Gandhiji's Life - A Message
However, we have to examine whether there is anything in human nature that is constant in all these changes. Is there a moral or ethical sense which one could define, as perfect and constant, whatever be the environment in which man lives and whatever changes in the environment man brings about? This is the kind of question that Gandhiji asked himself. Gandhiji, when asked whether he could look forward to a perfect society, meaning a perfectly moral and just society, said that he could not say with confidence that he could achieve it but added: "I can certainly try and perfect this small corner of the universe, which is my heart and I will try to that."
This total conviction of Gandhiji that man, acting in accordance with his inner moral sense, could find a way to perfect himself had cataclysmic consequences when it was translated into social action. He was a living example and inspiration to millions of people, who reacted to social injustice and human inequality enforced on them. They derived hope and sustenance from Gandhiji's faith. If there are two issues that have agitated the world in the last hundred years and given rise to actions and movements that have changed the map of the world, one can say that they are colonialism and racism. It was Gandhiji's farsightedness and insight into human affairs that led him unerringly to challenge both as long ago as 1890's in Southern Africa.
What can we do in our present-day situation that would justify our living in the same century as Gandhiji? Were he alive today, what would he expect of us or of the world which thought it had solved its problems at the end of World War II, only to wake up to realise that man's striving for a better world is endless? It is often said that people from India tend to moralise and preach to the world. I do not wish to do that. I would rather speak about what an Indian could do in the same search as of Gandhiji's for a better world.
The struggle of man for perfection will go on. As I said, it is endless. Gandhiji's life and teachings are an inspiration, a beacon light to us. They should keep us on the correct path and remind us that the means are as important as the ends and that man's motivations matter as much as his accomplishments. Gandhiji's ideas have continued to inspire people fighting for diverse causes in diverse lands, but, as I said, it was not merely that the words he preached were eloquent and therefore, appealed to the people, but rather that the life he lived itself became a message to others.