Gandhi will always remain contemporary

A lot of people ask me about my role model. Well, Mahatma Gandhi is one of the great personalities whom I would want to emulate.

It’s 140 years since he was born and I find it amazing that he is still so contemporary. People are talking of climate change and global warming these days. Gandhi too was environment conscious. From cow dung to using natural light, Gandhi could be called a pioneer and a real visionary on environment issues. Gandhiji advocated naturopathy. He advocated vegetarianism much before it became an international issue.

I think what differentiates common mortals from leaders is that leaders think much beyond time and they are above petty politics. Nobody can ever forget Gandhi - this century or next or one after that…because Gandhi is beyond time and space. He will always remain contemporary.

Yes, attempts are made (deliberate political attempts, I would say) to tarnish Gandhian ideology but as I said, Gandhi is beyond time or space. He is ETERNAL.   Whether it is Gandhi Chashma or Gandhian style of naturopathy or his concern for environment, every generation will definitely find something in Gandhi that is very contemporary. I love one sentence that Gandhi said, but which is not quoted often.

He said, “In this world, there is enough for everybody’s need, but not for their greed.” So true.  And such a simple explanation about simplicity! The most powerful messages always come in simple packages, isn’t it? These days when we have netas who claim to be guardians of 5.5 crore Gujaratis and who never cease to brag about their achievements, Gandhi comes across as a real Global Gujarati for whom vision is not about boasting but providing real leadership.

These days everyone is talking about emotional quotient and how it is as important as intelligence quotient (IQ). Gandhi talked about the “human” angle decades ago. In fact, most successfully-managed companies in the world today follow the Gandhian ideology. Gandhi was not against technology. He rather wanted to empower every person.

For him, the Machine was not as important as the Man behind the Machine. And even more important than the Man was the Organisation. He believed that Organisations have to be people-centric not machine or technology-centric. This is basically the concept of every good governance and good management.

Good governance isn’t all about empowering five industrialists but to ensure equitable growth and development. Good governance is all about giving fair chance and treatment to one and all. Good governance does not mean whipping up communal and casteist passions. Good governance is not about hollow rhetoric. These are my thoughts on Gandhi as I remember and pay my homage to the Father of the Nation.

Shaktisinh Gohil

(The writer is a lawyer & leader of the opposition in Gujarat assembly)