[Buddha-l] Non-violent ethics: Gandhigiri instead of dadagiri

[jkirk]

      Published on Friday, October 13, 2006 by the Boston Globe
      How Gandhi Got His Mojo Back
      by Swati Gauri Sharma

      In India and the West, the legacies and teachings of prominent 
historical figures are all too often lost among pop culture, new technology, 
and the media. But a new hit movie in India has somehow managed to make 
Indians shift their focus from Brad Pitt, who is adored there, to the most 
important figure in modern Indian history -- Gandhi.

      Gandhi's sudden popularity among all ages and cultures in India brings 
to an end a long period in which his fame and influence had faded. While 
Hollywood holds a similar significance in people's lives as Mumbai-based 
Bollywood, the most popular branch of the Indian film industry, and has more 
money, resources, and global reach, it has not been able to create the same 
kind of response as Bollywood was able to generate for a historical figure.

      Until August, when a comedy with Gandhi as a central figure was 
released all over India, most of the people who spoke about Gandhi and his 
values were alive when he was shot in 1948. Now, all generations have 
re-embraced the father, or ``Bapu," of the nation.

      In the movie, titled ``Lage Raho Munna Bhai," gangster Munna Bhai 
meets Gandhi and instead of indulging in his usual ``dadagiri," meaning 
bullying, he endorses Gandhi's teachings of non-violence and battles with 
his enemy by giving him flowers, rather than punches.

      ``Gandhigiri," a term coined by the movie and a play on the word 
``dadagiri," means to use moral force and kindness to make a point or fight 
injustice. College students in Lukhnow, who in the past held many violent 
protests, decided this year to practice ``Gandhigiri" and pass out flowers 
instead of screaming angry words. On a smaller level, Reuters India reported 
that a girl, Shweta Polanki, broke up with her boyfriend when he made 
whistling noises to get the attention of a waiter, a gesture that is 
belittling and disrespectful, according to ``Gandhigiri."

      Elsewhere in India, thieves who stole goods from a poor man decided to 
return them after watching this movie. The governments in many states have 
declared the movie tax-free, so moviegoers will not be charged tax when 
buying a ticket, and the leader of the Congress party, the ruling party in 
India, has urged members to watch the film.

      The influence of Gandhi on the lovable character of Munna Bhai has 
caused all generations in India to remember the teachings of Bapu. The actor 
who played Munna Bhai, Sanjay Dutt, said that Gandhi, ``looking down from 
heaven, must be happy to see a nation reawakened."

      A reawakening was necessary because before this film, the man whose 
picture is on many major public buildings and on India's currency was in 
danger of being forgotten. In the face of India's unprecedented 
technological growth, nuclear arms, and the growing influence of Western 
culture, Gandhi's relevance had slowly dissipated. Adding to that was the 
effort of Congress's rival party, Bharatiya Janata, which ruled from 1998 to 
2004, to lower the significance of Gandhi, who was a Congress stalwart. This 
movie made it possible for people to let go of their party loyalties and 
simply focus on Gandhi's teachings.

      It is difficult but not impossible to imagine Hollywood bringing the 
views of a historical American figure like Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther 
King Jr. into such focus. Here, movies have been made portraying leaders 
such as John F. Kennedy, and the recent ``Good Night and Good Luck" 
demonstrated the power of Edward R. Morrow's words. But none of these movies 
appealed to the general public the way ``Lage Raho Munna Bhai" has.

      One that did is ``March of the Penguins," which was both educational 
and a box-office hit. The Academy Award-winning documentary was about the 
yearly journeys of penguins in Antarctica, and was targeted for all age 
groups. Similarly, the strength of ``Munna Bhai" was that it appealed across 
the board, from people who have college degrees to illiterates. In India, 
most movies are made for families. The best praise a movie can get in India 
is, ``It's an all-out family movie."

      Hollywood, and the media overall, hold inestimable influence in our 
world today. Many people care more about what Tom Cruise's daughter looks 
like than the war in Iraq. Hollywood could do so much for the general public 
by making entertaining yet informative films about historical figures that 
would touch every generation.

      What America needs is a film that encourages people to take up 
Gandhigiri, Kinggiri, or Kennedygiri. If it worked for Bollywood, it could 
work for Hollywood.

      Swati Gauri Sharma is a journalism and political science major at 
University of Massachusetts at Amherst.