Traces of Gandhi in Modern India
With his non-violent revolution Gandhi played a major role in India’s struggle for independence and the fact that people are calling him “The Father of the Nation” only seems to confirm his importance and his impact on the development of the Indian country. I couldn’t help but ask myself what was left of Gandhi in Modern India: In which way is Gandhi still relevant today? What is left of his legacy, his ideas?
There is one point of view stating that Gandhi more or less lost his relevance in India today because the actual state of the country and its development are pretty much opposed to all Gandhian ideas. The first half of this article I found online (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/aug/14/india.features111) especially discusses positions opposed to Gandhi’s ideas within the political area: “to say that Indian politicians have since dishonoured Gandhi’s advice would be an understatement”.
Nevertheless, the second half of the article does also focus on what is left of Gandhi’s ideas in today’s India. Here the author names four fields where one can still detect Gandhian influence: the environment, faith, non-violent resistance and public life (for more details I strongly recommend to read the article). Plus, the article also names several feminist or human rights movements as fields where Gandhi’s influence is still “alive”.
When travelling through India, I visited the National Gandhi Museum in New Delhi and saw numerous paintings and statues of Gandhi all over India. Did you know that the Indian banknotes also display his portrait (since 1996)?
I personally feel like the omnipresence of Gandhi in India is not only linked to his historical significance for the country, but also shows that people (not only in India but all over the world) see him as an inspiration and a figure conveying (personal) awareness and a certain idea of life.
