Mahatma Gandhi 6 - Fear Of Darkness Poem by Geeta Radhakrishna Menon
Mahatma Gandhi 6 - Fear Of Darkness
Fear
A common emotion,
Lies deeply embedded
In the psyche of man!
Frightened of
Unknown,
Unseen,
Unpredictable!
Fear
The root cause of many
Disturbances,
Disagreement,
Disillusionment;
To a state of high anxiety,
Worry
Sickness!
Fear
A sense of apprehension,
Whether with humans or animals,
The basic instinct -
To protect,
To be protected,
A defence mechanism,
For survival!
Like any other child,
Mohandas too was afraid of darkness.
He thought himself to be a coward,
For he could not sleep with lights off,
Nor venture into darkness alone.
He was haunted by the fear of thieves,
Ghosts and
Serpents!
As a kid Mohandas was
Fondly addressed by his pet name
‘Monia' by his loving mother
And his nurse Rambha!
Mohandas affectionately recalls
Rambha who taught him
The simple chant -
‘Ram, Ram'!
Gandhiji points to a missing patch,
In his early years of study,
During his formal education period,
From the sixth to the sixteenth year,
The study of religion - by religion
Gandhiji meant the study of self-realisation.
He was indebted to his nurse Rambha
Who sowed the seeds of faith in God!
The repetition of Rama-nama,
Suggested by nurse Rambha,
To cure the fear of spirits and snakes,
Proved an effective method for young Monia!
He began chanting the simple mantra,
An infallible remedy throughout his life,
That steadfastly aided him to remain courageous,
To such an extent, that his last utterance
Before his last breath was - ‘Ram-Ram'!
When I read about Gandhiji's fears as a child, I was quite surprised that such a great leader of the world too, had fears during his childhood.
How he conquered fear in his life is the astonishing story of Mahatma Gandhiji.
An interesting narrative poem, well articulated and nicely penned with insight. A lovely tale about the sinister shadows of fear expertly narrated. Thanks for sharing Geeta.
He could not sleep with lights off! Thanks for sharing this poem with us.
Mahatma Gandhi was a great leader, if he would have survived a few more years the history would have been different. His thought that it's fear in the brains of Muslims that Hindus will take revenge of some excesses by them lead to the division of India, has weight. K.M.Munshi, India; s High Commissioner in Pakistan(Ex Governor U.P.) writes Quaide Azam M.A. Jinnah never wanted division, he only wanted assurance of rights for the Muslims. He had accepted the ABC formula of three confederations with a strong center. But Indian National Congress demanded division of Punjab, Bengal and Assam, they should have shown patience and wait till the Britishers leave India. The demand of division of Punjab, Bengal and Assam lead to the division of India. We should keep in our minds that Mahatma Gandhi had ultimately accepted that Three aforesaid states may not be divided. Unfortunately this great leader was killed and after him Acharya Vinoba Bhave and Jai Prakash Narayan tried to continue Ghandivad but they failed. And what was that Gandhivad? It was just remove fears of Muslims and it will be all right.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/25/2024 10:08:57 AM # 1.0.0.1119
Chanting helps to clam a disturbed mind. Thank you for sharing the incidents behind Gandhiji's utterance of Hey Ram when he was assassinated.