Fellow travellers

I dreamt that I was travelling with M.K. Gandhi and Karl Marx. They were seated in the dining car of the train and I, occupying a table next to them, was privy to their conversation...

I dreamt that I was travelling with M.K. Gandhi and Karl Marx. They were seated in the dining car of the train and I, occupying a table next to them, was privy to their conversation8230;

Gandhi: Karl, doesn8217;t your conscience pinch you as you devour such an elaborate spread? Remember, your followers have a hard time managing a square meal!

Marx: I never was an advocate of vegetarianism, my friend. In any case, my job is to raise the aspirations of people and draw them to the good things of life. Like you, I also practise what I preach.

Gandhi: But why do you suggest to them that they need to rise in rebellion to achieve their aspirations?

Marx: I cannot ask them to submit before their adversaries who are perpetrating brutalities against them, can I? Could you, as an apostle of peace, ensure that the bourgeoisie will abjure violence!

Gandhi: You may have half a point there, but to change the topic somewhat, isn8217;t Das Kapital a bit difficult to comprehend, even for trained economists? Why have you fashioned a thesis meant for the masses in so dense a fashion?

Marx: The bourgeoisie all over the world feign not to understand the theory of surplus value. I heard that you too wrote a small hand-out and left nearly all the crucial points ambiguous, barring giving your rich disciples the role of being trustees of society.

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Gandhi: Well, only the rich and propertied can afford to be philanthropic.

Marx: But I am amazed that we both talk about the withering away of the state. And our perception of the ideal state is nearly the same. But, in my case, they call it a utopia. In yours, it becomes 8216;attainable8217;.

Gandhi: When it comes to re-fashioning society, I allow things to change at their natural pace and you recommend the power of the powerless as a midwife to usher in the new epoch. I, my friend, pose no immediate threat to the bourgeoisie.

Marx: Perhaps we should co-author a book. What do you think?

Gandhi: No, thanks! My motto is self-dependency and self-reliance!