusteeship as an 'Instrument of Human Dignity'

Gandhi's economic ideas were part of his general crusade against poverty, exploitation against socio-economic injustice, and deteriorating moral standards. Gandhi was an economist of the masses. His approach was rooted in human dignity. His economic philosophy is a result of innumerable experiments which he conducted in the course of his life. His pragmatic approach gave a new direction to the existing socio-economic problems in the process of protecting human dignity.

The fluid international conditions fraught with ideological tensions in the economic domain demanded a fresh approach to economic philosophy, with emphasis on the ideals of human rights like democracy, economic freedom, and social justice. Gandhism as a socio­economic philosophy suits not only to accomplish the higher ideals of democratic freedom and socialism but it was also thoroughly developed to meet the challenge of national and international forces of communism and capitalism.

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Thought For The Day ( DEMOCRACY )

Thought For The Day ( BASIC EDUCATION )

Gandhi Journal Article-II (May 2016) - Gandhi's Champaran Mission : Its Context and Implications

Gandhi Journal Article-II (May 2016)

Gandhi's Champaran Mission : Its Context and Implications 

When GANDHI WAS in Santiniketan after returning from South Africa in 1915, at the enquiry of C.F. Andrews about whether there was any possibility for him to start satyagraha in India, Gandhi replied that such a possibility would not arise for another five years. Little did he think at that time that his first encounter with the British authorities in India would come within two years in Champaran in Bihar. The situation in Champaran was not a creation of Gandhi but his mission there initiated a process that shaped the destiny of the nation and the destiny of his own.

The encounter came in the form of passive resistance. Passive resistance of Gandhi came out of his concept of authority. To him, force was the basis of the state authority. The authority based on force could not have moral sanction. In this matter the positions of Thoreau and Gandhi were identical. Thoreau said: "The authority of Government... is still an impure one: to be strictly just, it must have the sanction and consent of the governed."¹ Both Thoreau and Gandhi believed in the moral authority which stood above the legal authority. The man-made laws were not necessarily binding on the people. Gandhi said: "So long as the superstition that man should obey unjust laws exists, so long will their slavery exist."² Thoreau wrote: "Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavour to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?"³ As a philosophical anarchist, Gandhi thought that moral authority came from the people because it was the people who resisted the immoral authority. But the people were inordinate force. So, finally, he wanted to be much more definite and felt the need of building the Congress as an active moral body which will act as an effective Countervailing force on the British government. 

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Thought For The Day ( COWARDICE )

Thought For The Day ( FAITH )

Gandhi Journal Article-I (May 2016) - Mahatma Gandhi : The Japanese Connection

Gandhi Journal Article-I (May 2016) 

Mahatma Gandhi : The Japanese Connection

By Thomas Weber and Akira Hayashi 

At Gandhi's Sevagram Ashram prayers still commence with the Japanese Nichiren Buddhist mantra of "Nammyo ho renge kyo." This raises questions about the connection between Gandhi and the Japanese. Gandhi admired Japanese self-respect, unity and patriotism which were demonstrated with Japan's defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5. Later he became concerned by Japanese imperialism in China, the swamping of India with cheap Japanese cloth, and the prospect of a Japanese invasion of India during the Second World War. His open letter to the Japanese complaining of their brutal imperialism was quoted very selectively in Japanese papers so as to provide justification for the policies that he had condemned. Other Japanese writings about him played down his political activism making him useful for propaganda purposes rather than as a model for political activism. However, Gandhi's most important connection with Japan came through the various Japanese visitors to his ashrams, especially the Nichiren monks who stayed with him and left a lasting impression. The legacy of these monks continued in fostering understanding between the two countries in the early decades after Indian independence.

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Thought For The Day ( CHILDREN )

Thought For The Day ( PRAYER )

Thought For The Day ( RELIGION )

Thought For The Day ( GOD )

How Mahatma Gandhi Changed Lives of 10,000 Prisoners in Mumbai Central Jail in the Last 12 Years

How Mahatma Gandhi Changed Lives of 10,000 Prisoners

in Mumbai Central Jail in the Last 12 Years

 

'Hate the sin, love the sinner,’ said Mahatma Gandhi. It is in line with this belief that one organization in Maharashtra is trying to reform jail inmates by conducting Gandhi Peace Exams based on Gandhian philosophy.

Laxman Gole, a resident of Mumbai, was convicted for a number of crimes in 2005 and sent to the Mumbai Central Prison for four years. He had studied till Class 7 before getting involved with a gang of nine operating in different areas of Mumbai - mostly extorting money from people. One day, after spending some time in prison, he decided to write a letter to the judge presiding over his case and confessed to all his crimes - accepting his mistakes and promising not to repeat them in the future. His behaviour was so good and his confession so sincere that his sentence was reduced to two and a half years.

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Thought For The Day ( SATYAGRAHA )

Thought For The Day ( ENEMY )

Thought For The Day ( KNOWLEDGE )

Thought For The Day ( CONFESSION )

Thought For The Day ( FEAR )

Thought For The Day ( DIVINITY )

Thought For The Day ( AHIMSA )

Thought For The Day ( THINKING )

The Humblest President in the World

The Humblest President in the World

José Mujica, the 77 year old former President of Uruguay [2010-15], a tiny country in Latin America, preferred to live on his modest farm instead of the majestic Presidential residence. One could see clothes hanging for drying outside his modest hut which had shrubs and trees around, besides his floriculture cultivation for which he personally tilled with his tractor. He would welcome his uninvited guests by preparing Mate, a traditional drink served in a guampa, a type of cup made from hollow gourd.

Mujica was a vegetarian and never wore a tie. The road leading to his humble residence was not even paved. All the possession he had was 1,800 dollars, and an old car which he used to drive himself. The land, his house and his tractor belonged to his wife who was a Senator. He led an austere lifestyle and donated around 90 percent of his $12,000 monthly salary to charities that benefited poor people and small entrepreneurs. His security was handled by two plain clothes policemen guarding his home. He used to move around like a common citizen.

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Thought For The Day ( FAITH )

Thought For The Day ( WORLD )

Thought For The Day ( WORLD )

Thought For The Day ( LIFE )

Thought For The Day ( NON-VIOLENCE )

Thought For The Day ( SOUL )

Thought For The Day ( PUBLIC OPINION )

Thought For The Day ( LANGUAGE )

Thought For The Day ( JUSTICE )

Gandhi Journal Article-III (May2016) - Gandhi on and in cinema

Gandhi Journal Article-III ( May 2016 ) 

Gandhi on and in cinema

By Akul Tripathi 

Today, 68 years after his death, what are the visuals that hit our mind when we hear the name Gandhi? How is it that we picture him? That very familiar figure with round spectacles and a smiling face at peace with himself and the world, clad in a loin cloth and a furious gait with the lathi (stick), trying hard to keep pace is an image well known through photographs, chromolithographs, his statues and the face on the bank note. Yet, in our moving world of colour, the picture of him and his mannerisms that most people would associate him with or picture him to be is that which one has seen on screen - in movies, in cinema. My personal mirage of Gandhi is undoubtedly that of the monumental 1982 biopic - Gandhi - where Ben Kingsley plays the role of a life time in a multiple Oscar winning movie directed by Richard Attenborough, that is perhaps the most comprehensive depiction of Gandhi's role in the Indian freedom movement.

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Thought For The Day ( KHADI )

Thought For The Day ( DECEPTION )

Thought For The Day ( FAITH )

Gandhi Journal Article-II (May2016) - Gandhian relevance to environmental sustainability

Gandhi Journal Article-II (May2016)

Gandhian relevance to environmental sustainability

By Dr. Vaidehi Daptardar 

Environmental sustainability is the most burning issue with which every one of us is related very closely. Environmental Sustainability means to sustain ability, both the ability of the environment to regenerate and the ability of people to retain control over their living conditions (Kuhn 1998). In the terms of the 1987 Brundtland Report, sustainability is "Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs." Sustainable development may be described as a process for improving the range of opportunities that will enable individual human beings and communities to achieve their aspirations and full potential over a sustained period of time, while maintaining the resilience of economic, social and environmental systems (Munasinghe 1994). The concept has evolved to encompass three major points of view: economic, social and environmental, as represented by the triangle.

Each viewpoint corresponds to a domain (and a system) that has its own distinct driving forces and objectives. The economy is geared mainly towards improving human welfare, primarily through increases in the consumption of goods and services. The environmental domain focuses on protection of the integrity and resilience of ecological systems. The social domain emphasizes the enrichment of human relationships and achievement of individual and group aspirations. In other words, sustainable development requires increase both in adaptive capacity and in opportunities for improvement of economic, social and ecological systems (Gunderson and Holling 2001). Improving adaptive capacity will increase resilience and sustainability.

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