Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
The name of the thin man, without any physical strength, was more than enough to invoke fear in the minds of the British, and make them pee in their pants. His policies of non-violence and non-cooperation, though rebuked by many, were largely successful in making the Whites realize that their days in India were numbered. Though some of his acts during the later stages of his life, like signing the Irwin Pact, came under the scanner and were highly criticized, the fact cannot be denied that he was the man who bought a revolution in the minds of the people, and instilled a sense of patriotism in every Indian to feel the Nation as their own, and come forward to expel out the unruly British who were destroying the country of its own richness.
This inspiration by Gandhi, and his exceptional leadership qualities have inspired theatres and film-makers many a times, and what all we got were mere documentaries praising Gandhi, which, must admit, were pretty boring. In fact, if Gandhi were alive today, what would he want? People praising him to the skies? No!! He just wanted to see the country of his dreams, which would only be possible if people followed his path, not just during the time of the British, but even after their departure.
Once in a while comes a Lage Raho Munnabhai, which doesn’t advocate Gandhi’s greatness and his hard life, which have been done to death, but throws light on his principles, and how common, everyday-life problems can be solved using the term popularly known as Gandhigiri, which has been effective many a times.
Kya yaar, yeh aLi to bhaashan dene lag gaya. What’s the point saying all this man, don’t we all know about it? Kuch masti ho jaaye?
Kya mamu, introduction naam ki bhi koi cheez hoti hai. Bole to, Gandhi Jayanti ke din kuch dialogue to maarna hi padega na yaar!
Circuit: Bhai yeh Gandhi Jayanti kya hai bhai?
Munnabhai: Bole to, bapu ekdum mast aadmi tha, ekdum solid. Angrezo ki to waat laga dali thi usne. Lekin maa kasam, yeh Jayanti kaun tha apne ko nahi pata.
Everyone of you reading this will be familiar with the story about the friends who will be remembered more than Jai and Veeru, Munna and Circuit, so no point wasting the time sketching the storyline of the movie.
LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI has inspired the countrymen to stand up to their rights and fight for all they feel is being wrong to them, albeit in a different manner. Here, the fight doesn’t take the form of guns and swords, but just flowers and more flowers. The aim is to let the conscience of the wrong-doer awake, and instead of coercing the opponent not to do something, make him realize his wrong-doings, so he does not repeat.
Circuit: Accha bhai, yeh Arjun Singh jo pat pat kar rela hai, uska kya kar sakte hai bhai?
Munnabhai: Dekh, pehle to usko vinamrata se samjhaneka, aur phir bhi nahi maane, to pure desh ko milkar "Get Well Soon" ka card bhejneka usko.. Phir dekh saala kaise pighalta hai.
Another aspect that the movie, or I would call it an experience, drives home the fact that when physical force is used against a person, it hurts the ego of the opposition, and he will be itching to bounce back and hurt you in some way or the other in the future. So by applying gandhigiri, there won’t be any such problems and once he realizes his folly, like Boman finally did in the movie, their will be no gila-shikva in his mind, and all will be fine.
Circuit: To bhai yeh aatankwadi log jo aaj bomb blasts kar ke desh mein bawal macha rahe hai, kya unka bhi koi ego hai isme bhai? Unko kaise gandhigiri se samjahneka?
Munnabhai: Arre Circuit, jisne yeh aatank failaya hai unko saza to milni chahiye. Lekin ek aatankwadi ko pakad kar desh ke saamne laakar bina mar-peet kiye nanga kar ke chor dena chahiye. Dusre terrorist jab yeh TV pe dekhenge tab kuch karne ki himmat nahi karenge.
Yet another aspect where this experience scores is that nothing that is shown can be called unrealistic. Each and every pratcical applicaiton of gandhigiri, whether it be Jimmy’s confession to his dad, the retired man taking pension from the notorious clerk, or Sanjay persuading Boman to return him the 2nd Innings bungalow; each has been treated realistically! Also, just when you thought that the makers have made the concept far-fetched by showing Sanjay’s interaction with Gandhi, it is revealed that he was just having a hallucination, and Sanjay ke dimaag mein chemicals bhara hua tha.
Circuit: Bhai iss desh ki sarkar kehti hai ki desh tarakki kar raha hai. To kya unka bhi yeh koi woh hallucination hai kya? Unke bheje mein bhi chemicals ghusela hai kya?
Munnabhai: Nahi re, bole to unko bhi apun ki tarah koi nazar aata hoga hamesha. To unko bas prem se, jahan pe log buri dasha mein hai, wahan le jaakar do din zabardasti rehne ko kehne ka. Aur wahan par jab log bhook aur pyaas se mar rahe ho, sarkar ko un logo ke saamne chicken biryani khaane ko majboor karna chahiye. Phir dekh, desh kahan se kahan pahunch jaata hai!
Next comes the belief that what needs to be done, has to be done. There’s no point postponing anything to tomorrow, what can be done today. And there’s no point lying to hide your mistakes. If you’re at fault, admission of it is no crime. The path may seem very difficult initially, but always speaking the truth will ensure a smooth journey in the long-run. While distractions will be many, in the form of advantages of speaking of the false, but if a man is committed to himself, and is pure by heart, he will overcome all hurdles and will shine in life.
Circuit: Bhai yeh badi-badi companiyan aur MNC’s jo jhooth pe jhooth bolti jaati hai logo ko, apni sales badhane ke liye, in logo ka kya kiya ja sakta hai bhai?
Munnabhai: Circuit, bole to MNC walon ko direct bolne ka ki log bhi bewakuf nahi hai. Peet peeche log MNC ki khilli udate hai.. To agar woh logo ko sach bolte hai to kitna impression banega logo pe unka. Aur tab apne sacche bayan ki badaulat ki unki woh sales bhi badh jaayegi. Samjho ho hi gaya!
Finally, the experience reflects that by following Gandhi’s principles, every problem, whether related to the rich or the poor, to the strong or weak, to the big or small, the common man or the not-so-common man, each one of us can take a leaf out of his book, and if we religiously follow his path, life would be a much easier one to be in. A majority of the everyday job can be easily tackled with if one keeps a calm mind and makes a rational decision, and doesn’t become physical in case of anger, and doesn’t lose his cool at the slightest of pretext.
Circuit: Aila bhai, yeh MouthShut wale log website ke management ko lekar bahut naraaz rehta hai. Kya gandhigiri se uska bhi hal nikala ja sakta hai bhai?
Munnabhai: Arre Circuit, abhi woh radio pe Jhanvi ka show aane wala hai, jisko apun sunnewala hai. Yeh MouthShut walon ko bol, ki gandhigiri se uska hal soch kar Comments Section mein daal de. Marzi hogi to management sun lega ya to members ki waat lagegi aur kya? Chal chalta hai apun...
Bole to, Gandhigiri Zindabad!!!
© Aliasgar Poonawala, 2006