And finally Gandhi died!

Blog: What? Really? You are not kidding me, right? I didn't get any RSS news alert. How? When? Accident? Homicide? Oh man, she was going to be the president of your country!

Atul: Who are you talking about?

Blog: Sonia Gandhi, who are YOU talking about?

Atul: oh man, you got me wrong. I was talking about Mahatma Gandhi.

Blog: oh, do you think I am a fool?

Atul: Actually, yes. Because Sonia Gandhi would have become the Prime Minster of India, not the President you bloody obsessed-american-presidential-campaign-follower.

Blog: Oops. I am sorry for that. But I just checked my facts on Gandhi on wiki, this guy - Mr. Mahatma died in 1948. And in fact he was murdered by another guy Mr. Godse. Ah, you humans are the most interesting species, like I never heard a monkey killing another monkey .. but let me not rant about it. So now tell me, who died and when?

Atul: I meant the same guy you read about - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. And he died yesterday on Oct 2, 2008.

Blog: Dude, you need a break. He was born on October 2, he didn't die on October 2.

Atul: Don't you still understand? I am talking allegorically. There are only three National Days in India. Independence Day, Republic Day and Gandhi's Birthday. I know that these days may have lost their relevance now, but I still watch the Republic day parade or at least its' clipping on TV, I still read / watch Prime Minister's address to nation on Independence day but Gandhi Jayanti? I do nothing. There was a time when I would watch that rerun of the Academy award winner movie made by a non Indian about the greatest of the Indians. But yesterday, I did nothing. I came to Office, fixed a few bugs, discussed the current financial crisis over lunch and talked about the Palin - Biden vice presidential debate but forgot that it was 2nd October. So I said, he has finally died.

Blog: Oh I see. But do you know what is the mistake that you guys made? You didn't associate his birthday with a festival. People still celebrate Jesus' birthday, Buddha's b'day and though mythical but Krishna's b'day. But then Gandhi is no God.

Atul: True, he is not God. And probably that's why its more important to remember him more than you remember Buddha. He is a proof that Buddha did exist. He is not called Mahatma for nothing. Yes he was spiritual, but he was not one of those Gurus having their Ashram on river side in Rishikesh (no offense intended) selling spirituality to the wealthy foreigners, none of those either who built their own sect (no offense again), instead he help built an entire Nation. And yes, he was a political leader but unlike those fodder eaters and saari hoarders (offense intended) whose definition of 'mine' is limited to family members, instead his definition of 'mine' was an entire country, that's why his own son became estranged to him. I know there are too many critics of him, blaming him for the partition of India, of being anti Revolutionaries like Netaji Bose / Bhagat Singh and basically what not. Just the fact that he was finally murdered by a guy who belonged to a party which still has a huge stake in the Indian socio-political landscape says it all. I don't care about these criticisms, because most of these critics are biased. All I hope is that History does justice to him, and he is talked about a mythical Mahatma a 500 years from now. But dude, for me he died yesterday.

Blog: Don't you ever blame me for not understanding allegories. Do you think I didn't get the inner message of this blog entry? The father of your nation may have died yesterday, but you just resurrected him today.