Editorial: On non-violence and triumph of good over evil

---An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind. ---Non-violence is the summit of bravery. ---In a gentle way, you can shake the world. ---Mahatma Gandhi

On October 2nd a grateful nation celebrates the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. It is a holiday in India. Elsewhere this day is observed as the International Day of Non-Violence by the UN, as per the General Assembly resolution A/RES/61/271 of 15 June 2007, a resolution co-sponsored by 140 nations at that point of time.

This day is important not only for us in India but for the entire human civilization, as it signals the enduring significance of Ahimsa as a ruling principle for a peaceful co-existence of faiths, peoples and cultures; a harmonious space of shared approach to non-violence as the foundational principle of a moral living of an evolved species.

Love, not hate, is the ideal mantra of leading highly ethical existence for humankind!

Strife and hatred destroy the moral fiber and destroy entire civilizations.

The epigrams above are distillation of the Gandhian philosophy for those who came later and the legacy was continued by the likes of Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela, among others, on minor scales in their contexts and time.

Setu pays another tribute to the Apostle of Peace by inviting select authors-artists through their responses to the ethos of our beloved Bapu. These works, verbal and visual, evoke the essential Gandhi in their interpretative words and images. 

A humble way of honouring the man who, ironically, fell to the bullet, on January 30, 1948, at the age of 78, in New Delhi.

 A dedicated peace advocate; the tallest leader who led by example; a rich life of a saint finished by an act of hatred and bigotry.

History was kind. He lives on in our imagination and hearts and is a source of inspiration to billions across the divided world.

Somber to remember the heavy price one has to pay for a belief in peace, no-violence and truth; for a vision of a pluralistic and harmonious society, as a tapestry of many threads with a common motif---humanity as a family!

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This month also falls a significant religio-cultural mega event called Dussehra (October 15th) observed in many parts of India: It is an enduring narrative and symbol of the victory of good over evil!

Both the events go together and reinforce each other in the Indian cultural consciousness. Dussehra tells us to lead a pure and ethical life, despite temptation and evil in our midst, and follow our dharma as good citizens and human beings.

And how the king must act.

Lord Rama is the ideal king and man.

Combined, these two days and dates confirm the essence of human conduct in an ideal civilization.

Hope these messages continue to speak to the future generations also.

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The Fall in Canada is equally exciting---lot of colours, fragrance and indicative of the transitory nature of the existence and other phenomena. 

Of this, some other time.

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With due debts to all the writers featured here, this issue is at your service again, in the seventh year of its monthly production and 2,515,583 page views!

Sunil Sharma

Editor, Setu (English)

Toronto, Canada

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Setu October 2021