Gandhi and the Internet
Two significant events, which may appear to be totally disconnected, had happened in the recent days. On September 2 this year, the Internet connectivity has completed its 40 years of existence. A month later, on October 2, the world celebrated the 140th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation – Mahatma Gandhi. But I feel there is a connect between the two, though the whole world would have celebrated the event as standalone ones.
Let me spell out what I have in mind. The Internet was designed in parts to provide a communication network that would work even if some of the sites were destroyed by nuclear attack. ARPANET, as it was known in the initial days, was created by the US Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The first connection in 1969 was between the University of California Los Angeles and the Stanford Research Institute. By the end of the year, connections had also been added to the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Utah. E-mail was adapted for ARPANET by Ray Tomlinson of BBN in 1972. He picked the @ symbol from the available symbols on his teletype to link the username and address. In 1973, the first international network connection linked the US with the University College of London. The Internet matured in the 70s as a result of the TCP/IP architecture first proposed by Bob Kahn at BBN and further developed by Kahn and Vint Cerf at Stanford and others throughout the 70s. It was adopted by the Defense Department in 1980 replacing the earlier Network Control Protocol (NCP) and universally adopted by 1983.
In 1989, another significant event took place in making the Internet easier to use. Tim Berners-Lee and others at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, more popularly known as CERN, proposed a new protocol for information distribution. This protocol, which became the World Wide Web in 1991, was based on hypertext – a system of embedding links in text to link to other text, which is being used every time while selecting a text link for reading pages. I do not want to capture the already known history of Internet for the readership. Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, YouTube, Flickr, Second Life, Delicious, blogs, wikis and many more let people of all ages rapidly share their interests of the moment with others everywhere. I cannot explain what is in store for us. There can be many epoch- making changes in communication, how we think and how we share knowledge.
Before I bring Mahatma into the context, let me explain the normative aspect of the Internet. I believe that it was evolved and every incremental innovation to it was for the general good of the people, though there can be trappings of military and strategic angles. That is incidental. But no one can deny the broad purpose served by the net. It revolutionized all aspects of human thinking and collective actions. Historical significance of Gandhi is not less important and I believe is more embedded in bonding and world harmony. The teachings of the frail Gandhi and his mighty pen revolutionized the minds of the people with the result that his pen and other belongings are the latest craze and credos. If the present world is putting a prize for owning his personal belongings, it may be explained in terms of its commercial values or the pride of possessing it, perhaps comparable to the high-pitched auctioning of paintings and sculptors. I am not getting into an argument on the right and wrong of such approaches as evidenced in the newspaper columns. My purpose of writing this column is different.
I feel that Mahatma’s teachings and philosophy are revisited more intensely than any time before. The inquisitiveness to discern the inner meaning of his teachings and to establish their relevance in the present-day world is not a fad but a serious attempt and is not confined to Obama alone. Nations across the world are trying to absorb and digest his teachings. Why this sudden interest in his teachings, which espouse the values of simple living, peaceful coexistence and non-violence at a time when scientists are contemplating strategies to land in Mars and to conquer outer space to spread their hegemonic undertones beyond the known precincts of the universe? Is it because the teachings of the great man run contrary to the materialistic thinking of the present world? Look at some of his great verses – “World has enough resources to feed the people and not the greed.” What an apocalyptical pronouncement of the predicament that have been afflicting the world!
Then, what is the connection between Gandhi and the celebration of the 40th anniversary of invention of the Internet. I feel the relationship is abstract and intellectual. I feel if one puts to normative use, Internet will be the most powerful tool to eradicate human sufferings, poverty, destitution and so many other vicissitudes the mankind is presently facing. I need not elaborate on these. Juxtapose those normative uses of the Internet with Gandhian teachings. He stood for means justifying the ends. He wanted international brotherhood and self-help and shunned self-aggrandizement. He believed that ego is basic to self-destruction. He was not against wealth creation but also insisted on its sharing in an equitable manner. He wanted the rich to help the poor in ameliorating their sufferings in the spirit of trusteeship. His teachings are expansive like the reach of Internet. He advocated empathy and emotional bonding of people, communities, nations and societies. Who can wish away these attributes of the Internet? But the moot point is how we are going to use it. If there is an insignia of Gandhi in our Internet, I am sure the world will be a livable habitat. Any negation of these postulates will be at the cost of harmony and peace. It is our bounden duty to make this universe and beyond a place worth living for future generations. Yes, Gandhi and Internet should go together in achieving that goal.
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