The Triumphant Spirit

	Mahadev Desai was born in Dar-es-Salaam Tanzania, East Africa to indian parents hailing from Surat, Gujrat. He holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Teaching from London. A prolific writer, his articles have appeared in various publications. He is also Publicity Director for Gandhi Foundation of USA

when individual evil multiplies into collective evil, ruthless dictators lead their countries into wars, holocausts, genocides, and ethnic cleansing. In this room you will see historical records of natural and human evils. There were photographs showing perverse, vicious, violent and corrupt side of human beings. There were photographs of collective evil, like scenes from the two World Wars,Biafra(Nigeria);Bosnia, the holocaust in Germany, 1947 partition in India, oil fires raging in Kuwait, the Munich Putsch of 1934. The most numbing pictures were of the atom bombs dropping on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The top scientist, J.Robert Oppenheimer, Father of the Atom Bomb, had observed the Trinity Test in New Mexico, USA, on July 16, 1945. He had read Gita, and when he was asked for his initial reaction after witnessing the mushrooming cloud, quoted from the Gita,” If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst into the sky , that would be like the splendor of the mighty one. Now I am become death, the destroyer of the worlds. Thou shalt see the radiance of a thousand suns.” His curiosity to see such a spectacle impelled him to carry on with the Atom Bomb project and not only he but the world realized the enormity of the destruction that was unleashed. When Gandhi was assassinated, a poet had lamented “The world regretted that it had made a revolver”. From revolver to atom bomb-sadly mankind’s mad race to make even more deadly nuclear weapons of mass destruction continues. In the next room, there were pictures of the evil forces set loose by Nature. Famines, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, draught, volcanic eruptions, oil spills, acid rain. Pictures after pictures. In 1902, Volcano erupted at Mont Pelee-38000 killed; earthquake in Sicily in 1908- 150000 died. More pictures of exoduses, mass starvations, and deaths in Ethiopia, Somalia, and earthquake in Japan in 1923- 140000 died. Closer to home, the cyclone in 1970, which caused the deaths of 200000 and homelessness for a million, in Bangladesh. There were other heart wrenching pictures of the effects of pollution, acid rain, and oilspills. In the adjoining room, there were photos showing victims of deadly diseases like AIDs, cancer, and leukemia. I was feeling nauseated, and overcome by a sense of rage and disbelief. “What kind of a God are you? “ I shouted. All I could hear was the echo of my voice. I shouted again and again. Slowly the finger appeared again and pointed to another door. What happened next was beyond words. The room was dark and empty. I stumbled and fell. “Let me out, let me out” I begged. Slowly I saw a physical form taking shape, in a blinding blaze of light. I could hardly keep my eyes open as the light was dazzling. A hand stretched out and offered me a pair of dark goggles. I put them on and saw a Godlike image.
It was as in Bhagavad-Gita,” The light of light that is beyond darkness, on me is the entire Universe strung, like pearls on a thread. I have the splendor of a thousand suns.” The lips were moving,” The world is my stage, my chessboard. Time rolls by. There are exits and entrances. I am the beginning, the middle and the end. Everything functions according to my supreme design, the divine predestination. Doubt not my doings. Resist the powers of darkness and be not insensitive. Resist the ‘compassion fatigue’ due to the avalanche of mind benumbing news and images constantly being heaped on you by the media. Every deed of love, compassion, sacrifice, heroism, creativity is a revelation of a fragment of my splendor. I decide who to reward and who to punish. Do not feel dejected. Reach out, reach out. ” And the figure vanished. I removed my goggles and like magic, the walls had photos of poets, thinkers, philosophers, saints, and martyrs, who have inspired millions by the purity of their thoughts, deeds, sacrifices and fight for eternal values. There were photos of the Pope, Christ on the Cross, Gandhi’s Dandi March, the lone student defying the military tanks at Tiananmen square, Martin Luther King making his “I have a Dream" speech, Mother Teresa tending the lepers, Kennedy exhorting the nation, Socrates drinking hemlock with a smile on his lips, countless volunteers helping victims of flood, famine, earthquakes and other disasters. Photos showing acts of reaching out by individuals, communities, and nations and in some cases entire world reassured me and left me with hope.
I felt a sense of rapture and ecstasy. The wheels of God grind slowly but surely. As Gita says, “All faith is rewarded and no step however small is lost.”