Life of Gandhi

by R. D. Ashby

An apparent failure, the last sessions
Of prayer meetings an act of repeated
Provocation like someone descending
A slippery staircase into a holy river.

Gandhi had seen the light, and his path
Its simplicity, the world its complexity,
His attire, his few steps back and forth,
The witness to what life was all about.

Embracing life, he had spurned the West’s
Solution, its civilisation, yet quietly moved
In mute defiance of what would turn out
To be the life pattern for his people.

Yet, to this day his words remain unchanged
And true, and his path that in the grind
And groan of industry is witnessed simply
As proof of the undying life of God.

26-Jun-2010

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Below is a poem Rabindranath wrote as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. It has been published in boloji in my translation. The original is in Bengali.

THE COMING

The multitude passes along multiple ways
He comes in its midst
It is his first coming.
He is yet to be greeted or crowned
Sword or soldiery he has none
His voice is low
We can hardly hear what he says.
Does he himself know
Why or where he is coming?
Or in what future
What hidden hopes of our times
Prepare his welcome?
In what unknown ways
His offerings come?
A voice is heard in the sky above –
‘Remove your veil, raise your face,
O your victor, O you pioneer,
Let your foot steps mark and make
The way to freedom!’
-------------
Abhyudoy from the collection Bithika by Rabindranath Tagore.

TagoreBlog
18-Dec-2010 05:42 AM

Gandhi's best message is:
"Be the Change that you want to see in the world".

Roy D'Costa
04-Jul-2010 15:49 PM

A nice tribute to Gandhi!

T A RAMESH
03-Jul-2010 02:36 AM