By Enkayaar, Bollywood Trade News Network

Thanks to LAGE RAHO MUNNA BHAI, Gandhigiri is another new word that has been incorporated to the new chatniised version of English that is getting more contributions from the Asian sub-continent. Everyone is rather enamored about is in a rediscovery mode about Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi. However, the real moment of discovery of spirit of Gandhiism seems to have been glossed over in the herd mentality about waxing eloquence about Gandhigiri.

Were one to define the real moment that initiated the process of Gandhigiri it would the scene where the doctor of psychology asks three questions about Gandhi and though Gandhi is sitting there he does not answer the question, but subsequently does answer them, when Munna Bhai again asks him. The psychologist terms it as hallucination and declares that Munna Bhai is not in possession of required mental faculties. Gandhiji himself analyses the predicament that is faced by Munna Bhai which has turned his efforts and his ijjat into a faluda of sorts, by saying that the real truth has to be discovered from inside and one cannot always rely on crutches to find solutions. Truth has to be a process of self-discovery and it comes when the enlightenment is attained by one's soul.

This is how even Gandhiji had found his truth, and this is what he tries to facilitate for Munna as well. Gandhigiri in itself does not mean protests in a peaceful manner for short-term personal benefits but it is all about a philosophy of life, about its imbibing in daily chores. Giving roses, as a form of protest would not even make a scratch on the thick hide that has been created by corruption on the system, as is being emulated by the movie. Were one to take a survey now, after more than three months that the film has been in the theatres, and find out the percentage of people who still adopt Gandhiri compared to the time when the movie was realized, it would be found that the initial euphoria has again given over to the attitude of chalta hai and people are again returning back to the old patterns of life pre-Lage Raho Munna Bhai. It is the truth about the self that has to be recognized and the basic questions that Munna could not answer was an indication for him to start from scratch sort of deconstruct himself and evolve as a better person bereft of the hand that guided him on the path of truth. In the same manner the BPO generation, has to take the cudgel on behalf of the older generation that needs many Munnas to address their woes. Marshal Mcluhan's dream of an informed society can only be achieved when the practioners of Information technology use it, as Munna did through the satellite radio to provide a platform for addressing the ills of the system. Mushrooming FM channels could at least devote one hour on a daily basis about Gandhigiri that in it would make a major dent on the cancerous canker.

Did not Vidhu Vinod Chopra himself had ignited the spirit of Gandhigiri by not succumbing to the arm-twisting tactics of the multiplex owners by refusing to accept their terms and conditions. The spirit of Gandhigiri also needs to be ignited in the rural and less urban areas where Lucky Singh's abound and the true swaraj may be achievable. Gandhiji himself had said that cinema as a medium had the power to sway and galvanize the masses, and it is high time cinema and the fraternity took up the cause and the challenge.