YSI-21 Theme : "My well being is contained in the well being of others." - M.K.Gandhi

By Lakshmi Hariharan, Principal Srushti Degree College & Convener of YSI Conference    

Gandhiji’s Idea of Interdependence & Co-creating societal well-being is grounded in the Idea - “My well-being is contained in the well-being of others”.  

We are living in a unique moment of history, where the COVID19 pandemic has highlighted our interdependence and our capacity to co-create, well-being, together. Globalisation celebrated as a boon, can also be a bane. It’s unbelievable, that a small virus that originated in Wuhan, a remote town in China, can in a matter of 2 to 3 months, lock down everyone, in their homes. At the same time, the crisis also brought together, people from across the globe to co-create solutions to restrain the spread of virus. Leaving mankind to pause, reflect and learn lessons for an emerging future, for the post-pandemic world.  What is my responsibility towards others, to ensure my well-being?

For me to stay protected from COVID19, my responsibility was to ensure people around me stay safe, like front-line warriors, doctors, nurses, etc. Getting my food on my plate, makes me responsible to help farmers with transport, to help them bring their produce to the city. Living peacefully at home during lockdown can happen only when we empathize & understand each other and create peace together. To conduct effective online classes, its the responsibility of the learning community to come together to understand and address each other’s issues. To continue enjoying the clean air, see birds in the sky, we need to reflect deeply on our responsibility to cut down on unnecessary travel, which pollutes the air.  . It also highlighted our lack of responsibility to support migrant workers, who had to walk 1000’s of kilometres, to go back home. “Things exist within each other and with each other” - Buddha said of the interdependent world we live in, where “this is because that is”.  

This is not an unknown truth, discovered during this pandemic, but has been the foundation on which many civilisations have been built. 3000 years old Sangam literature, a poem states “Yaadhum oore, Yaavarum kelir ", engraved in UN, means, “To us all towns are one, all men our kin”, or Vasudaiva kutumbakam, the whole world is one family or Ubuntu, I am because we are, originated from the African story. This is Gandhiji’s Idea of societal well being, where he says "our well being is contained in the well being of all". A thought easily understood at the intellect level, but difficult to put into practice. How can we imbibe it in our everyday actions?

Gandhiji relentlessly spent a life time, trying to bring the ideals into practice. “His social philosophy appears to be built around, Swabhava and Swadharma, as a dialectic relationship between the individual and the society. Swadharma refers to one’s righteous duty and Swabhava refers to one’s  inherent nature ( to seek togetherness)” . - Konnuru Ramakrishna Rao.  In Gandhiji’s words - It’s his privilege to be independent; it is equally his duty to be inter-dependent.

For Gandhiji, the change at the individual level was important, before we move to the societal level. His idea of the individual is one who is part of the whole, whose spirit is reflected in the society and in whom the society is reflected. Gandhi asserted, “ As with individuals so with society. A village is but a group of individuals and the world as I see it, is one vast village and mankind one family”. Gandhiji could imagine a world, where there was complete harmony, between individuals, groups and between groups. But this far from what people thinks today.

Will my progress decline, when I am involved in creating the wellbeing of others ? How can I resolve this conflict of serving both my wellbeing & that of my community in my everyday actions? How can I see myself as a part of the whole, where, my every action is impacting all of us? These are some questions raised, when we ask people to think about others well-being.

The disruption, silence & slowing down of our lives in the lockdown, has forced us to pause & reflect on the web of relationships, in which we co-exist, where serving oneself is intricately related to serving others. What are the lessons learnt from the Covid, which we can take into our future ?

The Youth Social Innovation Conference - 21, aims to understand and internalise, Gandhiji’s thoughts - “ My wellbeing is contained in the well being of others”,  in the context of  institutions. We will explore, how might we co-create well being for our learning community and ourselves, as we adapt to online learning, in these times of Covid pandemic.

Lakshmi Hariharan

I am thankful to all people who contributed with their thoughts on this matter. Ms. Jane Sahe, Faculty and students at Srushti Degree College, the past participants of YSI and TLI conference.