'One should adopt Gandhi's principles in life'

SIMPLE POLICY

His fast, along with the other activities, for a strong Lokpal Bill had a positive impact on today’s young minds.

The youth, that had earlier thought Gandhian values are irrelevant as they hadn’t seen his struggle for the freedom of the country, could relate to Anna’s movement.

The whole nation called him the new Gandhi just when one thought Gandhi and his principles were losing their meaning.

Through his Gandhian principles, Anna made youngsters connect to the ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi.

Most of them feel that Anna’s movement helped them learn more about Gandhi. However, at the same time the youth feels politicians are brutally misusing the Gandhian ideologies to achieve their political interests.

Sushanth, a professional, feels Anna Hazare has become the new hero of the present generation. “Just as we were fed up of the present political situation, Anna came as a solution to all the evils of the country. His lifestyle is similar to that of Gandhi as both advocate simplicity. Anna doesn’t have any political aspirations or greed for materialistic life. He has also maintained a clean image like Gandhi. So he has inspired many minds and ignited them to know more about Gandhi,” he opines.

But he feels sad that politicians misuse Gandhi’s weapon of fasting.

“Though they don’t have any moral right to utter Gandhi’s name, they consider themselves as Gandhian followers. The fasts by Narendra Modi in Gujarat and B Sriramulu in Karnataka look ridiculous as citizens are wise enough to decide who is right and who is wrong. I wish more people were inspired by Anna Hazare to follow simple living and have a clean image,” he adds.

Even the sale of Gandhi caps and khadi kurtas helped revive the Gandhian ideology.

 “After my visit to the Freedom Park during the anti-corruption agitation, I came to know about the history of Gandhi caps and khadi clothes. Out of curiosity, I read his autobiography ‘The Story of My Experiments With Truth’, which is an amazing story. After reading about him, I have changed my perceptions about him completely,” says Anand, an engineering student who will be wearing khadi kurta on ‘Gandhi Jayanthi’ this time.

Amith, a professional, feels that there is a need to revive Gandhian values as the present generation has totally forgotten Mahatma.

“Einstein had rightly said about Gandhi, ‘Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.’ Instead of merely wearing Gandhi topi or watching movies on him, one has to adopt his principles in life,” he opines. Like many others, he too feels that Anna has gained more popularity than Mahatma Gandhi.

 “This is because we can connect ourselves to Anna whereas we have just read or heard about Mahatma Gandhi. But it is great to hear that Anna is inspired by Gandhi and is inspiring us in turn,” says Ajay, a student.