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SADHVI ANANDAMAIYEE GIRI
MAHATMA GANDHI was one of the greatest leaders of his time. He was born on October 2, 1869. Gandhi’s birthday is observed worldwide as the United Nations International Day of Non-violence. Brahma Vidya Peetham International (BVPI) joins the global community in commemorating this momentous occasion.
Gandhiji was a great lawyer, anti-colonialist and political ethicist. He joined the Indian independence movement and led India to independence through non-violent methods (1915-1947). He started work as a civil rights activist in South Africa (1893-1914).
On the request of Bal Krishna Gokhale, he returned to India from South Africa in 1915 and joined the Indian National Congress. India’s partition following independence deeply saddened Gandhiji. He believed in religious pluralism and held a very clear vision for a multicultural society encompassing Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Jain, Jews and Sikhs. He made great efforts to remove caste and untouchability.
Gandhi with torchbearers of non-violence
Gandhi’s thoughts and movements featured in American and European newspapers, magazines, books and other media. The greatness of Gandhi’s public role in social and political reform was such that top statesmen and leaders from across the globe eagerly followed his ideals. From Martin Luther King Jr to Steve Jobs, Gandhi has influenced and inspired the lives of many.
Albert Einstein, the great scientist, said, “Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this one ever in flesh and blood walked upon this Earth.” Einstein and Gandhi were big admirers of each other and exchanged letters frequently.
American civil rights activist King was a chief advocate for nonviolence. He was profoundly influenced by Gandhi and successfully protested for social change in the US. Like Gandhi, he was internationally recognised as a freedom fighter. They both believed that violence for social reform was unnecessary and that passive resistance and nonviolence can effectively result in social change.
In February 1959, King visited India and was welcomed there with warm support from the Indian people. In his book, My Trip to the Land of Gandhi, King shared his enthusiasm of India stating, “To other countries I may go as a tourist but to India I come as a pilgrim…India is a tremendous force for peace and non-violence.” While there, King visited Gandhi Samadhi, Gandhi’s cremation site.
[caption id="attachment_916507" align="alignnone" width="596"] Sadhvi Anandamaiyee Giri -[/caption]
In 2009, Barack Obama visited the Wakefield High School in the US, where a child asked him, “If you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?” Obama replied, “Well, dead or alive, that’s a pretty big list. You know, I think that it might be Gandhi, who is a real hero of mine.”
Nelson Mandela (late president of South Africa) said, “Gandhi's magnificent example of personal sacrifice and dedication in the face of oppression was one of his many legacies to our country and to the world. He showed us that it was necessary to brave imprisonment if truth and justice were to triumph over evil. The values of tolerance, mutual respect and unity for which he stood and acted had a profound influence on our liberation movement, and on my own thinking. They inspire us today in our efforts of reconciliation and nation-building.”
Jobs (co-founder of Apple) said, “Mohandas Gandhi is my choice for the person of the century because he showed us the way out of the destructive side of our human nature. Gandhi demonstrated that we can force change and justice through moral acts of aggression instead of physical acts of aggression. Never has our species needed this wisdom more.”
Former president of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, was also an admirer of Gandhi: “I and others may be revolutionaries but we are disciples of Mahatma Gandhi, directly or indirectly, nothing more nothing less.”
Lord Richard Attenborough (filmmaker) was inspired by Gandhi’s response when asked what attribute he most admired in human nature. Gandhi replied, simply and immediately, “Courage.” “Non-violence,” he said, “is not to be used ever as the shield of the coward. It is the weapon of the brave.”
Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Prize winner and prominent Burmese freedom fighter, said Gandhi had been one of the major influences in her life.
Nobel-prize winning Irish playwright and passionate socialist, George Bernard Shaw, said, “Impressions of Gandhi? You might well ask for someone’s impression of the Himalayas.”
Narendra Modi, current Prime Minister of India, shared his thoughts about Gandhi in New York, “Today we are living in an era of how to impress but Gandhi’s vision was how to inspire. I believe that the path shown by Gandhi will lead to a better world.”
A great social activist, Desmond Tutu declared, “We are as children of Gandhi and his spiritual heirs to non-violence.” Other great leaders who were inspired by Gandhi include Khan Abdul Daffar, Romain Rolland, John Lennon, former US vice president Al Gore, U Thant, Will Durant, Pearl S Buck, Louis Fischer and emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie I.
BVPI celebrates Gandhi Jayanti and International Day of Non-Violence in TT
Prof Dilip Dan, president of BVPI, paid tribute to Gandhi and inspired everyone to become lights of non-violence.
Speaking on the International Day of Non-Violence, BVPI founder Swami Brahma Swarupananda recalled Gandhi’s philosophy which inspired many around the world. He said, “Gandhiji’s entire philosophy depended on truth, non-violence, simplicity and peace. He wanted to make the world a better place.”
He mentioned that on October 22, 1925, an article published by Gandhi addressed the issue of seven social sins. These were: politics without principle, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity and worship without sacrifice. Swamiji said: “Man knows how to fly in the sky like a bird, man knows how to swim in the ocean like a fish but man does not know how to walk on the face of this Earth.”
Now more than ever this philosophy of non-violence is needed in the post-modern era, especially to inspire the young generation. On this International Day of Non-Violence, let us all be inspired to become torch bearers of non-violence.
Sadhvi Anandamaiyee Giri is the general secretary of the Brahma Vidya Peetham International
 
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