Dear Mr.Gandhi,
First of all, hearty congratulations to you on your 143rd birthday!
Gandhiji , I really appreciate what you did for our country, India, 63 years ago but all your efforts seem to have gone in vain. Your principles and ideology just seem to be a joke to the citizens of today.
You adopted the policy of non-violence to achieve independence but in today’s India, all that seems to exist is violence. People pick their knives and hockey sticks for the smallest of things. You stood up for every Indian no matter what class or caste he belonged to, and today all we Indians do is fight against each other, the biggest clash being between the Hindus and the Muslims.
You struggled to help the poor farmers and labourers and put an end to discrimination, but all of it still exists.
On one hand, the ordinary citizens seem to have forgotten you and your principles (all that matters to them is a holiday on your birthday); on the other, you have been the centre of attraction for cinema. Not only in Bollywood, but Hollywood as well. The latest movie based on your ethics was directed by Rajkumar Hirani titled Lage Raho Munna Bhai. The movie was centred on your non –violent ideology.
The theme of Lage Raho Munna Bhai revived an interest in “Gandhigiri”. It became all hip and happening to behave like your disciple.
After the release of the film, “Gandhigiri” style protests began to take place in the United States and India. Over a three day period, hundreds of flower bouquets were sent to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services office by Indians who were legally in the U.S. but caught in a green card backlog.
There have also been a number of protests in India which were inspired by the film. Farmers staged a protest with flowers in the Vidarbha region, and people who organised a protest in Lucknow claimed to have been inspired by Lage Raho Munna Bhai to use roses to convey their message.
All this is fine, but it was only a matter of few days.
People have forgotten that ideology now.
Are your ethics theoretical in today’s world?
There is no place for values or respect; are you interesting only as a subject for a movie?
There is a serious need for Gandhi’s reincarnation on this earth; after all, we couldn’t possibly lead our lives based on a movie right?
What would that lead to?!
Regards,
Shraddha Jandial
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