THE LONAVALA DAYS

 

The contrasts and similarity between two sons of Gujarat.

One a Mahatma and another a megalomaniac. Both leaders. Making a comparison between them may invite harsh criticism. This is needed for everyone on whom the nation’s future rests.
1. Gandhi was from the merchant class who became a barrister at law and set up a practice in South Africa where the noble class from India migrated to. Modi, aka Feku, probably never went to a college and also was from a merchant class, who sold tea.
2. Gandhi was shy. Not a very good speaker. Modi loves to have the public applaud him and is a good speaker.
3. Gandhi used simple messages and symbols to communicate. However, he imbibed in himself the essential principles he espoused. Like wearing a loin cloth similar to that worn by the poor, cleaned his own home, practiced ahimsa and truth, principles he tried not to dilute, ever.  Modi was comfortable with the rich, wore clothes that the rich wore and spend lots of time finetuning his own looks and grooming. He never came out as a man for the poor but instead he pampered the rich men. He had no compulsions on the need to telling the truth nor he seem to care about using violence to counter violence.
4. Gandhi published a newspaper Young India with editions in English, Hindi, Tamil and Guajarati. Also, a magazine named Harijan.  He used these as a means to communicate to ordinary people both in Africa and India. He wrote various articles espousing his philosophy in many publications. He undertook long marches across India, on foot, to connect with the masses. Modi took over control of most Indian media and punished those who do not toe his line. He held election rally’s and connected with people with his style and messages which he himself never believed in.
5. Gandhi undertook satyagraha whenever people and leaders around him deviated from his path. Modi unleashed the investigation agencies or sacked officers whenever anyone deviated from his command.
6. Gandhi was all for nonviolence, freedom from suppression, was for full liberty, and a cast free society. A staunch Hindu himself, without the stranglehold of rituals and organised religions. He set up his own ashram, held daily prayer meetings and lived a simple life. Gandhi was a strong believer in God and all the right of religions to practice their own faith.
Modi had no such compulsions. His philosophy was that of the divisive RSS with its own version of Hinduism.   He publicly ran propaganda events by participation in Hindutva rituals.    Modi openly divided the nation into Hindu vs other religions. He fuelled passions towards Hindutva and against other faiths.
7. Gandhi never was power hungry and worked on his own.  Modi is self-possessed and relishes power.
8. Gandhi got world recognition purely for his simplicity, commitment to what he believes and nonviolence as an instrument of change. He was never submissive to the British rulers, stood his ground and was called “The naked fakir”   by Churchill. Modi went around the world, willing to play second fiddle but almost pleading for being recognised.
9. Gandhi was brave enough to admit his mistakes and took penance if he committed one through fasting. Though this he clearly showed that he stood for the truth. Modi never ever admits to the numerous mistake’s he commits. Instead, he encourages distortion of truth to save his reputation.
10. Gandhi had critics all around him, many of them stalwarts themselves, but he never avoided seeking their views. He respected them and their opinions. Since he did not have power, he would take up fasting to protest against any policy he strongly felt is not right. He took pain and suffering upon himself to convey his difference of opinion. His critics then corrected their ideas or tried to convince Gandhi. Modi does not allow criticism and hardly responds to it. He believes he knows all.

Both are personalities, product of their times, who has little in common. Both could sway the masses. Both uses the media to communicate. Poles apart in truthfulness and human values. One shy another a publicity seeker. One got freedom this region never ever had before, without shedding blood while the other, instead, diluted it severely.
Both impacted India and the first one  left the world with an enviable legacy for all of the world while the other will leave with a legacy that history will judge harshly.