An icon gets repacked by mass media

Gandhigiri or Gandugiri

Gandhism has gone mainstream. Only this time its called by the trendy name of ‘Gandhigiri’. Ever since the smash hit Munnabhai Lage Raho introduced the term the media, print and electronic, has gone bonkers over it. Now it seems Gandhigiri is everywhere, atleast of the media were to be believed. If you want to protest against injustice don’t do it with sticks and stones, do it with flowers and words. That’s gandhigiri; Gandhism dressed up in fashionable 21st century attire.
The electronic media have been having a field day with gandhigiri. IBN in particular has had prime time shows where the panelists deconstruct the term and correspondents who give us examples of gandhigiri being practiced in different parts of India. Even the print media is no less complicit. Stories, stand alone pictures, comment…all form part of the media’s contribution.
Popular cinema is a powerful medium in contemporary society. A film has managed to resurrect (at least in the popular imagination) a concept that Indians had by and large abandoned. Suddenly everyone is talking and practicing turning the other cheek. The media is full of stories about how people are adopting the tactics from the film to deal with difficult bosses, wives and girlfriends. Some of these people are no doubt publicity hounds, who sensed a chance to get their pictures in the papers and TV. The media too, sensing an offbeat human-interest story cashed in, partly to fill the 24 hour news cycle and partly to stay ahead of the competition.
So, a departure point that starts with a movie gets picked up by the mass media and gets exposure and becomes a household name, at least in houses that have access to the mass media. Thus a cultural/political icon gets repackaged for contemporary tastes by the mass media, which is good in one way. But there seems to be no engagement with the ideas that Gandhi espoused.