Gandhi - 'da UltiMate Coder'

Gandhi - da UltiMate Coder

A man is born free, but his freedom is short-lived. A man without a name is a free creature in true sense, with no bias attached to him. He is stripped off of his freedom at a certain day after his birth - when he gets a name and enters into the cruel world of discrimination. His name, henceforth, will indicate his religion, his ethnicity, his nationality, his culture and the prejudices attached to them. Different days of a week will treat him differently, according to his name. If the name is John, Sunday are for Worshiping, and if it's Abdul, Fridays are sacred. Seafood will be his favorite, if the name is Sudipto or he will be a complete vegetarian if the name ends with Sharma. These names even provide general information about physical appearance. How often you come across a Yoshi, who is six feet tall, or a Sunil who is white? It won't be difficult to guess that a Turner likes baseball but a Surendra is a die hard fan of cricket. These prejudices come free with the name and stay attached to the person forever.

He was also born free, but got his set of bias on the sixth day. Unfortunately, he got a worse lot, as he was named, Gandhi Gupta. It was a weird name at the very first place. Technically speaking, not even a name in true sense, but a combination of two common surnames. Being Gupta was not a problem, but the problem was with his first name, Gandhi. The day he got admission in school, the registrar cross-checked his name twice.

His school days were not easy. His name attracted everyone's attention. No matter how average he performed, his teachers always knew him. His name was even discussed at length in his absence. But that was not a problem, the problem was to face all mundane questions followed by his introduction. 'What? can you repeat your name?', 'Who gave you this name?', 'Isn't Gandhi your surname?', were usually the first reactions. He learned to answer them patiently. Unfortunately, it was not the end of his troubles either. His classmates wished him on October 2nd, and mimicked a gun-firing on January 30th. He was rumored to be bald, just like the Gandhi printed on indian currency. He was asked to carry a stick. 'Slap on one cheek and he will offer you the other', was another common joke that he had to listen several times a day. On many occasions, he was asked to wear only Dhoti and not the western outfit. He often returned home with a dull face. His mother used to assure him, 'With time, everything will be fine.'

He survived the trauma of the primary schooling, and with time, got used to it. The second phase of torment began soon afterwards, and surprisingly at his own home. He was always asked to live up to his name. His lies were not tolerated, he was supposed to control his anger and behave like the real Gandhi, the father of nation. A person that was loved by the entire nation, but hated by Gandhi Gupta. All the time, he wished for another name.

He joined an engineering college and aspired to become a software engineer. The college, unlike his school, was a better place. The ragging was a mere repetition of his early school days, but he was well-prepared. Soon the ragging days were over, and he got new friends and a new name. He created his facebook profile in the name of 'da UltiMate Coder', to show his inclination towards software and obviously to get rid of the Gandhi attached to him. Apart from the occasional teasing from his old friends, he had successfully freed himself from the Gandhi, ironically this freedom was also achieved without any violence.

His inclination towards software stayed with him for long time. He mastered the art of programming and grasped the intricate concepts of Computer Science. His friends sought his help for all kinds of programming assignments. He was really good at living up to his name. Fortunately, this time he was not forced to do so.

It was no surprise that he grabbed the best job the very first day of the campus placement. The interview panel was impressed with his programming skills and in depth knowledge of his field

When everyone around him secured a job, the college became an entirely different place, at least for Gandhi aka 'da UltiMate Coder'. He had been spending most of his time in computer labs for the last couple of years. After a job in hand, and a cheerful environment around, he was relaxed just like his friends.

One day his friends arranged a party, and he was offered a cigarette.

'Cigarette! But I don't smoke', Gandhi exclaimed.

'Abbe! Kar le... why gandhi-giri all of a sudden?', one of his friend insisted.

'Even Gandhi-ji had his share of fun in South Africa...', the other one winked.

And there was Gandhi, smoking his first cigarette. It was tough, apart from the nausea from inhaling large intake of smoke, there was something else that was troubling him. He realized that the Gandhi in his name had never actually left him. It was a scary thought, all pranks and jokes regarding Gandhi, that he had faced earlier came alive. It was a spine-chilling thought. His conscience was forcing him to follow the same person he had hated all his life. His freedom was at the stake. He had to overcome his feelings. His determination gave him extra strength, and in-spite of initial coughing, he finished his first cigarette. What a fun that was! It was followed by another round of smoking and multiple rounds of drinking alcohol.

The night lasted for long time, and the next day was even longer. He had severe head-up. Although he was well aware of all sorts of potential malfunctioning in a computer, he was new to hang-over. He was also feeling guilty about the last night, and in his pain, he started reading about his namesake. So far, his only association with the father of the nation was to share the name, carry currency with half-naked but smiling Gandhi on it and be butt of the every joke originally targeted at the real Gandhi. His hatred made him skip the history pages where the cursed name was mentioned. He seldom participated in events at August 15th and January 26th. He often bunked the school on October 2nd. Unlike the real Gandhi, he never had the courage to face his enemy.

He was relieved to find out that his friends were right about Gandhi's younger days. 'da UltiMate Coder' felt much better after reading about incidents of Gandhi's smoking. The guilt vanished and a  treaty became effective. 'The real Gandhi was not a born saint. He had his share of fun, so could I',  he concluded.

The ceasefire lasted for couple of years. There was no room for cruel name-jokes in a professional life. He was known to his colleague only for his skills and not for his weird name. His moral also permitted him occasional boozing, as he once settled in the college. His mother was right about time. With time, he had learned to coexist with his worst enemy – his name. Ironically, it was the time, that gave him another set of worries.

He had a lucrative job, and a settled life. He was working with one of the software giants, his dream company. Everything was well organized. There was nothing much to challenge him. The tasks assigned to him were trivial. His days at office were long and boring. Despite of his regular activities at social networking sites, he had ample time to do nothing. He spent most of the spare time reading about  his namesake. His hidden curiosity to know more about the bias attached to his name was motivating him. He had started questioning his existence. He had done nothing significant in his life so far. He hadn't even used his voting right once. Never did he witness flag hoisting on national holidays. He was also aware of the fact that his treaty would expire any time in the future. Like young M.K. Gandhi, he had been having normal life so far, but for how long. The burden of greatness was waiting for him to accept responsibility.

He had several rounds of arguments with himself. 'Not all persons named Sachin, hit centuries. Neither do all Bhagat Singhs die for the country', his basic arguments never held enough water. Somewhere deep inside, he wanted to do something special. Maybe it was his old habit of living up to the name, he was craving for fame and meaning in his life. He once dreamt of having initiated a youth movement, against the government. It was a wonderful feeling, but it didn't last long. Soon, he felt over burdened and stopped thinking about it.

'Greatness doesn't come with a name. It's a pure need-based phenomena. There is a hero, because there is a devil and not because the hero is named a hero.', he once argued. 'We live in a free world, there is no foreign government to oppose to, no rules against Indians. We don't need a new Gandhi today', he concluded. His reasoning was valid for couple of days until he reflected over the news section. Blood shed over the demand of a new state, regular terrorist attacks, another hike in fuel prices, irregularities in public construction work, 'Man! A hero is never out of demand.', He couldn't deny existence of the true need.

No matter what was the need of the nation, he badly needed better reasoning against his conscience. His name, was trying to force him the heroism that he was not ready to accept. He needed an escape route. Another keen reading of M.K. Gandhi's life, and he came up with a new theory, a better one this time.

His namesake was born in a slave country. M. K. Gandhi witnessed the injustice for long time. Only when he was kicked out of a railway compartment, he got the vision for his life. It was all hazy in the beginning, but gradually shaped in the form of true Gandhism. 'Thus, greatness is a time-dependent phenomena. The vision gets better with time and one refines the theories after testing them over time...'

'That's it... I should wait for the real kick, the moment meant for my glory...Till then I am fine...' It was a soothing thought. He was relived again. He got convinced that his moment would come one day. 'I should probably go to Australia, and face cruel racism... I will resist, without violence, and set another example of Gandhism'. What a day dreamer Gandhi Gupta was!

The harmony lasted for sometime, and his latest reasonings were strongly defending the fort, until the day he heard about a rally against the nuclear liability bill. The Bhopal gas tragedy had been revived by  Media, there was social outcry against injustice. Some clauses in the newly proposed liability bill would provide more shielding to industry owners. A group of socially aware citizens organized a rally and called for participation. As soon as Gandhi read about the rally, he knew his moment had arrived. He would join the rally, and later the group. With the group, he would organize more rallies across the nation. He would be the front-runner of the protest - fighting on behalf of common men, fasting for a social cause, bearing resistance from the violent police. He knew that the government would yield one day, and would make necessary changes in the bill. The plan was simple. His greatness was in his reach.

The rally was supposed to start on Sunday morning around 7 am from a location far from Gandhi's apartment. He calculated that he would need around one hour to reach there and another 20-30 minutes to get ready. He planned to get-up around 5:30 in the morning, and set the alarm. He had the most peaceful sleep that saturday night. He was going to find the meaning of his life the very next day.

The morning came rather unceremoniously. He was half awake when he realized that the alarm was disturbing him. He looked at the time, and suddenly recalled about the rally. 'Maybe next time...', he decided and slept again. He was right, his time hadn't yet arrived.