Opinion Gandhi for the ‘Wassup’ generation

I don’t know whose super-creative mind has produced this lovely song,but that person,like me,is surely a socialist at heart. She or he believes that this beautiful world of ours belongs to all,and that its beauty can be experienced by all in their lives to the extent that we promote the ethic of sharing and caring,and strengthen the sense of belonging. Such idealism comes naturally to the youth of every generation,as naturally as making friends and falling in love. Indeed,the two ‘naturals’ are integrally inter-related. There is —as Erich Fromm argues in his classic The Art of Loving—a powerfully unselfish and humanising quality about both sensual love and the desire to see,and fight for,a better life for all. ‘Wassup’ may sound like a trendy concoction of words by teenagers eager to begin a casual chat. However,to me,the phrase ‘zindagi wassup!’ connotes a deeply felt personal and collective conversation of young minds with Life,which bears infinite promises and future blessings for them and the entire humanity.

It’s now widely recognised that owning a mobile phone and using the Internet have become aspirational for young Indians. Indeed,in a global poll,conducted by TIME in its latest special issue on how the mobile phone is changing the world,Indians have put far greater faith in the latest technology than those belonging to any other country. However,it’s important to also recognise that young and educated Indians’ attachment to technology is aspirational in a wider and deeper sense—and not only in the narrow sense of “what’s in it for me?” The youth in India,and indeed in every other part of the globe,are subliminally seeing in the Internet a new tool and a historic new prospect to create a better world. A Brave New World of friendship without borders and barriers—of caste,religion,gender,nationality,social and economic status,and ideology. A world of equal opportunities reshaped by netizens themselves,who will make sharing and caring the new social norm. A world without exploitation,imperialist domination,wars,prejudice and injustice.

This may sound utopian and far-fetched,but such clearly is the aspiration of the youth,as subtly conveyed by the Airtel ad itself. For proof,look at the Che Guevara poster in its opening shots. If there is one globally embraced icon that conveys the aspiration for a better world,it is the face of Commandate Che,who became a martyr to his ideals in 1967. Communism’s collapse around the world,and the ongoing fading away of Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba itself,have done nothing to diminish young and old people’s fascination for Che’s revolutionary idealism.

Che remains my hero too. But the one slightly troubling question that crossed my mind when I saw his poster in the Airtel ad was this: “Why didn’t the ad makers use Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait to convey the same message,if at all they wanted to convey the message that young netizens are not only fun-loving but also idealistic and history’s change-agents?”

The answer is obvious. Most people,including those who admire the Mahatma,believe that he was opposed to science,technology,industrialisation,modernisation,and the joy of sensual love. Hence,they view him as an unromantic ascetic who is alien to the world of the Internet,undoubtedly the greatest creation of modern science. True,Gandhiji remains a venerable messenger of Truth and Nonviolence,but how can a person who championed khadi and the charkha (both of which are symbols of ‘primitive’ technology,and both having now become almost non-existent and irrelevant) be an icon for the denizens of the digital era?

Dear readers—especially,dear young readers of this column—,my own conviction is that no great history-changing personality can be a more relevant icon for the Internet Age than that old saintly man,that uncompromising apostle of global peace and fellowship,for whom khadi and the charkha represented science,spiritualism,nationalism,internationalism,environmentalism,social justice and gender justice,all rolled into one. Indeed,Gandhian thought is indispensable also for the future ethics-guided evolution of the Internet,in a way that its perils can be minimised and its breathtakingly benign potential maximised. If you are puzzled,and want to know the basis of my conviction,kindly pick up a copy of my new book Music of the Spinning Wheel: Mahatma Gandhi’s Manifesto for the Internet Age. Published by Amaryllis (725 pages),it will be released by our beloved former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam at 6 p.m. on Tuesday,September 4,at Gandhi Smriti in New Delhi. It is my own personal re-discovery of my greatest hero. It is also a reasoned narrative on why the Mahatma and the Internet are,well,Made for Each Other.

sudheenkulkarni@gmail.com