Gandhi

If ever there needs to be a hook to introduce Gandhi it should be the following:

Private man, 
without wealth, 
without property, 
without official title
or office.

Mahatma Gandhi is not the commander of armies,
Nor a ruler of vast lands, 
he can not boast any scientific achievement 
or artistic gift. 

Yet men, 
government,
dignitaries 
from all over the world 
have joined hands today
to pay homage to this little brown man in lion cloth
who led his country to freedom”

Reporter during Gandhi’s funeral procession in Gandhi (film)

Gandhi has been one of my heroes. A lot can be learned from his life.

For me, two things stand out.

Create your own game

So, if Gandhi was not the commander of armies then how did he fight with the biggest and the most powerful army of the world?

He fought by NOT fighting.

He simply refused to play the game that armies play 🙂

He created his own game. Since he created his own game he had the liberty to set the rules of the game as well. 

The game he created was non-violence, the weapon of choice was disobedience and the rule of the game was – “one who does not fight, will be the one who wins!”

Now, bring your “biggest and the most powerful army of the world” and let’s see who wins 🙂

Suddenly the biggest strength of your enemy becomes his biggest weakness.

How innovative!

In the startup world, we talk a lot about category creation. For me, Gandhi remains the most impactful category creator of the last century.

Knowing what cannot be taken away from you

Excerpt from one of the protest speech Gandhi gave in South Africa (from the film Gandhi):

They will imprison us.
They will fine us.
They will seize our possessions.
But they cannot take away our self respect if we do not give it to them.
… we cannot loose.
We cannot…
They may torture my body…
Break my bones…
even kill me…
Then… they will have my dead body…
NOT MY OBEDIENCE.

Wow! Every single time I hear this speech from the film Gandhi it leaves me in awe.

There is something deep about something so simple. It points me to that inner reservoir of strength that remains untouched by external events, circumstances and people.

Some things can never be taken away from you. So, always draw your strength and inspiration from there. That will never fail you.

I have this little ritual which I do every 2nd October. I just spend some quiet time reflecting on Gandhi and his life. I also listen to and watch some of my favourite songs on Gandhi.

I am always left inspired.

Many more happy returns of the day Bapu!