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We're not in Kansas anymore!

Okay, so I’ve never been to Kansas, nor do I have any desire to go there. In fact, I’m in Ahmedabad, India for the next nine months. So “what is the point of referencing an old American classic like ‘The Wizard of Oz’?” you may ask. Patience, and I’ll get to the point.

Being a volunteer working at the Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram, I’ve built up a fairly substantial repertoire of answers to the barrage of questions I get asked daily. Generally questions such as, “Did Gandhi actually live here?”, “When did he live here?”, “Why did he live here?”, “Where are the toilets?”. However, recently I was posed with a question that stopped me in my intellectual tracks; a question that I had no rehearsed answer to, nor had I ever given it any real thought. Up till now that is. And that seemingly simple question was “Where did Gandhi get his courage from?”

This is a man who not only stood up for an entire nation against a colossal empire, but chose to challenge and often defy his family, his friends and his entire socio-political context (which I personally feel takes more guts than the former). Was he just naturally blessed with an innate sense of what is right and wrong and the bravery to stand up for his beliefs? Or was it a characteristic that he cultivated over a lifetime? My money is on the latter. Early on in life Gandhi admitted his almost crippling fear of public speaking, yet he went on to become one of the greatest orators in recorded history. He once said, “The history of great deeds is the history of men who had the courage to stand alone against the world.”

Don’t get me wrong. One does not have to overthrow an entire oppressive regime to prove one’s courage. India is a country where poverty is rife and employment is scarce (that is, if you have the unfortunate fate of many Indians born at the bottom of the socio-economic rung). This would be enough to dishearten even the strongest of characters. However, how is it that thousands of people wake up every day and choose to endure back-breaking labour in fairly exploitative conditions in order to earn an honest wage to take care of their loved ones rather than submit to what seems like their dismal fate?

In the astute words of the Cowardly Lion (hence, ‘The Wizard of Oz’): “Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? …Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the “ape” in apricot? What have they got that I ain’t got?” If all it took was an amble down a yellow brick road to hustle someone in to giving you a heart, the world would be very different place.

It is my belief that courage comes from a belief that some things are more important than fear. This can range from the liberation of an entire nation to the desire to provide for one’s family. Either way, it is an individual making a conscious decision to counteract the fear which they feel and redirect it into action. You are not necessarily born with courage. But what you are born with is potential, and it is what you choose to do with that potential that really matters.

“If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” ~ Gandhi

Ishtar Lakhani is a 2007 Indicorps Fellow working to revitalize the Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

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