Course on Gandhigiri?

This one is in response to stories posted on hindustantimes.com some time ago, according to which Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and Kota Open University in Rajasthan (http://hindustantimes.com/news/7097_1849008,008700010014.htm) are going to introduce courses on Mahatma Gandhi. They said it was an attempt to revisit the paths shown by the Mahatma.

This is what I have to say on the issue.

I believe that the prime reason behind the aloofness on the part of today's common man regarding Gandhian principles is the degree of intellectualisation that has been woven around the principles. In the post-Gandhian times in India, except for a handful of individuals (like Binoba Bhave and others) here and there, we have hardly had people who have realised the relevance of the Mahatma's principles in their individual, familial or social lives. The principles remained mostly confined to scholarly books and research papers, and the practitioners, if any, to the Ashrams in Wardha and Sabarmati. According to one of my friends, we, in India, do not follow Gandhi, but celebrate him – only for our short-term benefits.

Studying Gandhi at the college or the university is certainly not the best we can do to return to his principles. Of course, it is not a completely futile effort either. But, colleges and universities are levels where students read or, for that matter, cram up the chapters in order to obtain marks.

So, our effort should be to make sure that we do not end up with just another diploma or degree course. There is a lot more than that to Gandhigiri. The Mahatma can be studied right from the school level, and in the simplest of the ways. It is not that our syllabi do not have chapters on Gandhi. What we need is to present the same things to the younger generations in such a manner that they inculcate the principles in their day-to-day life. The youngsters can at least be initiated to think.