The genius of Gandhi

I interpet non-violence as another weapon used in war.. And therein lies the genius of Gandhi.. He turned the conventional theories of war up side down, and that's what confuses his detractors..Every new battle needs a new weapon for victory... Else you don't win.. The WWII was won by nuclear weapons.. WWI by tanks..first Iraq war by attacking armies media centres..Colonialism was faught by non-violence..A new kind of weapon..Something that british had no answer to.. It was simple. The british thought it to be the white man's burden to civilize the world. Here were brown men behaving in a more civilized manner than them. It shook them. The date and the timings of their departure was immaterial. The empire's roots were disturbed. That was the genius of Gandhi...

I also have another feeling with regards to Gandhi cancelling agitations in middle. Perhaps, he knew that independence was to come sooner or later. What was more important that Indians learnt to govern themselves and got a stream of leaders to do it. Perhaps, this explains, why India has performed better than any former British colony ( And I am talking nations, not cities). Compare India to Pakistan, Burma, Ceylone and you realize the importance of having grass root leaders that he created. May be this is where Zinnah erred. He created a nation but never created the machinery to govern it. I think he did tried his best to attack caste system. But in a sense he again realised that you can't remove caste system totally from India. And this shows true even today. We have new 'high' castes emerging. In UP there are new highs and lows emerging depending on who wins the elections. Had he been allowed to remove the evils of caste systems this would not have emerged today.

Varna system in its purest form is perhaps not all that bad. But in this form you attempt to live all the varnas oneself in one's life. You learn as a kid, fight as an adult, make money in mid age and serve others in the last phases of life. What's wrong here ?

Just reminded of one quote that Gandhi used about western civilsation, 'It's a good idea...' !!! We have our defects, but the attempt should be to purge them. Not to kill the tree for rotten fruits. And that was what other socialist reformers and others attempted and has created the mess that we have in certain parts.