Learn to forgive & you’ll never forget Bapu

Rituals have an important place in life. Why else do we clean our homes before Diwali, say namaste to our elders and loved ones every morning (though this has been done away with in many families) or visit holy sites when we can perform all the rituals even at our homes?

Remembering Gandhi on his birthday, however, need not be just a ritual. As has been said, abhor the deed, not the doer. This may, in fact, bring about a reconciliation in our deeply fractured society. How do we redefine the role of Gandhian institutions and legacy in Gujarat? Let me recall what Madhu Dandwate had said in his JP memorial lecture years ago:
A few weeks prior to Independence Day in 1947, an emissary of Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel was sent to Gandhi who was then in Calcutta working for peace and harmony among Hindus and Muslims. The emissary reached at midnight. He said: "I have brought an important letter for you from Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel."

"Have you taken your food?" asked Gandhi. When the emissary said, "No", Gandhi served him food. And after food, Gandhi opened the letter from Nehru and Patel. They had written: "Bapu, you are the father of the nation. 15th August 1947, will be the first Independence Day and we want you to come to Delhi to give us your blessings."

Gandhi said, "How stupid! When Bengal is burning, Hindus and Muslims are killing each other and I can hear their cries of agony in the darkness of Calcutta, how can I go to Delhi with its glittering lights?"  These words are the heartrending words of Gandhi. He said, "I have to live here for the establishment of peace in Bengal and, if need be, I have to give up my life to ensure that there is harmony and peace."

The emissary started on his return journey in the morning. It was a moving sight, full of human touch. Gandhi gave the emissary a send-off. He was standing below a tree. A dry leaf fell from the tree. Gandhi picked it up and put it on his palm and said, "My friend, you are going back to Delhi. What gift can Gandhi give to Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel? I am a man without power and wealth. Give this dry leaf to Nehru and Patel, as my first Independence Day gift." And when he was saying this, tears came into the eyes of the emissary. Then with a sense of humour, Gandhi said, "How great God is! He did not want Gandhi to send that dry leaf. He made it wet. It is glistening with laughter. Carry this leaf as a gift full of your tears." That was Gandhi's human touch.

Why is such a human touch missing in our daily lives? Why have Gandhian institutions failed to make his message a subject of everyday conversation? Our failure is much bigger than the failure of institutions. We, who find in his message a source of hope and faith in basic human values, are not able to inspire even one other person by our conduct and practice in daily life.

What should we do then to make Gandhi come alive not only in the life of every suffering human being, but also in the hearts of those who make them suffer?

Maybe, we can start with a task which only the strongest can do. We forgive those whose acts we abhor, and create space in our hearts for those who have not lived in peace yet, be it in Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Gujarat, Lalgarh (in Chhattisgarh) or in any of the 232 districts of India where violence has been chosen by all concerned as the way to set right the wrongs done by the state or a dominant institution. "How can we forgive? After all, did they not cause injustice?" will be the chorus of disapproval from both the right and the left. But in Mizoram, the most peaceful state, the then chief minister had sacrificed his seat of power and given it to those who were agitating for freedom after a peace accord. The peace followed.

Can we expect similar renunciation by all concerned? Or, like that dry-wet leaf, will the rulers everywhere ignore the austere message of Gandhi? He was ignored then; he is still being ignored by the powerful. But the poor live by his message every day. We have experienced their generosity everywhere during our shodh yatras.

Let me close by an incident which I can never forget. We were walking in Anantnag district (in Jammu and Kashmir) as part of a shodh yatra, along with more than 45 fellow shodh yatris from Gujarat and other states. We were approaching the ruins of a famous temple when a Muslim came running to us. 

"Ram, Ram!" he said. "I have come to request you not to go back this time, itna ruthatey nahin, don't be upset again." There were tears in his eyes, and in ours. He had mistaken us for the Kashmiri Pandits who had fled the Valley and the villages years ago. He thought the Pandits were coming back.

Here was the Gandhian spirit manifesting in its purest form. Similar incidents took place several times. Bullets cannot bring peace anywhere. Can we take everybody living in camps or temporary shelters back to their original villages and re-ignite the spirit of camaraderie for which Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir have been rightly famous for centuries?       

(The  author pioneered grassroot innovation movement and teaches at IIMA)