TIRUPATI: “The first step towards ensuring peace is in loving thy neighbour, lending an ear to his grievance and understanding his pain. Unfortunately, we judge people and jump to conclusions, without trying to comprehend what they are going through,” observed noted historian and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Rajmohan Gandhi.
Addressing students of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Sri Venkateswara Vidyalaya here on Friday, Mr. Gandhi said the phenomenon holds good for neighbouring houses, States or even countries, recalling the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka and Punjab-Haryana rift on water-sharing. “We nurture a strong opinion about neighbours, but don’t care to know enough about them”, he rued. On ‘ Vaishnava Jana tho ’, a must-recite song in Gandhiji's daily bhajans, he called ‘Vaishnava’ a person who understands the pain of the neighbour, especially a stranger from another caste, race or even country.
While quoting a couple of events from the Mahatma's life and his childhood association with his grandfather, Mr. Gandhi sent a veiled message to the students on compassion, frugality, simplicity, equality, respect for others etc., even while tickling their funny bone. In an interesting anecdote behind his name Rajmohan, he explained that ‘Raj’ was derived from his maternal grandfather C. Rajagopalachari and Mohan from his paternal grandfather Mohandas K. Gandhi.
He said the khadi movement was aimed at ensuring self-reliance and also to garner support for the freedom movement. “When an affluent person buys khadi, he is supporting the poor weaver. This way, it unites the poor and the rich”, he said, dwelling on the ‘beauty of the spinning wheel’. In a reply to a query on the benefits of globalisation, he called the phenomenon as having its own share of pros and cons and urged the nations to reduce its harmful effects. “Even the U.S. is afraid of globalisation today,” he remarked.
TTD Executive Officer D. Sambasiva Rao spoke on the support extended by the temple management to educational and medical services, while BVB Director N. Satyanarayana Raju recalled the launch of the Bhavan movement by its founder K.M. Munshi with the blessings of Gandhiji and support of Rajaji.
A. Raghurama Raju, professor of philosophy at University of Hyderabad, who has translated Mr. Gandhi's works into Telugu, called the Gandhis a ‘family of writers’. Earlier, Principal S. Indira delivered the welcome address.
