Peter Colaco the former adman and IIM-B professor takes you through the gullies of Gandhiism in times of Asatyam and mindless activism <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2009/feb/Mahatama_Gandhiji.jpg" align="left" border="0" />Mahatmaji has been much in the news recently, with the popularity of the hit film 'Munnabhai' and the commemoration of Martyr's Day last month. Gandhiji is someone we can remember for his iconic stature and also for his powerful proverbs. Among the most memorable sayings is this one 'The world has enough to meet everyone's needs, but not enough for everyone's greed'. While this saying could be applied for almost all Indians, particularly politicians, it is typified by the 'Satyam Scandal'. The whole scam is truly admirable. To have the nerve and unscrupulousness to swindleu00a0 so many people of a sum of Rs 7000 crores or more boggles the mind beyond belief. There is no question of the needy poor here. Just mind-numbing greed. And rich means shamelessness of course. In counterpoint to that, the Mahatma was fond of saying a positive exhortation 'Find Purpose and the means will follow. That has proved to be true to all the heroes of the world. Find Purpose and the means will Follow'. Perhaps that is true. Or perhaps not. Take the case of Gandhiji himself. Someone else with a different purpose and a gun and bullet can be paid to the purpose and perhaps even to the matryr's life. I cannot compare Gandhiji's firmness of purpose with many other politicians of today. Bitching, backbiting, doublespeak and outright lying seem to be the order of the day. Saffron 'Heroes',u00a0 when they are not doing a dance item before a camera, have started attacking unarmed women or couples. That leaves one wondering what is the 'purpose' of this kind of mindless activism. Karnataka has become one of the worst hit by the grab-a-seat-by-any means virus. Fundamentalist fever has spread its mindless nastiness on all sides. It took our world centuries to evolve from splintered tribes into a civilised form. Now it seems to be taking just weeks for this civilisation to dissolve into gundagiri (not to be confused with Gandhigiri!) Gandhi and Gandhian philosophy are generally forgotten (when they are not being downright misrepresented.) The UCO bank borrowed a motto from one of the great American hotelier entrepreneurs, though he wrongly attributed it to Gandhiji. It was hilarious, talking as it did of Gandhi as the 'we' (the commercial establishment) and its duty to 'its' customers. It was absurd for anybody who knew that Gandhi did not at any part of his life engage in trade (though he once contemplated law as a profession). But, if that was merely laughable, it can be tragic. I would quote to our Pakistani friends and their vicious associates to remember: 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth will only make the whole world blind'. Sixty years is a long time to keep stoking old fires of vengeance. So it would be good if we can remember Godhra, Mumbai, the Mangalore pub, Nagaland, Orissa churches. There may be enough eyes for the need of the whole world. But not for destructive greed and anger.

Not such a happy song

Peter Colaco the former adman and IIM-B professor takes you through the gullies of Gandhiism in times of Asatyam and mindless activism

All about need and greed

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All about need and greed

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