Gerald D'Cunha

T here is a very moving scene in Richard Attenborough’s movie, ‘Gandhi’… Young Gandhi, after leading years of non-violent struggle in South Africa, has returned to India. The well-known leaders of Indian freedom-struggle want Gandhi to take a plunge in the freedom struggle… But, Gandhi is in no hurry… He senses the disconnect between the leaders who live in sophistication and the masses that live in acute poverty… So, he decides to travel across the length and breadth of the country… into the deepest interiors… to feel the plight of people… to feel connected with them… be one with them… Yes, before he could take the mantle of being their Moses! During this travel, one day, he comes near a village river just to splash some water on his tired face… On the other side, barely some yards away, he notices village women washing clothes, tucking little babies to their bosoms… Poverty is visible, the clothing is just not sufficient to cover their dignity… One woman, who gets ...

Long back, when I had first come across the phrase, ‘The larger good’, I remember I liking it immensely. I also remember deciding to make it one of the driving forces behind all my future actions. Yes, I have been consciously striving to go about my life, carrying out almost every thing I do keeping the principle of ‘the larger good’ in my heart. I said, I have been ‘consciously striving’… earnestly striving. I know how powerful this principle is… how empowering… how constructive.  However, as another human being, sometimes, I find it difficult to stick to this principle. I tend to overlook it, and, invariably the consequence is: a feeling of isolation, low confidence and regret and even anger. Yes, it does happen to me every time I tend to place ‘my good’ before the ‘larger good’.  I have realized this, very clearly, by now:  The larger good includes my good.    But, my good need not – and, mostly, doesn’t –...