Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Gandhi Journal Article-III : Importance of Gandhian thoughts about cleanliness

Importance of Gandhian thoughts about Cleanliness

By Dr. Shubhangi Rathi


On 2nd October, 2014, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, launched a nation-wide cleanliness campaign on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary. The concept of Swachh Bharat is to provide sanitation facilities to every family, including toilets, solid and liquid waste disposal systems, village cleanliness, and safe and adequate drinking water supply. We have to achieve this by 2019 as a befitting tribute to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, on his 150th birth anniversary. 
Modi said that the Swachh Bharat mission is beyond politics, inspired by patriotism and not politics. He also asked people to pledge 'na main gandagi karoonga, na main gandagi karne doonga' (I shall not litter and won't allow anyone to do so). He further flagged off a walkathon as part of the Swachh Bharat Campaign, which is not just a slogan, but our responsibility. This turned the people's thoughts to Gandhi's idea of cleanliness. What is the need of it? How did Gandhiji influence and communicate this idea to the nation? To answer these questions it is necessary to know Mahatma Gandhi's views about cleanliness.
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Thought For The Day ( NON-VIOLENCE )

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes on Non-violence

Monday, November 10, 2014

Gandhi Journal Article-II : The Satyagrahi in South Africa

The Satyagrahi in South Africa

By Nechama Brodle


Hundred years is a long time, particularly in a town only a little older than a century itself. 
The road to Tolstoy Farm, Mahatma Gandhi's penultimate residence in South Africa, is no longer marked, if indeed it ever was. To get there I have to head south along Lenasia Drive and then follow a set of rather cryptic directions provided by an urban geographer and a sociologist. 
The farm was founded in 1910, the same year Count Leo Tolstoy would die. Gandhi was a great fan of the Russian writer and the two had exchanged several rather beautiful letters, rich with ideas and encouragement. 

Thought For The Day ( BROTHERHOOD )

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes on Brotherhood

Friday, November 7, 2014

Gandhi Journal Article-I : Gandhi and Novel Peace Prize

Mahatma Gandhi may not have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but he has certainly given us over a dozen Peace Prize winners!

By Ramesh Oza 

Malala Yousafzai-Gandhi-Aung San Suu Kyi

Amongst all the Nobel Peace Prize winners, the two most deserving persons to receive it are women and both are from Asia, something we can be proud of. The first one is Malala Yousafzai, and the second is Aung San Suu Kyi of erstwhile Burma now Myanmar.
While India and Pakistan are exchanging fire at the border, each flexing its muscles threatening each other with destruction, comes the announcement of two persons, unknown to each other, being recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize. Whether this is just a coincidence or a planned thought-out decision on the part of the Nobel Committee we will never know, but this event is certainly one that should put leaders of both the countries to shame.

Thought For The Day ( GENTLENESS )

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes on Gentleness

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Gandhi's Non-violent Approach

Gandhi's nonviolent approach offers lessons for peace movements, Stanford scholar says

Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Gandhi's organizational innovations were instrumental to the success of India's independence movement, Stanford scholar Saumitra Jha says.

The organizational innovations behind Mohandas Gandhi's nonviolent movement in India offer lessons for contemporary peace movements, a Stanford scholar argues.
In a new paper that reinterprets Gandhi's legacy, Stanford's Saumitra Jha, an associate professor of political economy, examines the potential and pitfalls of non-violent disobedience. His co-author is Rikhil Bhavnani, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Too often, nonviolent civil disobedience fails, they wrote. "The key lesson of India's successful movement is sometimes reduced to the simple but rather unhelpful admonition, 'Find another Gandhi,' who can lead through individual charisma," Jha said in an interview.

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Thought For The Day ( NON-VIOLENCE )

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes on Non-violence

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Virtual Gandhi in South Africa : New online resource lets you trace the footsteps of an icon

Virtual Gandhi in SA: New online resource lets you trace the footsteps of an icon

Mahatma Gandhi’s time spent in South Africa was a significant period in the history of the country. Tourism South Africa is offering locals and tourists the chance to virtually follow in Gandhi’s footsteps through a new website called Gandhi in South Africa (www.gandhi.southafrica.net).
Gandhi arrived in South Africa in 1893 as a young lawyer in his early 20s and remained for 21 years before leaving 1914 to take on British rule in India.

Thought For The Day ( JEALOUSY )

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes on Jealousy

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Gandhi Journal Article - III : Bapu-Leader of Leaders

Bapu : Leader of Leaders
By Kavita Shah and Meha Todi

 “Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood.”
- Albert Einstein
Few men have ever had as much of an effect on our world as Mohandas Gandhi. He was charismatic, deliberate and analytical. Gandhi was very much a product of his times, yet one of his greatest sources of inspiration was the Bhagavad-Gita. He was a politician, a writer, an intellectual and an orator. Without doubt he was a complex man, believing in simple things.
Gandhi's leadership role was extremely complex. Knowing that violence only begets violence, he began practicing passive resistance, Satyagraha. Mahatma Gandhi was a leader that brought one of the world's most powerful nations to its knees... by using peace, love and integrity as his method for change. How could a meek and fragile person of small physical stature inspire millions to bring about a profound change in a way the mightiest had never achieved before? His achievements were nothing less than miracles. His life was a message - a message of peace over power, of finding ways to reconcile our differences, and of living in harmony with respect and love even for our enemy. Gandhi can be considered the most modern political thinker India has ever had. Today, in a polity steeped in corruption, perhaps there is a need to rediscover Gandhi.

Thought For The Day ( ETHICS )

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes on Ethics

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Gandhi Journal Article - II : Gandhi and status of Women

Gandhi and status of Women

By Jyotsna Kamat

When Gandhiji assumed India's leadership the average life span of an Indian woman was only twenty seven years. Babies and the pregnant women ran a high risk of dying young. Child marriage was very common and widows were in very large number. Only 2% of the women had any kind of education and women did not have an identity of their own. In North India, they practiced the purdah (veil) system. Women could not go out of the house unless accompanied by men and the face covered with cloth. The fortunate ones who could go to school had to commute in covered carts (tangas).

It is in this context that we have to recognize the miracle of Gandhi's work. Gandhiji claimed that a woman is completely equal to a man and practiced it in strict sense. Thousands and millions of women, educated and illiterate, house wives and widows, students and elderly participated in the India's freedom movement because his influence. For Gandhiji, the freedom fight was not political alone; it was also an economic and social reform of a national proportion. After a couple of decades, this equality became very natural in India. After India's freedom (in 1947) and adoption of constitution (1950), emphasized equality of women, when Hindu code was formulated, the population was not even impressed. They said -"Of course, it had to be done."

Thought For The Day ( TRUTH )

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes on Truth