JOIN USStop bribing, it's also a way to fight corruption: Gandhian
Do you know what’s the tool to fight against corruption? Stop bribing.
This was how Gandhian Narayan Desai replied to a poser on corruption that’s plaguing the nation.
Narayan Desai who was private secretary to Mahatma Gandhi for 10 years, was at Mysore District Journalists Association (MDJA) here on Friday.
In his interaction with the media, Desai traced the roots of corruption to pre-Independence days. He said that corruption is never one-sided. Making a mockery of the mindset of the people in the present genre he said “People work for rights, but forget their duties towards the society”.
On the frequently asked question “Is Gandhi still relevant?” Desai said “Gandhiji is more relevant today than the time he existed. Violence, unemployment and disparity exist, even after so many years of attaining independence. Rich are becoming richer and poor, poorer thus widening the gap between haves and have nots.”
By asking about the necessity of Gandhiji’s relevance, Indians are exposing their guilty conscious mind. Said Desai: “I have travelled across 32 nations and it’s only in India that the Gandhiji’s relevance is asked.” By reaffirming so, he substantiated his charge on Indians that ‘they are suffering from a guilt.’
To a query on the changes if any that may have come to his notice after his ‘Gandhi Katha’ (telling the story of Mahatma Gandhiji), Desai said change is in the people and he is only doing the job of taking Gandhi to them.
Desai, as told to media, was a one month old baby when his mother took him to the ashram Gandhiji was staying in. Desai’s father Mahadev Desai was already a principal secretary to Gandhiji. As the whole of environs was influenced by Gandhiji, it was natural for Narayan Desai to come under the influence of a great personality. He also went on to become the private secretary to Gandhiji and was incarcerated along with Bapuji when the latter was in Agha Khan Palace.
Gandhi Katha, has taken Desai to places and Mysore in Karnataka is his first. In his home state Gujarat alone, Desai has to his credit 70 kathas, 20 outside Gujarat but inside India and 10 abroad.
Why he ventured out with ‘Gandhi Katha’ it was nothing but an urge to float an alternative medium, as media (newspapers and TV channels) is ruled by advertisers. “I am taking Gandhiji to people,” asserted Narayan Desai.
Desai appealed to the people to listen to him in Gandhi Katha, and it will be his responsibility to draw him towards the event for the next four days. Starting from Friday (June 1), Desai is presenting ‘Gandhi Katha’ for a period of five days, daily from 5 pm to 8 pm at Vijaya Vittala Vidyashala, Saraswatipuram. Gandhian Surendra Kaulagi and others were present.