Bapu: The Influencer of all times

There are few social facts that we find difficult to accept as there is no data to back them, but we witness it around us, and they are part of our gossips. One such informal fact is about the relevance of Bapu for today’s generation. When the bond between children and their parents is diluting, when old age homes are mushrooming in every city, expecting extremely high regards and idealisation for ‘Father of Nation’ is quixotic.

The values are not taught in a classroom, One learns them from elders or society. In a country where 1/3rd of the population is young, occupied in their own lives, coping with quickly changing macro factors, constantly readjusting themselves with new industries, where technology advancement further increases the generation gap, the learning from elders is sure to be affected.

Today when we are questioning our own culture, our scriptures – though which is not wrong if the intention is to look deeper for the truth – expecting youth to connect with someone who was born 152 years ago and left for heavenly abode 73 years back is far-fetched.

Deep within, we all know that to keep the nation intact, keep the culture protected, ensure a morally high standard of citizens, the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi are the way forward. Undoubtedly, Bapu’s principles are eternal, but people emulate only those values which they see giving results. It is a truth that to bring the change, One has to be the change, and during those times Bapu preached, by living the moral life for others to relate and follow.

To connect today’s youth with Bapu’s principle, we can think of two ways, first is to wait for Bapu to reincarnate & lead; second, we pick his principles and align them with the aspirations of the youth.

80% of youth in the USA aim to become social influencers, and the same trend is catching up in India. An influencer is a person who is a brand in themself, whom people follow and trust for the choices, a leader of the domain.

I cannot think of any person other than Mahatma Gandhi, who was as big an influencer as he was in those times. He was followed not only by his countrymen but people of many other nations, including Britishers. His one act or post, as we say today, used to get millions of likes and is being emulated or forwarded in today’s terminology by his followers among their peer groups. He has monetised his following to get paid as freedom for the country.

As an influencer, the two most important things that he does is

1. Listen to people and respond truthfully
2. Gave people a broader vision of independent India in all aspects and acted the same way as he wanted others to do.

Anyone who aspires to be an influencer today must realise what vision they want to put forth in front of people; it could be related to health, nutrition, fashion, patriotism, etc. They must listen to people, and likewise, people will listen to them. They must speak the truth, and correspondingly, people will connect with them through the same vibe.

It’s time to relive Bapu not only as the ‘Father Of Nation’ but also as an ‘Influencer Of All Times’. Let his life and journey be repackaged again to show the process for connecting masses. Let’s keep Bapu alive in us through our new age influencers; let them be the disciple of the first-ever influencer of India or the world, who was, who is, and who will be Mr. Mohandas KaramChand Gandhi – Our Bapu.