Was the Mahatma too great a soul?
- the 2005 annual Gandhi lecture by Mark Tully

“Sir Mark Tully had a very distinguished career as BBC correspondent for South Asia for 25 years. He has a vast knowledge of and respect for Indian culture and has written a number of books on the subject. This is a summary of the lecture delivered on 1 September 2005 in City Hall, London...

It has been said that it is dangerous to be too good. To illustrate this by two stories: I once heard a sermon on the the Bible story about selling everything and giving it to the poor, and this was being interpreted literally. I was left with the feeling that this teaching was impossible and so irrelevant. The other is cartoon of two Indian Congressmen leaving a cinema after seeing the film ‘Gandhi’. One asks: ‘Did such a man ever exist?’ In other words there is a danger when great people get put on pedestals that their lives and teaching seem so far from the reality of us ordinary people and our lives that we dismiss them as impractical...”

The article goes on to discuss how to interpret Gandhi’s message in today’s world and how properly understood it can be seen to be highly relevant still.

The article is reproduced courtesy of the GANDHI WAY, the quarterly newsletter of the Gandhi Foundation, No 87, Spring 2006.