Part II-Brand Gandhi- A Wacky Analysis of a Wacko Mahatma

Part II-Brand Gandhi- A Wacky Analysis of a Wacko Mahatma

Brand “Gandhigiri”: What are we selling?

It was dark. There was complete silence…the dark stage suddenly came alive with one spotlight, in the right corner. From the wings walked a man, a well built dignified African-American man in a suit. He walked to the center of the stage, to a podium, settled down, and began….

“I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Brand Gandhi- A Wacky Analysis of a Wacko Mahatma

 Brand Gandhi- A Wacky Analysis of a Wacko Mahatma

(this grand brand is in great demand)

There they were, a group of elegant desi women, singing to commemorate this year’s Gandhi Jayanti. Dressed in White salwar kurtas & saris, they were swaying, Gospel Choir-like, as an uncomfortable looking desi guy strummed Guitar chords to their song. The song was not Gandhiji’s favorite “Vaishnav jan to” or even “Raghupati Raghav“, with the Gratuitous “Eeshwar Allah tero naam” thrown in.

No. This was America, & “cool” desis knew that in order to be “mainstream” [i.e. Gora Copy], one had to sing an “English” song, complete with harmonizing, & Guitar chords, & words like “let there be Peace…peace as it was meant to be“, and “God our creator” thrown in. So the predominantly White Christian crowd could nod to each other with self Satisfaction, “Oh! Isn’t that Nice! They’re just like us!”

It is always “their” fault, not “ours”.

It is always “their” fault, not “ours”.

(We are Not Violent! I will go to war with anybody who disagrees!)

[Scene- Name: AnySchool, location: Anywhere...Time: Any Century]

The class was strangely quiet, except for muffled grunts, and thuds, and scratching & scuffling noises that the teacher could hear as she walked closer towards the classroom.

Reaching the door, she saw only the backs of the kids’ heads, as they all seemed to be gathered around something going on , right on the floor in front of them. She quickly rushed thru the crowd, only to see two of the class’ “big guys” rolling around on the floor, clearly in the middle of a “fight to death“. [Kill, him! C’mon, finish him!" as one exhilarated, clapping member of the crowd was yelling].