'We must understand issues facing society'

OLD-SCHOOL THOUGHT

The freedom struggle forms a major part of history but the stories about it remain restricted to the pages of the history books. Recently, the coming together of youth in many cities to show their support to activist Anna Hazare who fasted for the Lokpal Bill, left many wondering about the relevance of Gandhian ideology. Metrolife asks the youth in the City if they relate to the ideas of Gandhi in today’s time.

“The youth are supporting the Anna Hazare movement in a big way which shows that they do relate to the Gandhian ideology. We do rise upto the occasion when needed and though the Gandhian ideology was lost for a while in between, it has come back to life with the help of Anna Hazare. The young people are the ones who believe in Gandigiri and even worked together in the Jessica Lall murder case,” says Anupama G J, an architect. Others agree. “Events like these do make the Gandhian way seem more practical. Rather than just reading about it in books, when you actually watch it happen, you can relate to it more easily,” says Rashmi, a BSc student.

Being young no longer means you are not bothered about issues and the same has been seen in the past few days. “Being a part of this generation, it is important for us to understand issues facing the society like corruption. Also, though the ideals of Gandhigiri are deep-rooted, most social evils in our country need a lot more than just the mere passing of a bill,” says Moses, a journalism student in St Joseph’s Evening College. “The young have their own carefree attitude but that does not mean that they don’t care about the country,” says Anupama.

Others say that while they can connect with the ideals, more effort is surely required. “Though the Gandhian way of doing things is great, I feel other methods should be employed. We are 30 years behind other nations and there are many other problems plaguing the country than just corruption. Though Anna Hazare is a great crusader, more needs to be done,” says Mohit Agarwal, a student of PES Institute of Technology. But in spite of the fervour seen all over, a few cynics still exist. “The media has branded this movement as a revolution. I find it hard to believe that everyone supports this movement. Anna’s movement is Gandhian only in structure but not in ideology. Gandhi’s bid was to overthrow the system and design a new system of our own. Anna’s fast was to make us complacent with the system,” says Ashvin Varghese, a BA student.