"A reasonable man tries to adapt himself to the world, but an unreasonable man makes the world adapt to him and all progress depends on the unreasonable man"
Imagine how everything would be if life went like this... the sun rises...the cock crows...You get up...Do your daily chores...etc.etc...Take a nap...wakeup again...etc.etc...sleep for another eight hours and the wheel moves on. Boring isn't it? Don't you think there is a need for a change? For something, out of the ordinary, past the mundane, off the beaten track?
It is only when someone thinks that things ought not to be the way they are that there is progress.
History tells us the same thing. Imagine how the world would be if some unreasonable man hadn't decided to rebel againt the roman empire?...We would still be seeing half-naked men draped in shawls with olive reeds on their heads,olympics would always be held in Athens.And Gaul would still be defending itself? True, Rome wasn't built in a day. But still, I like the present day world better.
Think of how the world would be if Jesus Christ hadn't spread "the good word of god"?Majority of the world wouldn't have a man on a cross, dangling on a chain, around their necks.
Or if Christopher Columbus hadn't decided to go against the Turks and take the sea route to India?...We still wouldn't know that the American continents existed.
Think of how the world would be if Gandhi hadn't decided to use the yet-unheard-of methods of Sathyagraha and Non-violence to fight against the colonisers?...The sun still wouldn't set on the British empire.
Think of what would've happened if Hitler hadn't decided to overrule the Versailles Treaty? Germany would've burnt its boots. And most of all Democracy wouldn't have as strong a hold in Eurasia as it has now.
So, I think that its only change which brings progress to the world and hence would want to make it the motto of my life ( Until, ofcourse, some "unreasonable" man decides that it should change)
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20 comments:
Got to ur page thro' Shashi's and I don't know abt other articles...but this one is real good.
Did u know there is a genre of books that deal with questions u have raised... What if there was no Gandhi, Wht if Hitler wasn't defeated and the like. They r called 'Alternate Histroy'. Do chk it out...maybe someday u can write one abt Indian history (most Alt-Hist books r American based).
Keep up ur good work.
tuhina! lovely post!
"unreasonable"? i'd say he's a natural...!
and ur last line is superb... again! wonderful post! :)
and if there was no gandhi..there would have been no pakistan and the front row in movie halls wouldn't be called gandhi class.
and we would have gotten freedom a lot earlier. Damn you bald headed asshole...
damn u anon! god knows if u'd b alive if not for freedom fighters... god knows if u'd be able to "damn" anybody, leave alone gandhi
dont ever attempt predicting life altering landmarks of the past, because after all u r no one to
Come on ppl! Whoever Gandhi is and whatever he did is all fine... lets not put him up in a pedestal. Lets just accept that he is human, therefore fallible. When we remember Gandhi as a human and not a Mahatma we realise he was a great human; much better than anyone of his era.
But maybe some of anon's accusations r right (even if his asshole comment was totally unwarranted). Let us all think of the good things Gandhi has done and discount his mistakes (if any, depending on ur perception of Gandhi).
There is this widespread notion of Gandhi vs Bose- (cowardliness vs bravery or non-violence vs rightful war). And ppl think it fashionable to hate Gandhi (I know... I did). May I suggest these ppl to read more of our history (as an unbiased bystander) and I am sure they'll take a better stance. Knowledge, they say is empowering.
And I do urge anyone commenting to leave a name (even a fictitious one wud do but some name)
priya and speech..., ever heard this?
"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt
typo - should have been "ever read this?"
Oh cool...look everyone is angry 'cause i think gandhi is an idiot.
Well...as for folks who think i shouldn't be trying to alter the past by predicting...or...er..er..whatever....the point is it just might have been a better option to simply pick up a gun and blow the British away.
as for facts...
jinnah asked for the partion thingee, but exactly six months later he dies of tubercolosis. he was the only one who wanted the split. gandhi and gang gave in instead of giving him the finger.
fact two..gandhi's kiss-ass side kick nehru was having an affair with edwina mountbatten. he also screwed up during the pakistan war. we could have peacefully taken over the country and right now a lot of people would have been saved the pain of being killed in kargil.
and if you still think gandhi is great...sucks to you.
as for my name...it doesn't really matter
u don't seem to have read what Theodore Roosevelt has to say... hehe... whatever! and yeah priya, y dont u invite him to join your blog? (i decided that the anon's a he)
@ anonymous
some of what you are saying is right
but the point is whether for good or bad gandhi's methods were epoch making
Anonymous!
Obviously u have read some bit of history and not a dunce as u first appeared to be. That Jinnah had tuberclosis was the most closely guarded secret of the Muslim League. Gandhi or anyone in the Congress did not know it. But what u r forgetting is that Jinnah was just the leader of a group that demanded Pakistan. It was not like he was fighting for a country for himself. There were a group of people who rightfully feared that India will fall in the hands of Hindu Fundamentalists. The events tht led to partition and the political signs clearly indicated that it was a possibility. thts y a seperate nation theory was born.
Again, Nehru did not peacefully 'take over' Pakistan during the war b'coz tht IS an act of aggression (can u imagine Pakistan peacefully occupying India). That wud make him a George Bush and he was a pacifist (remember NAM). He genuinely believed there cud be peace.
What Nehru did with Mrs. Mountbatten doesn't matter here. Frankly it is not a historic certainty... it is only speculation (Unless u held the light when he f***** her).
I disagree with ur views but respect ur 'ignorant' opinion.
Shashi! Lots of ppl say a lot o thngs. Yeah right! Theodore Roosevelt said somethng and it reads well. So does it make it the indisputable truth? there will always be ppl who ignore such wisdom. simple example: i can never play cricket like Sachin but when i watch a match and see him play a Godawful silly shot and get out, i can yell at him. I don't have to be an expert. i don't have to have my face marred by dust. i don't have to be Sachin. But Sachin can't play like that - same way great leaders can't do silly mistakes and escape scathing attacks.
Priya and Tuhina! Good work keeping ur cool with the anonymous commenter. And with an overzealous me.
speech!... his statement is an absolute, not everyone's.
i'd rather stay anonymous. nothing against anyone of you but the fact is that you probably know me...complicated...nevermind. I am really really confortable with the no name status.
Actions might be epoch making yes...but they need not be glorified. Ends do not always justify the means. Hitler killed millions of Jews in concentration camps. The Americans massacred fols in 'Nam and in Japan. The Chinks took over Tibet. All epoch making but not exactly heartwarming or something that makes you feel good about life...
The point i am trying to make is there is no point in glorifying things to make you feel good about yourself in life.
In fact life is downright shitty...almost everything is a pain and makes you feel like dropping everything and walking away...
And i think i am going to stop posting on this post anymore. It might just rub people the wrong way and things might go awry. Two of my favorite blogs were deleted because of comments like this...
and once again sorry...nothing personal in those comments
Hey anon!
Lemme admit tht i doubt if the first comments came from the same person who wrote the last two. You started with 'Gandhi is a asshole' and now u philosophise abt 'dropping everything and walking away'.
But can't u see from wat u urself have written that there is a difference bet'n a Gandhi/Nehru and a Hitler. Doesn't intent count for anything. Hitler wanted to prove his supremacy and massacred ppl. China wanted land (and curb buddhism) and captured Tibet (more like claimed).
Gandhi's (and later Nehru) intentions were, however always peace - genuine peace. Not peace at the pointing of a gun. they meant well. give them tht credit, won't u?
but i totally agree tht we have glorified our leaders enuf (but lets not overcompensate for it). An ancient tamil verse to tht effect. (sorry for cut-paste)
Any place is a city indeed, and all are kindred;
Good and evil do not proceed from others.
Suffering and soothing are to these similar.
Even death is not new. We would neither feel the thrill of
Calling life pleasant; nor would we out of spite
Call it unpleasant. Just as, when with lightning
The sky pours cool drops, uncontrolled,
Hurtling on rock, resounding, a raft is carried away
In the course of (a) great river of plenty,
In the course of Order is (our) dear soul carried;
Since we have been enlightened by this vision of the wise,
We would not be amazed by the great in their glory, and
We would even less despise the petty.
it is the same guy. trust me on my honour that it is.
hey! nice blog.. i specially liked the last bit.. very well written...
don't you think everything is changing all the time though we may not perceive it? change seems to be the nature of the world and it just happens on its own. i guess it's all about just moving with the change as much as bringing about a change. does that sound 'unreasonable' :-)
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