Of Mahatma Gandhi & Popeye the Sailor
By Swaraaj Chauhan • Jan 2nd, 2009 • Category: Politics • 4 CommentsWhat is common between the legendary Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi and the creator of the iconic cartoon character Popeye the Sailor? All the copyright material related to them would end on January 1, 2009 when these fall into the public domain.
The statutory law restricts the rights of authors to 70 years after their death. The copyright expiry means that, from Thursday, anyone can print and sell Gandhi or Popeye posters, T-shirts and even create new comic strips, books without the need for authorisation or to make royalty payments.
The Times of London reports: “Elzie Segar, the Illinois artist who created Popeye, his love interest Olive Oyl and nemesis Bluto, died in 1938. The Popeye industry stretches from books, toys and action figures to computer games, a fast-food chain and the inevitable canned spinach.” More here…
The Times of India reports: “Unfazed by the likelihood of publishers picking up Gandhiji’s works for a profit, Managing Trustee of the Navajivan Trust, the custodian of Gandhiji’s writings, Jitendra Desai reasons: ‘Even in profiteering, they would propagate Gandhian thought’.
“Mahatma Gandhi died on January 30, 1948. Since 1919 the Navajivan Trust has published over 300 volumes of Gandhi’s articles, letters, speeches and translations of his autobiography.” More here…
Not many know that Mahatma Gandhi was a prolific writer and a journalist for decades. See here…
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what is the relevance of this post? whether Mahatma Gandhis work mostly about Non-Violence or Ahimsa as you may call it in hindi is of any relevance today or in the past is a debatable issue.
Budhism preach the same philosophy in a more coherent way than what Mahatma Gandhi propogated. Britishers decided a long time back to leave India and to make Indians’ master of their own destiny, in my view Mahatma Gandhi’s contribution is symbolic and he was seen as non-partisan and as such acceptable to a broader section of the society during the time of our freedom movement.
Here my attempt is to engage readers in a pragmatic debate about Gandhi’s contribution-if any to the freedom movement and also whether his philosophy is of any use in countering many of the national and international problems that we face today/
Dear Shri Chauhan,
I think Arif is absolutely correct about relavance of Gandhi today. He suited the British who were mortrally afraid of Netaji. He is being resurrected by interested politicians who fear the rise of Hindutva philosphy in India.
In South Asia, or probably elsewhere, we hardly discuss our own individual contribution to the society/nation. Before we set down to the task of analysing/attacking others it is very important to understand ourselves.
Out thought processes are shaped by our times/parents/education and, now increasingly, by the powerful and invasive media. The information technology is also being used by governments, big and small, for their own propaganda to brainwash/confuse the people.
People living in countries that were once ruled by colonial powers have still not got over their “Mai Baap” and “Jee Huzoor” servile mentality. As an Indian, it was so refreshing for me when I watched the Saudis address their King by his name and never bowed to him even in a orthodox Islamic society. “We bow only to Allah,” was a refreshing common refrain I heard during my memorable stay in Saudi Arabia.
We expect our leaders to be super-human beings. But they are all flesh and blood, and have the same failing and strengths like us. Why do we as individuals act so helpless and look at the leaders to change everything with a magic wand? Why do we allow the excesses of our leaders to go on without protest? Simple, because we are all basically lazy, selfish and, if I may add, myopic.
We all underestimate the power of an atom bomb that lies within us each individual….comparable to, let us say, Popeye!!!
Mohandas Gandhi and Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s greatest contribution was to awaken this latent force within each individual in the undivided India, and even in those countries that were living under the yoke of colonial powers. The two leaders gave us “spinach” and we, with such low self-esteem because of centuries of unending exploitation, rose as one to drive out the colonial power (but are now at each others’ throats!!!).
Human memory is notoriously short. Please remember that before 1940s, it was unthinkable to take on the mighty colonial empire where “the sun never set”.
This is not the forum to discuss in detail the contributions of Gandhi and Jinnah (I suggest that those who wish to enter into a discussion should first read more diverse books/biographies about the two leaders).
I would only say that these two giants laid the foundations. It is for us to build on them. We have to see their acts of omission and commission in the light of the situation and life that existed during that period in time/history.
It is always easy to blame others. What is important/challenging now is how best we can proceed from here, or improve upon it.
We should not act like babies and keep lamenting that our “daddies” Gandhi and Jinnah didn’t do this and didn’t do that. Let’s us grow up.
We as nations are now over 60 in age. Let’s try to think, talk and act like responsible adults, and not like lusty adults on Viagra spoiling for a……..fight. Please remember there are millions of us who do not even get a proper meal in a day or have basic education or health care.
Gandhi and Jinnah have shown us the path/joy of freedom and liberty and it is for us to build from there on. Compared to many other countries, India and Pakistan haven’t done too badly. We are just cry babies.
There is an old saying “Unity is strength”. The greatest homage that we can pay to the two great leaders is not to allow the neo-colonial powers to divide us further and take away the hard fought freedom.
@Swaraaj Chauhan
i guess the only Gandhian legacy we in india still try to follow is the swadeshi culture inspite of all these western influences.
i mean by swadeshi is SELF RELIANCE.
Lets hope India and Indians aggressively follow our quest for SELF RELIANCE in each and every field.
Then the neo-colonial powers will automatically be defeated with out fighting a war.
Also The following quote should act as a GUIDING PRINCIPLE for indians in this era of globalisation.
“”"”“I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.””"”"”"
Which means TAKE THE BEST……LEAVE THE REST from other countries and cultures.
Jai Hind