Gandhigiri.
“Be the change you wish to see.”
-Mahatma Gandhi
The M cube along with some of our other friends did one such thing. We tried bringing a change in the thinking manner of a person on 2nd October, 2015, which is considered to be Gandhi Jayanti, the birthday of the great Mohandas Gandhi.
We had gone to Law Garden, a famous shopping hub for the upcoming season, Navaratri. While Meghna and Manasvi S. were engrossed in shopping, me and my other friends were busy talking about something. Suddenly, I see my friend, Manasa, staring at someone. Her faced was as if she’d been stabbed right in the heart. Following her gaze, I saw that this man had spitted on the main road. Not only once, he had done it more than twice. He knew very well that we were staring him for the same and he ignored us.
We thought giving him a death stare would be enough to make him feel ashamed. But, to our astonishment, he acted as if we didn’t exist.
Now, messing with “humanities” students is the last thing you do. And he had done it. Raging with anger I rushed to our other friends, grabbed them and told them what all had happened. In a minute we were ready with a plan of what we will do to teach this horrid human a lesson.
We had a handi camera and a DSLR. We put on the handicam and narrated what he had done. Then, we go to the person, who was actually a shopkeeper, barging in his shop. And then the show begins.
“Bhaiya, do you know that today is Gandhi Jayanti?”
“Well, yes. So?”
“We are from Press and we just saw what you did right now!”
“And what do you mean by that?”
“Well, do you have any clue what Swach Baharat Abiyan is all about?”
“Yes I do. But what have I done?”
“You spitted on the road! The main road! What if it landed on a trespasser?”
“Nothing happens! Everybody does it. Nobody cares.”
This conversation continued until he asked us to leave his shop as we were “disturbing his business”. Well, we think that even if he pretended that he doesn’t care, the next time he does it, he’s going to think twice.
Not only this, something else had us astonished right in the beginning of the day. In the morning we had all decided to meet. Now, three of our friends live in Bopal and they were coming to Vastrapur area on an Activa.
Without helmet.
Without licence.
Three people.
The policemen caught them. All three of them had chills running down their spines. When the policemen asked for the licence, they couldn’t show it. Neither could they give a good reason for breaking the other rules. They thought they would have to give a fine in the morning itself and that they are dead.
But can you imagine what the policemen did?
All that they did was, they gave them a red rose, and also took a ‘selfie’ with them. Saying,
“Today is Gandhi Jayanti and this is Gandhigiri.”
They probably gave the most cutest yet mocking smile and let all three of them go. Without paying a single penny.
The faces of these three friends of ours were pale. They were ashamed of what they had done!
I think the purpose was served. The policemen had achieved what they wanted. And I Love the idea.
Maybe its not always about giving punishments.
Maybe it’s just the way Gandhiji taught us which is correct.
Keep thinking.
~Manasvi N. 🙂