I hate Gandhi
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"I hate Gandhi" my student said loudly without any hesitation.
I started looking at his face with shock. "What? Why do you hate him?" I asked him.
He started giving me some reasons which were obviously not his 'own'.
He was just 14 yrs old kid and was blaming Mahatma Gandhi for partition of India. He even called Gandhiji 'Taklya' once or twice during his argument. I was quite angry on him but didn't scold him, as I was eager to know why he hates Gandhi? According to him Gandhiji is 'root-cause' of 'terrorism' in India. He gave reference of those '55 crore rupees' which India gave to Pakistan during partition. I was not at all amazed by his (childish) knowledge as I understood within few minutes that he was explaining me something, which his father had explained him earlier. I just warned him not to use any bad words against anyone; and told him to learn to respect Mahatma.
We all respect Bapuji from our childhood and want all generation to do that. But we forget to understand that children today have great access to data and higher grasping power.Therefore, parents should be more cautious about the things which they share with their children. In India, there are many people who criticize Bapuji for some reasons. There are thousands of fans of his killer,Nathuram Godse. But they impose their opinion on their young children at such tender age,which is really shameful.
I started looking at his face with shock. "What? Why do you hate him?" I asked him.
He started giving me some reasons which were obviously not his 'own'.
He was just 14 yrs old kid and was blaming Mahatma Gandhi for partition of India. He even called Gandhiji 'Taklya' once or twice during his argument. I was quite angry on him but didn't scold him, as I was eager to know why he hates Gandhi? According to him Gandhiji is 'root-cause' of 'terrorism' in India. He gave reference of those '55 crore rupees' which India gave to Pakistan during partition. I was not at all amazed by his (childish) knowledge as I understood within few minutes that he was explaining me something, which his father had explained him earlier. I just warned him not to use any bad words against anyone; and told him to learn to respect Mahatma.
We all respect Bapuji from our childhood and want all generation to do that. But we forget to understand that children today have great access to data and higher grasping power.Therefore, parents should be more cautious about the things which they share with their children. In India, there are many people who criticize Bapuji for some reasons. There are thousands of fans of his killer,Nathuram Godse. But they impose their opinion on their young children at such tender age,which is really shameful.
When a 16 yrs old student from GENERAL category,abuses Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar for the difficulty which he faces during his admission in F.Y.J.C. due to 'reservation quota system';it feels really bad.Mind of child is like dough of mud,you can shape them easily during their tender age.That's why Terrorist organizations catch them young to fill them with hatred. In the same way,some urban terrorists instill hatred in their children against our national leaders.Gandhi supporters do the same in another way.They teach their children that Bhagat Singh and Netaji Bose were villains. Same thing is applicable when they teach their children about other peoples in history.Some parents try to convince their children that 'Hitler' was hero and so was the 'Osama bin Laden'.
How can they fill their children with hatred? Why do they not give their child a chance to form their own opinions about historic personalities? Why do they teach their children to hate someone? Isn't is wrong?
How will you deal with your child if he shouts a slogan like,
'5 Rupayeme Pepsi hai,Soniya Gandhi Sexy hai?'
Will you laugh on him,slap him or make him understand 'what is right and what is wrong?'.
please think about it...
'5 Rupayeme Pepsi hai,Soniya Gandhi Sexy hai?'
Will you laugh on him,slap him or make him understand 'what is right and what is wrong?'.
please think about it...
This was wonderful, friend! A very needed word in today's highly volatile state. I grew up in a very "angry" home, and I now see how as a young child it truly crumbled my sensitive spirit. Children really are blank slates....and it is up to us to show them the way of love, acceptance and tolerance of all people, cultures, religious perspectives, etc. Thank you for sharing....~ alice
ReplyDelete'Gandhi will forever be the father of our nation and none can oppose it'
ReplyDeleteThis is not a possibility but a rule and as children of our nation, we have got to accept it with pride.
lei it be "One man for the whole of India, the whole of India for one man"
Do visit my blog someday:
sriramnivas.wordpress.com
Thanks Alice....
ReplyDeleteSriram, we can not make such rule :p
Thanks 4 ur comment
You have referred to a child from the General category blaming Ambedkar because of the reservation system. And I don't see why he is wrong in it - for taday, the bane of a child'es education is the wretched Reservation system which is no longer serving the purpose for which it was intended in the 1950s. Besides, over 60 years have passed since that idiotic rule was created. Isn;t it high time it was changed?
ReplyDeleteI strictly feel that at certain age children can definitely decide whom to follow or whom to not.
ReplyDeleteFilling them with hatred at tender age can suppress their ability to think.You have misunderstood my post.
Anyway,thanks 4 reading MerryMusing :)
Your post is so blunt! Thanks for sharing such opinions. I too felt bad once when a teenager abused Nehru for being a Casanova! No wonder, it was his seniors who were speaking from his head!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Indie :)
Thanks 4 comment Indie :)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Mathson
ReplyDeleteWhat you say Mr. Doddamani is very true. Only one man who managed to unite the country in testing times. However, I'm one of the people who mirrors the thoughts of the 14 year old in your class. I could get into a whole battle of economic and political issues, but I'd rather refrain from that here. What we have to understand is that its just someone venting his/her frustration (even in case of Dr. Ambedkar)at not getting a chance to prove himself/herself on the basis of merit.
ReplyDeleteInnocence of child should not be curbed forcefully using your poltical data at tender age...is what I want to suggest from this post.
ReplyDeleteThanks Vishal for your comment..
I have to agree and disagree with your post at the same time.
ReplyDeleteDisagree because I personally feel that there were some mistakes which Bapu made, but at the same time I don't disrespect him because he has given me a lot of things in returns.
Agree because I cannot pass my opinion to my child; never. I strongly feel that children should always be given neutral information without any judgement and then it should be left on them to judge what is right and what is wrong. The scenario you described above is exactly like forcing our principals on our children which again is a wrong precedence.
Juss like that...
Thanks Animesh;
ReplyDeleteI m happy that someone understood the Message of this post...:)
Many parents force their opinion on their children. They shouldn't interfere with the child's choices. They should present them the general picture and allow them to decide for themselves.
ReplyDeleteRight Ashwini,
ReplyDeleteThanks 4 comment
That is a good one! yep parents and media and even friends do that.. I say, let them learn it on their own, from the facts they get and then try to prove their feeling, rather than singing the same tune..
ReplyDeleteThanks 4 reading KP
ReplyDeleteIts shocking how some people enforce their opinion on their children. The children end up with half-baked knowledge.
ReplyDeleteSeriously...
ReplyDeleteThanks Lazy :p
An apt articl dat comes at a time when Gandhi Jayanti has bristled past like another holiday. There's this colleague of mine who abhors Gandhi for she thinks the man was responsible for sending Bhagat Singh to gallows, when I asked her if she could enlist some of the achievements of the frail man who take the entire world by storm, the question was followed by a mum. Gen-next needs to get their factoids set staright before they idolize or relegate the stature of anyone, unfortunately while these youngsters including professional would spend hours scouring through status messages on social networking portals they would'nt care two hoots to pick a book that would help them reach 2 substantive conclusions!
ReplyDeleteTwice or thrice I stayed away from this (indivine)post.. Why?? The title - there are many Gandhi haters who also know how to spread hatred using blogs... and I assumed this one to be similar!!
ReplyDeleteGlad that I did finally choose to open the link and go thru it only to find the content totally opposite!! Reinforces "Never judge a book by its cover nor a blog by its title" thought ;)
Recently read the famous trial-speech of Nathuram Godse somewhere... a reasonable man speaking... but the murder itself does not justify his reasons... that's a different story altogether!! mabbe some other day...
My take is - only reading the history from a neutral point of view can help us! And we are so much obsessed with our pre-notions, notions, conceptions that we never understand - we just form a misguided opinion and stand by it till "the very end"... does not help... you have to be flexible in your thoughts as well... values are non-compromise-able but you can atleast agree that there can be other ways of thinking!
I have a friend who is not a supporter of Gandhi.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing to do would be to always present a balanced view. Reservation is good, but only if it benefits the right people, not a bunch of rich kids who have every facility from coaching classes to good schooling. Also, there are many people who selflessly laid down their lives for independence and just because you are a Gandhian, disrespecting or disregarding these martyrs is not justified. These freesom fighters too had a great impact and their contribution has to be honoured.
Gandhi was a real chootiya who just licked the balls of Britishers.
ReplyDeleteHe should have died much earlier so that India could have been a stronger nation.
It was the fighters who won us independence. Gandhi was just a big friend for Britishers and they could have ruled India for a couple more centuries if Indians had not resorted to violence and killing of their officers.
@ Akanksha, Abu, Shreyonti,Angus...
ReplyDeleteThanks 4 comments
I am sorry to again comment on the same post but could not stop myself after seeing one of the comments here. First, I don't feel that this post is about Gandheeji (it's not a discussion whether was he wrong or right). It's about what we teach to our children or do we even have those rights?
ReplyDeleteMoreover, somehow I also feel that any person who had a charm of attracting such a big crowd of people must have something special, and for that matter I adore Osama also (I DON'T SUPPORT HIM, please....). Only because I don't understand one or do not agree to one's viewpoint does not mean that the person in question is wrong. And calling someone of such a stature ch..ya can certainly not be appreciate. I can't remember many people who are respected worldwide. In fact, there are only two: Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Mandela.
People, please show that you're educated and not only illiterate by NOT making such comments.
Why blame the child..he was saying what he had been taught by his father..there are atleast two sides of coin but do we all see the other side..I am not shocked that he hates Gandhi as he has a reason to what I am worried about is that he or rather his father didn't try to find the reason why India gave 55 crore rupees to Pakistan during partition.
ReplyDeleteHi Animesh,
ReplyDeleteActually I did approved Agnus comment because the second part of his comment seems to be common myth in all Gandhi haters,that we could have achieved Independence through Violence.I don't know how to delete bad words from comment.
@ Bemoneyaware
Thanks 4 comment
hai,
ReplyDelete"My Experiment with Truth", is avaiable and the younger generation can have a easy acess about Mahatma. One should understand that Gandhiji lived like an ordinary human being and he said all about him openly in his biograph. No one whould come out as truly as Gandhiji. He is truly a Great idol for every one.
Hi Murali,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great info.