Deprived Duo

October 2nd:

Two Indians born on this day, years apart: Achievers & Role-models both, yet did not get their rightful due or place in the sun.

Lal Bahadur Shastri first – the pocket-sized dynamo! When compared to other Prime Ministers of India ( no offence meant to them) like Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi, Shastri has the least number of Government schemes, awards, roads, bridges, etc. named after him. Maybe, in Government as Prime Minister, he played a T20 innings & not a long Test innings like the others- but what a decisive & path- breaking innings it was! As a politician he was an exception or rather epitomised how a politician should be, in public life. His ethical and moral standards yet remain unmatched. In fact, politicians of today, the world over who thrive on power and corruption would call Shastri a ‘ loser’.

Even on his birthday, which he shares with The Mahatma, poor Shastri plays second-fiddle as the latter hogs the limelight. The National holiday in India today is for Gandhi Jayanthi.

Coming to The Mahatma himself, did Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi get his rightful due? No, despite his birthday being a National holiday. Let me explain why.

There could be endless debates about the various decisions and principles of Gandhi, whether all of them were in the interest of the country at all times or whether some of these decisions were based on personal biases. Another debate could be on the relevance of Gandhian philosophy in today’s materialistic world. ‘ Non-violence’ is certainly the need of the whole world but how to convey this to hardened, maniacal terrorists is the question.

While he may be there in Indian currency and have umpteen awards, schemes named after him and almost every city has a Mahatma Gandhi Road or Chowk, he will forever remain the greatest leader on the world stage never to have won the Nobel Peace Prize. What a joke! Gandhi was nominated five times for this award, but possibly the very racism & colonialism which he fought against, all his life, conspired against him. The Nobel committee was dominated by ‘ such members’ and more importantly, India was not a major economic power those days …….. or possibly the committee felt how can the Peace Prize be awarded for non-violence when it was set up by the creator of dynamite- Alfred Nobel. Little would they know that Nobel never intended dynamite to be used as a means of violence against mankind.

Remembering these two great sons of India on their birth anniversary today. One not getting his rightful due in his own country while the other did not get the international acclaim which was rightly his.