E-Paper
Gandhi: The powerful communicator
As the centenary year of the seminal journal, Indian Opinion, started by Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa in 1903 comes to an end, it would be pertinent to revisit Gandhi - the powerful communicator.
As the centenary year of the seminal journal, Indian Opinion, started by Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa in 1903 comes to an end, it would be pertinent to revisit Gandhi - the powerful communicator.
He wrote in an era when there was neither radio nor television but such was the power of his writings that 'his outpourings of heart and soul' reached all. In all Gandhi edited three journals, viz., Indian Opinion, Young India and Harijan. For him the essential thrusts of his writings were truth and fearlessness.
Talking about the mission of journalism, Gandhi wrote on July 2, 1925 in Young India, "I have taken up journalism not for its sake but merely as an aid to what I have conceived to be my mission of life. My mission is to teach by example and precept under severe restraint the use of the matchless weapon of satyagraha which is a direct corollary of non-violence and truth…To be true to my faith, therefore, I may not write in anger or malice. I may not write idly. I may not write merely to excite passion. The reader can have no idea of the restraint I have to exercise from week to week in the choice of topics and my vocabulary. It is training for me. It enables me to peep into myself and to make discoveries of my weaknesses. Often my vanity dictates a smart expression or my anger a harsh adjective. It is terrible ordeal but a fine exercise to remove these weeds."
