When I was with the Army in 1965, there was a war between India and Pakistan. The enemy launched air attacks on us and all my colleagues were martyred in Khemkaran. I survived. A bullet ripped through my vehicle. I suffered a wound, as the splinter of the bullet pierced my body—that was all. When I saw that all my colleagues had been martyred and only I escaped, I thought there was some divine will behind it. I was 25-year-old then. I had read a book of Swami Vivekananda and I understood the meaning of life. I realised that life is meant for service. I told myself that along with my colleagues, I too had been martyred and this is my re-birth. I decided that I shall devote this life for service to my village, my nation and my society.
I did not come from a well-off family. If I had got married, I would have needed to give time to earn my bread and butter. That would not have allowed me to devote myself in the service of my village, my society and my nation, as I intended. Therefore, I resolved that I would never get married, for the sake of my village, my society and my nation. Today, I am 80 years of age and it is 45 years since I last visited my home. I don’t even know the names of my brother’s children. I have adopted and implemented schemes of crores of rupees and I have no bank balance. I have been honoured with the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by the President of India as well as received international awards from other countries including America and South Korea. Cash awards are channelised for serving the needy, distressed, and poor. I do not keep anything for myself. I live in a temple. I do not even know where my bank passbook is. Will anyone believe it? I have only a bed to sleep on and a plate to eat my food. But the joy that I get, even a millionaire or a billionaire will never get that kind of joy. I am extremely happy.
I look at the youth of the country with great hope and I firmly believe that only the youth will build this nation. Management students visit Ralegan Siddhi to see how we do grassroot level management. We were visited by eight lakh people over 12 years. Five people have done their PhD based on our work-such is the vastness of our work.
Although I decided for myself at the age of 25 that I would never get married, this does not apply to others. Do get married. Have your own family. Give birth to one or two children. But do not restrict yourself to your small family, extend it. Anna Hazare did not get married but his family is no small family. The entire country became my family. There are woes in small families, within the four walls of the house. Why is it so? Because ‘I, me, myself’ takes over within the four walls. We keep on thinking this is mine and that is mine till the last breath. We have come empty handed and we are going to depart from this world empty handed.
Everybody will not be able to be like me. To remain a bachelor and work is not that easy. It is very difficult. Therefore, one should go on extending his family. There is happiness in an extended family. So I tell people, don’t copy me. Get married, have a family, only extend your family. That’s all.
I have the strong belief that if you all resolve and rise, it will not take much time to build India into a powerful nation. My message to you is remember those who laid down their lives for us from 1857 to 1947. We must remember the heroes who sacrificed themselves. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were about to be hanged. They could see death staring at them and still they were raising slogans ‘Inquilab Zindabad’, ‘Vande Mataram’, and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. And they told the British, hang us not only in this life but also for the next life. They did such supreme sacrifice for our freedom, therefore we have attained freedom. We must remember them. We must cherish the memories of those sacrifices in our hearts. Over 60,000 jawans retire every year. If every year only 60 jawans undertake the work of transforming a village, the entire country will change.
When I see students standing at paan stalls, smoking cigarettes and letting out rings of smoke, I feel hurt. The youth have to build the nation, but what are these youth doing? Have you ever heard or read of someone who became a wrestler by smoking cigarettes? Have you ever heard of anyone who drank alcohol or chewed gutka and became a wrestler? No—you would only suffer from TB or cancer. Then why do people behave this way? What does one get out of such addiction? It ruins money, it ruins one’s body and it ruins the society. I tour many villages and see drunkards walk and onlookers say, “look how that drunkard is swaying.” If such is the ill fame that addiction brings to us, why do people waste their money and ruin their body? The reason is they never understand the meaning of life—who am I, what have I come for, what is my duty? They never think about life. Their motto is eat, drink and make merry as at the end we are going to die. We are born as human beings and if we only eat, drink and make merry what would be the difference between animals and us humans? Human life has a purpose—God has gifted us with knowledge, intellect and strength to think who we are, from where we come, what is our duty, where do we go....
"Do get married. Have your own family. Give birth to one or two children. But do not restrict yourself to your small family, extend it. Anna Hazare did not get married but his family is no small family. The entire country became my family. There are woes in small families, within the four walls of the house
There were 40 liquor shops in our village. Today, for the last 20 years, no shop sells liquor, beedis, cigarettes, or gutkha. This too is a type of management. What was management from Gandhiji’s point of view? He said if you want to change the nation, change the villages first. The nation will not change unless the villages change. Building companies also means building a nation. The work you do will be important to increase production in the country. But while increasing production in the country, one must think about social aspects too.
Clean behaviour, clean thoughts, spotlessly clean lifestyle, doing sacrifice in life and having strength to counter violence are crucial. A blot on your character will deprive you of your sleep, making your nights restless due to your concern that others should not come to know of your secret. Those who have blots on their character are well aware of their doings and they get restless towards the evening—they cannot sleep. They have to take sleeping pills. They may live in air conditioned rooms but if they need to take sleeping pills, how can they be happy, how they can find any satisfaction? I have only a bed to sleep on and a plate to eat in, but I forced six corrupt cabinet ministers to retire. Why could I do that? Because I have lived a spotless life. Six corrupt cabinet ministers had to pack their bags and go home, 400 corrupt officers were forced to go home. Did you see what happened in Delhi? The entire nation stood up. The Right to Information Act was promulgated. Now when I tour across the country, people come to me saying we are benefiting because of the RTI. When they tell me that, I feel happy that the poor and helpless are benefiting by the RTI.
You become an officer, do everything to achieve your goals, but live for the nation. There is no example in the country where the birth anniversary of a millionaire is celebrated. But people celebrate the birth anniversary of Gandhiji, Mahatma Phule, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev. What does this teach us? What is the lesson we learn from this? Be it a millionaire or a billionaire, those who live for themselves die. Those who live for their village, country and society live on. This has been the history of this country..
Maintain a clean lifestyle. There should be some sacrifice in life. Somebody has to do sacrifice for the betterment of the society, for the betterment of the country. Many people think, “Why should I sacrifice myself for the nation? I have a bungalow to live, a car to move about. Why should I bury myself under the ground?” Seeds which think why should I bury myself under the ground and refuse to get buried under the ground are the ones which perish. Seeds which do not get buried under the ground, get crushed in the flour mill. They are reduced to flour and perish. We would also perish like that if we do not sacrifice. So have clean behaviour, have clean thoughts, maintain a spotlessly clean lifestyle, sacrifice in life and have the strength to tolerate violence. If one criticises you, do not retaliate.
Remember those who laid down their lives for us from 1857 to 1947. We must remember the heroes who sacrificed themselves. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were about to be hanged. They could see death staring at them and still they were raising slogans ‘Inquilab Zindabad’, ‘Vande Mataram’, and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. And they told the British, hang us not only in this life but also for the next life
I have seen thousands of youth like you who found their inspiration in me. This is my own experience. We have been fortunate to have been born as human beings. We must utilise it properly. Do not waste this life. Now you are going to be on your career path and have a future ahead of you. Sometimes money maddens men and money is the mother of all evil. We can see it, though not at all places. So all that I ask you is to reflect on this. It is not right to give knowledge to one who is starving. We teach wisdom to starving people in our country. During the election period, people listen with empty stomachs but those giving speeches from the dais are not concerned.
Happiness cannot be found outside you. One finds happiness within. Service to humanity makes one happy. The more we do service to humanity, mankind, the more happiness we find. I have no sadness in my life. Happiness is within ourselves but we seek it outside us. Saints have said if you want happiness, make others happy. The more we make others happy, the happier we would be. I am experiencing it in my own life. I am immersed in happiness.
When do you feel sad? You feel sad if you have any expectations. The message of Gita is ‘Karmanyewadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachan’. Do your karma, don’t expect any fruits out of it and you will not be sad. If one goes against you, says something against you, don’t feel sad. I have been fighting for the last 30 years. I was jailed thrice. I said let it be. I found happiness there. What’s the big thing? You get two meals a day and breakfast in jail too.
(Anna Hazare is an internationally acclaimed social crusader and reformer. He was at the helm of India’s anti-corruption movement in 2012 and before that, transformed Ralegan Siddhi into an ideal village. This piece is an excerpt from his recently delivered speech at the convocation ceremony of Balaji Institute of Modern Management (BIMM) of Sri Balaji Society)
by Anna Hazare
