Promoting an entity

Now let me just go back to Gandhi. The amount of money that someone had spent on behalf of Gandhi to promote him has never been mentioned. It is at best quite an idiotic stance. At least someone should have just thought about it. How could a relatively unknown person suddenly come into media prominence? There were a quite a lot of other ‘Indian’ leaders who were actually doing a better job at improving the quality of the people here. They all simply vanished in the sudden halo lend on Gandhi. Well, he did have one halo. That of being an England-returned person. Well, that is something that still lends a halo.

DIGRESSION

I remember one time, when during a training programme one of the trainees asked if it was true that I was an England-returned. When I answered in the negative, I could very powerfully feel the dismay and consternation among the trainees. They would have been quite happy to get an England-returned person as a trainer.

And to conclude that story, some years later I did come across another person who had achieved the adjective of ‘corporate trainer’ on the surge of being an England-returned person. He would not clearly mention what it was that he had done in Great Britain. However his accent was quite good, even though his vocabulary was found wanting. He had never read an English classic nor did he exactly know what they were. Yet, his simple credentials of being an England-returned gave him the glow to become a ‘corporate trainer’. It must be admitted that personality-wise also, there was a lot of difference in stature, posture and even in demeanour from the local non-England-returned crowd. In fact, there were a lot of positive features in him, even though he was not good in English literature or knew anything about British antiquity and heritage. Well, that much differences a mere two-year visit to England had perched upon him.

Speaking about England-returned, there is this incident that I can relate. One person came to me to learn speaking English. He wanted to go to England within a few months. His English was quite bad, even though he did have the daring to speak in English. Later he reached England, and was in London, doing a particular course. He wanted me to do the project work for him from here. He would call me and speak. With a few months time, his accent was quite good. In fact, if he were to speak to me in front of others, it was quite easy to feel that his English was much better than mine. However, to a man who was conversant in good English, this wouldn’t be the feeling. For his sentence construction was quite bad. Yet, his accent was great. Now see this sample paragraph of what he sent me to rewrite, which I would do within hours:

Note: Please note that the below writing would be completely re-paraphrased by me and sent back to him   

QUOTE: [Personally I had not many skills in critically thinking especially in business field. The important one is that I had not much skill in approach a problem in business scenario and solve as well. But traditionally I am from a business family so know some little bit ideas about the practical business and how to approach and solve it.  Another one is that I am not much expert in business writings especially these kinds of projects.  An also important thing is that we had not much skills to interviewing others especially management people if it a part of curriculum. The most important one I think so that is research skills and I hadn’t better idea about how the practical and theories are collaborating in one place.] END OF QUOTE

Well, then what about Gandhi? His rich father knew the social value of having his son domiciled in England. When he comes back, most of the ordinary Indian social communication limitations get erased at least for a short time. It was Gandhi’s onus to use this minor interlude to make use of the momentous historical moments to garner media publicity for himself.

The government of India also spent a huge amount on making the Gandhi film. It was a film in which a man with supremely English features acted as Gandhi. Gandhi speaks English in the film. What a Gandhi is that? Actually Gandhi spoke in Hindi to his followers, who then naturally heaved him up on the ennobling heights of the indicant word codes. It is a very cheap technique, which every cunning leader in India uses.

When speaking about looks in films, there is this to be said. Good looking actors play out the life of ordinary people who in real life do not look so sweet. I have even seen English films wherein Black persons of Africa are seen depicted by English-speaking Blacks of English nations. What are then featured are not the real blacks of Africa, but the highly refined Blacks of the English nations. It is basically a fooling of the film viewers. The same goes when featuring Black slaves in English films. The slaves more or less bear modern English looks and not the original crude looks of the slaves of Africa.

It is like making a cow act as a lion. Seeing the cow, one is not intimidated. However, the real lion is not like a cow. Its very facial features and its roar can curdle one’s blood.

There are very easy evaluation tools to be used on Gandhi’s endeavours. He published English newspapers/magazines in both South Africa as well as in India. What was he doing writing in English when the majority population did not know English and he himself was rampantly anti-English? The easiest answer that he was trying to arrive at a level of equality with the English folks and also informing the other ‘Indians’ that he was way above them, is not looked upon. Why was he involved in such activities? The easiest answer again that he was having a craze for leadership wherever he went, is also not thought about. His political work in South Africa must have given him the complete information of the power of the media. There are different ways to arrive in popular thoughts.

It is like this. When I used to travel for my business purpose all around my home state in my two-wheeler, followed by another trip in my four-wheeler, I used to meet a lot of people on a regular basis. It was to give me a circle of connections in a very wide geographical area. I should have been a very famous person compared to many of the others that I knew. However, this was not the effect. Instead, if someone writes an article in one of the regional (vernacular) newspapers in his own name, it gets read by over 600 thousand people. In one day, he is famous. He is discussed. That is the power of the media.

This was the understanding that Gandhi did get. For, there was the traditional method of arriving at popular leadership, which almost everyone else used. That of, working for the people, and addressing their various issues.  But then it does really assure one of social leadership. For example, Raja Ram Mohan Roy. He is actually the native person from this geographical area whom I admire for his tenacity of purpose, towards addressing a real social issue. He could make the British parliament declare Sati as unlawful. 

A story for which Napier is famous involves a delegation of Hindu locals approaching him and complaining about prohibition of Sati, often referred to at the time as suttee, by British authorities. This was the custom of burning widows alive on the funeral pyres of their husbands. The exact wording of his response varies somewhat in different reports, but the following version captures its essence:

"You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.- Charles James Napier