The World Outside And The One Within
Khadi is not just a fabric or cloth, but a spiritual, political and historical symbol. Spiritual, because K Gandhi saw weaving as a method of elf-realisation and sacrifice. (Unsurprisingly, one of the alleged etymlogic origins of Sufism derives from he word suf, which stands for wool.) Political, since Gandhiji believed easing khadi to be a way of gaining economic independence, an increased adian identity, as well as stronger relaons between the affluent and the poor. istorical, for until today the Indian ag is unexceptionally made out of the had ifabric. In addition, the spinningwheel, the harkha, adorned the centre of the same ag, symbolising the struggle for ecoomic and political independence, until was replaced by the dharmachakra, ne wheel of law. On the one hand, Rabindranath agore doubted Gandhiji's economic strategy, and was most likely right. On the other hand, Tagore thought weaving did not make anyone reflect about anything. "The charkha does not require anyone to think; one simply turns the wheel of the antiquated inventionendlessly, using the minimum of judgment and stamina." Yet, essentially, both of them said the same: successful change or revolution in the exterior world always depends on the interior, both by reflecting and meditating. Notjust, as some activist might think, by bombingand shooting our way to freedom. Nowadays we try to change the world, we protest, rebel, but most of us are not able to articulate the real problem; we use crude simplifications, or get lost somewhere on the way. What did people do in the London riots 2011? After taking to the streets for a reasonable cause, protesters started destroying private property, looting and attacking innocent people. Agitated by the system and yet caught up in it. Perhaps Gandhiji was not at all wrong in weaving his own garments. We say it is the fault of banks or governments. Yet, there would be no government or bank without us. We complain about pollution, but do not mind taking the next aircraft for a short week end trip to Goa. Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault, Charles Taylor and many other philosophers attempted to show that there are certain underlying structures in each epoch, which rule not only the world outside but also in şide of us. Especially today, the system we are living in has infested all of us, making it impossible to criticise it without critiquing ourselves. There will be no second French or American Revolution. Back then, to plagiarise Hegel, it was of no difficulty for the slave to point out the master and insure against him. But with our new alleged freedomand self-determination this dualisticconcept got messed up, leaving behin two souls in us. We chose our destinyourselves-or did we not? Another example: I remember an interview with an activist and Booker Prwinner. As usual she was about to rantand rave about the capitalistic system,when the journalist asked her, why she was using an iPhone, if this was the caIt is not only about the iPhones an the flat screen TVs, but our attitude towards the world, the others, our way living itself. And that is what Gandhiand Tagore (despite their little differentiation) both knew: revolution begiin the mind and heart. Next time we try to change somethor someone, we should first toil on the construction site in between our tempThere is much more to be done than we can imagine. And last but not the least.there is a strong causallink between thuniverse inside and the one outside of Postyour comments
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Krisha Kops views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Krisha Kops and Speaking Tree,Times of India
The World Outside And The One Within
Khadi is not just a fabric or cloth, but a spiritual, political and historical symbol. Spiritual, because K Gandhi saw weaving as a method of elf-realisation and sacrifice. (Unsurprisingly, one of the alleged etymlogic origins of Sufism derives from he word suf, which stands for wool.) Political, since Gandhiji believed easing khadi to be a way of gaining economic independence, an increased adian identity, as well as stronger relaons between the affluent and the poor. istorical, for until today the Indian ag is unexceptionally made out of the had ifabric. In addition, the spinningwheel, the harkha, adorned the centre of the same ag, symbolising the struggle for ecoomic and political independence, until was replaced by the dharmachakra, ne wheel of law. On the one hand, Rabindranath agore doubted Gandhiji's economic strategy, and was most likely right. On the other hand, Tagore thought weaving did not make anyone reflect about anything. "The charkha does not require anyone to think; one simply turns the wheel of the antiquated inventionendlessly, using the minimum of judgment and stamina." Yet, essentially, both of them said the same: successful change or revolution in the exterior world always depends on the interior, both by reflecting and meditating. Notjust, as some activist might think, by bombingand shooting our way to freedom. Nowadays we try to change the world, we protest, rebel, but most of us are not able to articulate the real problem; we use crude simplifications, or get lost somewhere on the way. What did people do in the London riots 2011? After taking to the streets for a reasonable cause, protesters started destroying private property, looting and attacking innocent people. Agitated by the system and yet caught up in it. Perhaps Gandhiji was not at all wrong in weaving his own garments. We say it is the fault of banks or governments. Yet, there would be no government or bank without us. We complain about pollution, but do not mind taking the next aircraft for a short week end trip to Goa. Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault, Charles Taylor and many other philosophers attempted to show that there are certain underlying structures in each epoch, which rule not only the world outside but also in şide of us. Especially today, the system we are living in has infested all of us, making it impossible to criticise it without critiquing ourselves. There will be no second French or American Revolution. Back then, to plagiarise Hegel, it was of no difficulty for the slave to point out the master and insure against him. But with our new alleged freedomand self-determination this dualisticconcept got messed up, leaving behin two souls in us. We chose our destinyourselves-or did we not? Another example: I remember an interview with an activist and Booker Prwinner. As usual she was about to rantand rave about the capitalistic system,when the journalist asked her, why she was using an iPhone, if this was the caIt is not only about the iPhones an the flat screen TVs, but our attitude towards the world, the others, our way living itself. And that is what Gandhiand Tagore (despite their little differentiation) both knew: revolution begiin the mind and heart. Next time we try to change somethor someone, we should first toil on the construction site in between our tempThere is much more to be done than we can imagine. And last but not the least.there is a strong causallink between thuniverse inside and the one outside of Postyour comments
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Krisha Kops views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Krisha Kops and Speaking Tree,Times of India