Six decades after his death, Mahatma Gandhi remains one of the most recognized change-makers in the world. On Saturday, some of his ashes were scattered by his relatives off the coast of South Africa, a place that was home to the fruition of his battle against social injustice. In 1893, when Gandhi was kicked off a train for refusing to leave the “whites only” compartment, he began his non-violent struggle against discrimination. Working as a lawyer in the Indian community, he took up the fight for human rights for all. At age 46 – when most of us are dreaming of retirement – Gandhi returned to his home country of India to help in their fight for independence. It was there 1948 where he was shot to death in New Delhi by an extremist.
The fact that his death was met by nothing short of the very kind of action that he was advocating against is the type of irony that will always exist in the world, but it should never let us be discouraged. As Gandhi reminded us:
“ I am not a visionary. I claim to be a practical idealist. The religon of non-violence is not meant merely for the rishis and saints. It is meant for the common people as well. Nonviolence is the law of our species as violence is the law of the brute. The spirit lies dormant in the brute and he knows no law, but that of physical might. The dignity of man requires obedience to a higher law – to the strength of a spirit.”
It is a reminder that what we set out to do here on earth is not going to be easy. If we want to set the human race apart from the animal kingdom, then we must act like humans. We must abandon our animal instinct and look to something higher: the strength of a spirit. It is often argued that the presence of a consciousness is what makes us the most intelligent species, but I disagree. Anyone can have a conscious; it’s what they choose to do with it. It as the great Gandhi also suggested:
“The world will live in peace, only when the individuals composing it make up their mines to do so.”
If you build it, they will come. So change-makers, let us pause to remember the work of great Gandhi on the 62nd anniversary of his death, but as a show of even greater respect, get back to work. We’ve still got a lot of building to do.
