As a culture, one of our hallmarks, is the ability to deify, build rituals, but lose the essence, of the great men and women, who walked before us.

We build temples, and take their words as cast in stone. We create rituals, and we create new Gods. But, the leanings are lost. We bring them out once a year, dust them out, offer them flowers, prayers, talk about their values in our life, and then get on with other stuff. And, it is rinse and repeat, every single year.

Today is Gandhi Jayanti, “Dry Day” as Munnabhai said famously in the film. And, it is the day every major leader, industrialist, actor, celebrity, talks about Gandhi and his impact on their life. Gandhi would have been amused. For all his failings, his sense of humour was intact (and before i get trolled for saying he had faults, it is something he readily accepted)>

 

everytime i read this, i am struck by how apt this is. I wonder if it was like this in his era, or is it unique to ours.