Topic dear bapu you immortal
Answers
Dear Bapu,
You left this world or rather you were mercilessly snatched from us years ago, even before my father was born. Obviously, I never saw or met you. But my grandfather who had seen and heard you a couple of times would often talk about you. We would try to imagine you with the description he provided. “Woh patle duble the lekin bahut tez chalte the (He was lean and thin but walked briskly),” my grandfather would inform. “But don’t get misled by his frail frame. He was a man of steely determination.”
Today’s generation, brought up on countless tales about you told through books, cartoons, movies, music, documentaries, and God knows what else, relate with you also through the cheeky chant: “Bande mein tha dum, Vande Matram.” This October 2 you would have turned 150.
Bapu, did you know the poet Allama Iqbal? Yes, you did. At a prison in Pune, you recited Iqbal’s famous poem ‘Sare Jahan Se Achcha’ several times. And, mourning Iqbal’s death in 1938, you remembered how Iqbal’s poem kept you enthused and how your chest puffed with pride every time you heard this song. It gives us pride even today when we hear this song, especially the line: “Hindi hain hum watan hai Hindustan hamara (We are Indians because India is our country).”
Iqbal also penned a beautiful panegyric poem for Ram. A couplet in the poem declares:
Bapu, I don’t need to explain to you the word imam’s wider meaning. Imam is not just one who leads prayers five times a day at a mosque. Imam is one who has proven the ability to lead. You had a famous “imam” as your fellow traveller in the freedom struggle. He was Maulana Abul Kalam Azad who earned the title of Imam-ul-Hind (leader of India). How shabbily we have treated those Imams (leaders) in India down the ages?
If the Mahatma still towers over others among the pantheon of freedom fighters, how did someone get away by building a temple for Godse? How did a self-declared nationalist get off the hook after shooting Mahatma’s poster as part of her revenge on the Father of the Nation?
You used non-violent protests to bring the oppressive British imperialism down on their knees. The mighty regime buckled when you broke the ban on salt by defiantly picking up a fistful of it at Dandi. You made Hindus and Muslims a united force of resistance against the foreign power by stitching an alliance through Khilafat Movement, aided and abetted by the Ali Brothers (Mohammed Ali and Shaukat Ali). You admired and spoke highly of Ali Brothers’ mother—the indefatigable Bi Amma for her courage. “Boli Amma Mohammed Ali ki, Jaan dedo Khilafat pe beta (Mohammed Ali’s mother said, give life for Khilafat, son)” was the slogan that had galvanised many Indians to throw away the yoke of thraldom.
You couldn’t stand violence. It dismayed many of your supporters when you abruptly called off the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1922 after violence was reported from Chaurichaura. And yet those who claim to swear by your name either condone or shut eyes to violence perpetrated on fellow Indians through mob-lynching.
You championed women’s cause. On October 2, as part of a tribute to you, the magnificent Maulana Azad Library at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) would show Richard Attenborough’s 1982 epic “Gandhi.” It is here that I first saw this film in the late 1980s. One scene is etched in memory till date: Gandhi squirming at the sight of a nearly naked, poor woman bathing under a railway-bridge somewhere in Bihar. We have moved miles ahead from there. Now, if a rapist is powerful and politically connected, he can twist the arms of the law and get the victim arrested if her silence is not bought through inducements or threats.
Answer:
Mehrauli Gurgaon Road, New Delhi
Dated 1st February 2020
Dear Bapu,
I am writing this letter to you to express my gratitude for inspiring me and for your immeasurable contribution to the freedom of our country.
I am starting with an important day for the citizens of India. Your birth anniversary, Gandhi Jayanti, is celebrated on October 2 as a national event across India. This day is celebrated by people across the entire world as the International Day of Non-violence.
Dear Bapu, in spite of the great danger from the British, you initiated the Salt March in 1930. It was an open declaration of civil disobedience to protest the British rule in India. Your action that day started off the massive wave of nonviolent resistance to the British colonial rule.
Your Non-cooperation Movement against the British proved to be a powerful weapon. By this the Indian independence movement gained more followers. The zeal for independence increased in momentum.
Your non-violence and satyagraha policy lead India to achieve Independence without shedding a drop of blood. India achieved freedom in August, 1947.
Your philosophy of nonvoilence is admired across the world. It has been adopted by many civil and political groups to stage protest against injustice and powerful corrupt leaders.
You believed that all human beings are God’s special people and must be treated equally irrespective of their caste, color, language, creed, region, and religion.
Dear Babu, you are immortal. You will always live in our hearts. We will always remember you for your selfless love for the country and her citizens. Today India is a sovereign nation and one of the greatest countries of the world. But we have not forgotten that we owe everything to you.
Your life, your sacrifice and your noble principles have inspired me. You are my role model and I will always do my best to to follow your footsteps.
Yours affectionately,
Kishore
A proud son of India