Golliwag

I saw a news feature which had Ms. Sonia Gandhi addressing the UN on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday and asking them not to take Gandhi lightly and Rahul Gandhi was also shown and I also saw a headline in a newspaper Brand Gandhi goes global.  It meant Rahul Gandhi’s first appearance in an international meet as a political figure from India.

 Set me wondering.  What about the actual descendents of Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi.  Should not they have been the ones to have been invited to speak on the occasion.  And Ms. Gandhi is not even the President or Prime Minister of India nor did she know Gandhi personally.  She happens to be the leader of the coalition party ruling India.  With due respect to Ms Sonia Gandhi in what capacity was she invited to address the UN meet and how come the media is connecting her surname Gandhi with the original Mahatma.

 There is no harm in her addressing the UN as a political leader of the ruling party from our country but still ironic to think that among all the other leaders available she should be chosen and just because her son had Gandhi surname in his name will his identity be mistaken as having to do something with the actual Gandhi whereas he is connected to the Nehru family. 

Brand Gandhi????  and I thought Gandhiji was opposed to capitalism and materialism of any sort and yet his name has not only helped make a movie a blockbuster with a term gandhigiri being coined but now he is being used to advantage in politics internationally too to some people’s advantage.