Exercises of the mind never seem to stop. Absolutely tired me, with water gushing out of my eyes as I struggle to take this beast into control of sleep. They are not saline tears, but the result of the 7 sleepless nights which ended yesterday, and the void brain that has been depleting over the last 8 weeks of hard work. Unable to look into the monitor, yawning and rubbing eyes like kids with morning blues, it feels great to know I am not drunk, yet feels like my body is enslaved to white rum in blood. What melancholy this brings, and I don't want to miss the opportunity to forget the world alike, and become the poet. That poet who rarely existed after March'07 for all reasons good to believe.
In no order, I recollect Victor Hugo's words - "People do not lack strength, they lack will !" and Mr.M.K.Gandhi quoting, "If your heart acquires strength, you will be able to remove blemishes from others without thinking evil of them".
What Irony, I was thinking about my favorite leader SC Bose which triggered all this here. The fact that Gandhi(ji) was a reason to make him appear a failure in history, while Gandhi(ji) reaped all the fruits of "British hatred" against Bose, always hurt me. The question that drive this exchange is, "who was stronger ?". Both indeed were. Tolerance and courage, are two sides of the same coin named strength, akin to the concept of "the victim and the player". Some one's concept which has taken deep roots into me. One can very simply derive this from the words "Karta" and "Kaaran" from Bhagavatam, than following this wild-west concept. I will not debate much about that yet. Tolerance is a virtue, for, someone said to me, that, being a victim is the easiest to do. So true ! According to me, what differentiates tolerance and the victim spirit, is the vision and the end objective.
Going back to Gandhi(ji) and Bose, both men carried an impulse, the end goal was same. Bose's impulse faded for lack of sympathy of people. It is indeed a smart move for Gandhi(ji), to follow ahimsa, and non-violence. But the vision and the picture which drive this impulse, have to be made clear to people, to win the sympathy. Which is what Gandhi(ji) did. Both men had the same impulse, both opted to die for the Nation, both needed followers. But people also chose, to follow to their convenience. Gandhi(ji) chose death, with more options (Pain or life or death or humility), while Bose would always land up into 2 choices (Life or death). People were only clear about the choices available to them beyond life and death. Selfishness pays off ! But the biggest proof of similarity in these two men, is Gandhi(ji)'s slogan "Karo ya Maro", which came from the former, the ideal reflection of the latter's state of mind. If this was truly interpreted and some tolerance was showered on people who chose to follow Gandhi(ji), but do things differently, I would not have felt that Gandhi(ji) digressed from obvious points of speech. He did not fight for his fellow men blindly, but he fought for his ideologies and dreams about his fellow men. Often feels like "My way or highway". Exhibiting tolerance and the ability to see people without blemishes, would have been clear to me, if I read Veer Bhagat Singh and not Shaheed Bhagat Singh in history. It would have also meant INA as security at Dandi March and Jallian wala bagh ! The difference between these two men, is the way they handled things. One was a complicated man like the "offer subject to terms and conditions", while the other was a plain offer. Customer centrist played there as well.
Dhananjay told this to me, "Certain good things need marketing" in a different context though. But I realised the fact that SC Bose needed it too. I love both these men, for they succeeded in what they wanted to do, one was a catalyst aiding Gandhi, with the hatred & fear he instilled in the British, who ran to the non-violent mass. Both I feel, acted like Dominique and Roark in of fountain head. Each neither able to hate the other, nor able to admit the fact that they want the same things, done differently ! Opposition was support they best offered to each other ! The answer to the question of "stronger who ?", lies in the fact that one still gave away the place in history, for the other to bear the torch, without any complaints or confrontations.
When I say Bose, I am so close to him, the uncommonly common man, and am not forced to say Boseji, but when I say Gandhi, I am forced to see either the Mahatma or Ji behind it ! Such a frail government we have, who is so unjust to the leader, who gave us the Army, so vital to our nation and the only reason we still are an independent nation, and not a bunch of colonies ! Both deserve their due respects, but I don't want to distance myself from Bose. Like Keats, Darwin and Einstein, Bose will be with me !
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