Lelyveld and Gandhiji

Excerpts from Sunil Khilnani's article in Outlook:

Gandhi appeared to embody harmony and unity, yet his own life consisted of anything but those qualities—often impulsive, inconsistent, conflictual, fragmented. He would launch political initiatives like satyagrahas and civil disobedience, then abruptly end them; he would establish communities and ashrams, and move on; he would win the leadership of the Congress, and then retire to spinning and toilet cleaning; he would enter into intimate friendships, then turn away. He insisted that his own life and action was of a piece with his thought and principles—yet repeatedly they pulled in different directions.

So it is common to search for some unifying thread to his life: something that can explain the eccentric shape of a life at once monumental and elusive to the naked eye. Some have delved into psychology, some look to religion and ethics, others to political opportunism. Joseph Lelyveld, in his new portrait, hopes to find it in Gandhi’s fundamental feeling for the lowliest—and he wants to show that such empathy wasn’t a natural stance for Gandhi, but one won (and only ever partially) through his experiences—and which required Gandhi to struggle with his own prejudice-bound self.

That emphasis leads Lelyveld to focus his intellectual energies on the twenty-two years that Gandhi spent in South Africa. Those years, Lelyveld claims, were formative, taking Gandhi to the belief—well-founded, but never quite as well-founded as Gandhi himself liked to think and put about—that he could see the world from the bottom up, that he could fathom as few others the needs and hopes of the most oppressed, and that he had therefore an unquestionable right to speak for them.

Lelyveld, a former senior journalist and editor with the New York Times who has done stints in both South Africa and India, ought to be well-placed to bring news of Gandhi’s time there, and the first third of his book, devoted to Gandhi in South Africa, is by far the most illuminating and worthwhile. Read more... Sphere: Related Content

A new book by Tavis Smiley - Fail Up

Dr. Cornel West has recommended this book

Tavis Smiley speaks about his new book:

There Is No Way to Fail Up Without Faith
For many of us, Easter Sunday marks the true start of spring. It's a time of rejuvenation after the winter, when we focus on the season's promise of renewal.

I celebrate Easter as a Christian, embracing the tremendous message of sacrifice and resurrection. The Easter story is just one example of how important faith is when all hope is lost, and we feel like an unmovable stone is blocking our way. Regardless of your beliefs or religious practices, the truth is, there is no way to fail up without faith.

For many folk, personal spiritual faith in times of struggle has been the only light shining through the darkness. There were many points throughout my life when I thought things weren't going to work out. It was my faith in God—that He had a plan bigger and better than my own—that got me through.

Having faith in something that transcends the human condition—whether spiritual, social, or personal—is an essential ingredient for failing up. I could point to innumerable Biblical scenarios where a believer felt there was no hope—that they would never cross the Red Sea, or get out of a whale's belly or a lion's den. The essential need to keep the faith remains just as important today, as our world is literally shaken by disasters natural and man-made. Keeping the faith can mean not only the difference between failure and failing up, it can also become the literal arbiter between life and death.

As I detail in FAIL UP, the story of the 33 Chilean miners trapped thousands of feet below ground for nearly ten weeks is about as harrowing and inspiring as you can get. Yet, for many of the miners, it was their faith that God had a plan that kept them going. Likewise, as we witness the heroic actions of the workers at the Fukushima Daiichi, we are reminded of the selflessness and sacrifice propelling them. It is an awesome display of what the belief in something greater than oneself can do. The people of Japan are facing tremendous hardship, but we must ask what compelled one survivor, writing to the Japanese emperor, to state "I will keep striving."

Now, these are obviously extraordinary examples, but from our day-to-day setbacks to major life crises, focusing on the belief in the intangible—in that which provides the foundation for what we believe in even if we can't physically see it or touch it—so often becomes that rope in the dark pulling us towards the distant light.

When faith is coupled with the inherent gifts and abilities inside of each and every one of us, we maximize our abilities, pushing ourselves towards what we've been called to do. Still, along the way, there will be slips, slides and setbacks. All of us will fail at some point. The question we must always remain focused on is: How good is my failure? When we can say to ourselves, "Better every day," we are on our way.

- Tavis Smiley





Tavis Smiley Timeline

Tavis Smiley has come a long way from his humble beginnings in Gulfport, Mississippi (PDF)



kevo1217 RT @tavissmiley: "You will look back on setbacks and be grateful for the catalyst that came not a moment too soon.” -Tom Freston #FAILUP http://bit.ly/FAILUP Sphere: Related Content

Binayak Sen gets Human Rights Prize

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