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Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Gandhi Jayanti - Gandhiji's Birthday


Today is 138th Birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of India. In this occasion I want to share one of my digital paintings I just finished (I used only few lines to draw the face, so easy to draw a great personality, which tells how simple he was) and his 10 quotes which made me thinking many times rather influenced me in many ways.

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong

I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life. I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.

Raghupati Raghaba Raja Ram, Patito Pabana Sita Ram
Iswar Allaha Tero Nam, Sabko Sammati de Bhagoban

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind

Hate the sin, love the sinner

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
You must be the change you want to see in the world

Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

Guess the inner meaning I tried to illustrate in this painting?

28 comments:

My Unfinished Life said...

i am not a follower of gandhiji...as i think some of his views are very falwed..and he was too stubborn and impractical about politics..but i never undermine his viwes about non-violence......

indicaspecies said...

I love to read meaningful quotations, time and again. I see you are still enjoying your fascination with MSPaint. Good. Happy Gandhi Jayanthi. :)

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday to Gandhiji indeed. I adore and respect him for the things he did until 1944. Unmatchable:)

Keshi said...

He was a true hero!

Keshi.

Aditi said...

beautiful sketch did u make it? and well written post of course

Pijush said...

@Shooting Star,
Yes I can understand your view; it can differ from person to person. But if we look at the non-violence part, his contribution is immense to the World. Thank You.

@Celine,
Thanks for liking my Painting. The quotes are really thought provoking. Take care.

@Priyank,
Thanks for coming. Welcome to my blog. I agree with you that his actions were perfect except last few years. I deeply respect and admire him of his efforts of peace and nonviolence, personality and perseverance.

@Keshi,
He was a great man. Ty & Tk.

@Aditi,
Yes, I have drawn the whole picture. The thoughts are also mine. Have you got the inner meaning what I tried to illustrate in this painting?
Thanks for appreciating my effort.

Anonymous said...

To be honest, I will also go with 'shooting stars' view. Somewhere I also don't subscribe to Gandhiji's ideology & I believe he was also instrumental in putting Netaji to the backburner, who should have got equal honour, if not more than Gandhiji & that's where it hurts our sentiments the most....anyway your MS Paint drawing once again has simply been fabulous...Nice one!

krystyna said...

Hi Pijush!
Happy Birthday to Gandhiji!
He was a great man!

krystyna said...

I wonder your inner meaning in your amazing painting?
I'll be thinking.
Thank you for your kind visit today but
I want to explain something to you:

I invite you to Charlie's site click on
"Welcome to Charlie's Gym". (on my site)
You will be satisfaction.

Btw, I must start to build my muscle - you inspired me very much.

Originally I'm from Poland and live in America 5 years.

Thanks for your nice visit and nominated me sooo high... maybe soon I will be as Charlie,... I will be try... it is very nice of you.
Now, I'm going to do exercise and think about your painting.
CU

Sigma said...

Well, I too share the same view with Shooting stars and Kalyan. And my primary reason is that I think it was because of his partiality towards Nehru, and bias against Patel that India got divided.
But otherwise, he was indeed a great leader - to make crores of people to follow you, you need to have something in you.

And a very nice collection of thoughts.
"Sabko sanmati de bhagwa"
Yes, that is what the world today really, really needs.

krystyna said...

Dzien Dobry Pijush again.
Do you know what means "Dzien Dobry"?
I try to guess what is your inner meaning, but... I don't know.
I know for sure that your painting is fabulous.
I like these quotes,
specially
"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty".

Lakshmi said...

great post and lovely picture..like others , I am not a follower of gandhiji and I agree with what Kalyan and Shooting star say . There are many anecdotes but I dont think this is the right forum..but I think he has immensely contributed to our freedom struggle- his ideology on ahimsa and his sheer will power is amazing..its a shame that many people are using the ideology for a wrong purpose today as in the case of the forced bandh on Tamil Nadu by the present CM on Monday

Pijush said...

@Kalyan,

Thanks for liking my painting and for an honest comment.
“I believe he was also instrumental in putting Netaji to the backburner, who should have got equal honour”. I totally agree with you. When I was in school, I had the same feeling. Netaji was a man of great personality and his honesty, dedication was unquestionable. In spite of winning the election he was forced to resign from National Congress by Gandhi followers.
But I am not comparing these two great personalities here. There is always something in a man to dislike, but if I see the other side of the coin its amazing sometime. Same here for Gandhi. When I read some of his quotes and letters, I was delighted. It took me to another World out of my imagination, the world of peace, humanity and non-violence.

@krystyna

Dzien Dobry and Jinky for your wonderful comment. I will check the site soon.

I guess you already have amazing muscles, I am aw..
Nice to know about you, I many Polish friends and some of them are very close to me working in this project.
Thanks for your effort to understand the painting and liking the quotes. I will reveal my thoughts against this painting soon if no one can guess it :-)

Keep coming and Take care. Have a nice day.

@Sigma,

Thanks always for your clean and honest expressions.
“it was because of his partiality towards Nehru, and bias against Patel that India got divided.” - Agree with you. The way he handled pre and post independence conflicts was not good enough. He was not able to solve the problem of division of nation and religious violence at the time of Indian Independence. For the division of nation on the basis of religion, Hindus like us had to migrate from Bangladesh to India. Even I think we got independence not only for his movements, there were some other factors also. Unfortunately we forgot contribution of fighters like Netaji, Bhagat Singh after getting the independence.
You also have told a nice point, which I was trying to emphasise on my replies “to make crores of people to follow you, you need to have something in you.” . He brought a new weapon to fight, new concept for living. I admire him simply for this reason.

@Backpakker,

Thanks very much for wonderful comment.
“There are many anecdotes” - You can discuss without any hesitation; blogging is forum where we can put our thoughts independently. I can share one point here. In 1921, at the time of Non-Cooperation Movement movement (or The Swadeshi movement), Gandhiji made a big mistake by his whimsical decision, cancelling the movement for a small sporadic incident.
But at the same time I agree with your point that he paved the way for Satyagraha and Ahimsa. He was a pioneer in many senses.
“its a shame that many people are using the ideology for a wrong purpose” - Yes It hurts me sometime, today there are forced bandh in WB colleges too. The correct message of Gandhigiri is to practise it by heart and not to demonstrate something for publicity.

krystyna said...

Hi Pijush!
My main blog is
http://evolve.blogspot.com

I linked your blog. All your blogs are very interesting and wonderful.
Best to you!

Amrita said...

Thank you for directing me to Random thoughts, its such a nice blog. i must read your earlier posts too.

i like your digital paontings. I wish i could do something like this.What software do you use for the painting?

i think in your painting you have tried to dipict unity, simplicity and patriotism and Gabndhiji 's opposition to the formation of pakistan.

I like the quotes too. Gandhiji was indeed a great man. His views have not failed ,the world has become more and more evil and commerce has taken precedence over character.Gandhian thought has been turned into Gandhigiri, like turning our lovely ragas into rap songs.

Anonymous said...

Pijush,
Sorry, I cannot guess the meaning of your illustration. This is because of cultural and geographic differences between us.

Obviously a drawing of Gandhi. I don't know much about him. A boat with a flag. The country of India, but I don't know the white area inside it. I also don't recognize the red shape below the machine wheels.

It's all symbolism but I am unfamiliar with what they mean.

indicaspecies said...

Pijush,

Am back here to comment a little more elaborately this time.

What I notice in your painting is the map of India prior to partition with a white flag waving over the 'Charaka' to represent solidarity and peace between India and Pakistan.

I also notice the colours of the flag in the form of a decoration on the forehead of Gandhiji.

The Indian flag flutters happily in freedom!

Have a great day. :)
celine

indicaspecies said...

By the way (hahaha, the effect of knowing a few too many languages - you are finally a master at none, I guess),

'Charaka' is a Kannada word. The correct word in Hindi is 'Chakra' ain't it? :)

Anonymous said...

woow awesome quotes and painting!!
thanks for educating :)
i think we all learned about Gandhi-ji at elementary school. such a great man!!

>i can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life.

i cant follow this, becoz we all habitually bow in my country lol

Craver Vii said...

I am inclined to interpret the picture to say that the spirit of Ghandi still blows over India, bringing peace.

Anonymous said...

Ha-ha,
Perhaps I am thinking too hard!

Aritra said...

On the eve of Gandhi Jayanti as the world and India remember one of the most legendary figures of history for his deeds of greatness and the path of non-violence shown in the world filled with hatred and violence a long raging debate continues on how much was the path shown by this man correct and what are its implications in the Modern world...
The picture may be best understood and appreciated by the creator but then wat it potrays is that the "sails of Independence" were set in the right direction by the Mahatma ..who no doubt made the wish of freedom into a mass movement and in turn bring Independence!! ...but then it was not without a cost ...the cost of Partition of India as shown in India ..a bloody and dark chapter o f history and human race where millions of lives were lost and sowed the seeds of communal hatred and violence ... and no doubt the great Mahatma failed miserably in this case... for i think it was his lack of conviction to act that cost us this painful incident shown by the red spokes on the "Charka" the symbol of Gandhism but also tainted with the blood of those who lost their lives due the lack of conviction to stop the partition , and I still wonder had not Britain been Humbled by WW2 and decide to leave India how many more years would have the non-violent peace loving people taken to gain Independence from tyranny!!! maybe at times a Revolution is more the need of the time , an act of courage , an act of conviction ... for being timid only allows others to dominate you . And it is infact the reason behind we Indians being not convincing and timid that the West does still find courage to literally "Bully" us ...i say its enough of hiding behind the lame reasons of being a "peace loving" person and being indifferent to long standing issues that are the hurdles to our progress...It is infact quite a irony that today Gandhi is being used as a alibi for qoutas and bandhs and used to give explanations why we didn't punish the wrong doers at one go ..(i refer the pathetic state of Justice and politics in India) ... all for a free and great country ...
I still wonder how many of us would put another cheek to get slapped again nowadays .. my words might seem as being those of a person who is totally against Gandhi but i do feel this man should be paid homage for the way he lead the struggle for freedom and organising public opinion ...but then no person is 100% perfect i guess ...and so was Mahatma ... and to err is human but some errors are too costly to be forgotten and forgiven... last but not least today the future of the country is not "hiding behind Gandhi and being indifferent" ...for the "Future lies in The way We Think and Act " ...Jai Hind ..(Aritra)

Pijush said...

@Krystyna,

Thanks again.
I found some concerning words in your blogs and quoting it here.
�Humans were to become lazy and aggressive, a combination which led them into the unfortunate habit of killing animals, birds, fishes, and yes, even one another..� - In this context we can realize how important the words of Gandhi are in today�s World.

@Amrita,

I should Thank You for your nice complement. The paintings are done in MS paint.

i think in your painting you have tried to dipict unity, simplicity and patriotism and Gabndhiji 's opposition to the formation of pakistan. - very nice way of looking into the picture, quite close.

�turning our lovely ragas into rap songs.� - :-) Well said.

@Chewy,
Nothing to be sorry, Its my pleasure you came here and put some thoughts and it is tough because of your unfamiliarity with cultural and geographic nature of India.

@Celine,

Thanks for coming back with a nice comment �map of India prior to partition with a white flag waving over the 'Charaka' .. The Indian flag flutters happily in freedom!� - Quite close and nice observation.

And yes the correct Hindi is 'Chakra' .. :-)


@Niki-chan,

I always wait for your funny comments, its really sweet and wonderful.
�i cant follow this, becoz we all habitually bow in my country� - Goba is bowing down his head (but sorry not at the cost of my life, otherwise I will not have chance to do the same in future.. LOLz)

@Craver,

Welcome to my blog and what an interpretation �spirit of Ghandi still blows over India, bringing peace.�. Keep coming.

@HellRaiser,

Waoww.. I am impressed by your comment where you have wonderfully depicted your thoughts.

You have rightly said �still wonder had not Britain been Humbled by WW2 and decide to leave India how many more years would have the non-violent peace loving people taken to gain Independence from tyranny!!! � . and �some errors are too costly to be forgotten and forgiven� . That may be the fallacy of Gandhigiri and he was unable to handle the problems by his principles, at the time we got independence we needed good leaders like Patel or Netaji.

Nevertheless, He was the personality of the century and a pioneer to World peace.

Your interpretation of the painting is quite nice and almost perfect.

"sails of Independence" were set in the right direction by the Mahatma � Perfectly guessed.

"Charka" the symbol of Gandhism � yes, but You missed the British Flag inside, A small Gun which is dominated by the white flag of Peace.

So what I thought was � �Mahatma waved the flag in undivided India (under British rule) which is emblematic of peace, harmony and solidarity�.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I see the red gun with the white flag. Red, White and Blue with the symbol from the British flag. Yes.

I like the description, "spirit of Ghandi still blows over India, bringing peace".

You made us all use our brains on this puzzle. Good job.

Movie Mazaa said...

Great that u remembered!!
:) And loved the pic as well, though the interpretation has been done already!

Anonymous said...

Gandhi was one of my favorite films.

Anonymous said...

lololol
ur comment is funny n sweet too!!
just like keshi-chan. hehehe

Pijush said...

@Chewy,
“You made us all use our brains on this puzzle” - Did I!! Thanks Very much.

@MM,
Thanks Man. I will always remember this date.

@Jessica,
Welcome to my world and glad to know that Gandhi impacted you also. He had a charisma which influenced many of us and still the magic is working.

@Niki-chan,
“ur comment is funny n sweet too!!” - I guess you are more funny and sweet and Thanks for the complement.