The crucifixion of a Mahatma

A great soul stands nailed to a crucifix in this case it was done by his own so called supporters. How ironical that people who have been recipients of the Mahatma's rich ideals and principles -something invaluable are fighting over something as inexpensive and irrelevant as his eye glasses, watch and sandals. I feel the Mahatma would have foreseen this and hence decided to limit his material possessions, yet India seems to be bent on trying arm twisting tactics to prevent the auction of the Mahatma's belongings by a US based arts collector.

60 years ago the Mahatma handed down another legacy to us - freedom - I leave it to the judgment of the reader to ascertain how well we have valued and maintained that legacy. The Mahatma handed down to us values, he taught us non-violence, he taught us to stand up against injustice, fight for the poor and above all he taught us and the whole world the power of peaceful resistance. These legacies are undoubtedly far more valuable than his Sterling Watch or wire framed eye glasses. Yet there are people who feel having these possessions will make India much different than what it really is and suddenly everyone seems so avaricious to grab the possessions of a man who chose to give everything and keep very little. And presuming that the representatives of the country do outbid others in the auction and are successful in bringing back the Mahatma's possessions I wonder what would be the fate of these articles. History is our witness to how well we maintain articles of heritage - General Niazi's pistol (which he surrendered at the end of the 1971 war), was stolen some years back from the National Museum in New Delhi and never found, Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel Medal was stolen from Shantiniketan and there is very little known about the inquiry the Buddha had ordered about the incident. It is a colossal waste of our diplomats' effort, given that we have such a great track record of conserving our heritage.

I can appreciate Mr. Tushar Gandhi's efforts to secure these articles as they have more of a personal value for him, which is why he initiated a fund for collecting the necessary amount to buy back Gandhiji's personal belongings, yet the fact that he has collected hardly a fraction of the amount needed to qualify as a bidder indicates how the folks in general feel about this. Of course we are known to be fickle and I wouldn't be surprised if the fund suddenly swells up to $500,000 by tomorrow morning and Mr Tushar Gandhi does succeed in getting back these articles. But my question then would be? Was it really worth the money spent, the image of Gandhiji I have, from all the documentaries I have seen and the books I have read says NO! I feel Gandhiji would have been happier to see this money spent on the educating the poor and providing better living conditions for them.

Gandhiji stood for fairness and had he been alive today I wonder if he would have appreciated the tactics India is using to stall the auction of items which I am sure he would not have attributed much value to. Mr. James Otis the gentleman who is auctioning the items seems to have very noble intentions - he has indicated that he would donate the proceeds from the auction to charity, he has also mentioned that he could readily cancel the auction if India agreed to a fivefold increase in domestic healthcare funding or sponsoring a worldwide tour of memorabilia associated with the nonviolence movement. I am surprised that despite all this we are not willing to make a compromise. In my opinion whoever buys these articles would treasure them as much as we do (The greatest movie about Gandhiji was made by a Briton names Sir Richard Attenborough), I just don't see any justification in spending a tonne of money on articles of national pride or should I say ego, which according to me will do little to alleviate the miseries of the millions that starve in India every day.

Studies indicate that the prevalence of Myopia is very low among Indians though this entire drama makes me doubt that claim. In the fight for getting back the Mahatma's meager possessions; we have just ended up reducing the teachings of this great soul to a great farce.