Interview

The great Legacy of Mahatma Ghandi – a Grandson follows suit [advanced]

(Used with permission by Press Team Canada)

In this article you can practice your vocabulary as well as working with the LbT-languages 5-column-system, which are helpful to improve your tenses. If you don’t have the print out of our 5-column-system yet please go to our website here (kostenlose Lernhilfen). The cursive words in the following interview explain the connection to the 5-column-system.

For the other words you will find explanations for the antonyms and synonyms. Enjoy!

 

LbT: You grew up with your grandfather for some of your youth. And, as the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, you have made it your mission to apply his teachings of non-violence to contemporary life through the M.K. Gandhi institute for non-violent Studies in Memphis, TN…

AG: Non-violence may not be the answer to every situation, especially in cases of government
oppression, but I am saying that you have to try. In our lives, we need to steer away not just from active but also from passive violence because physical violence will prevail so long as there is passive violence.

LbT: Can you provide a definition of the two?

AG: Physical violence is the physical act of causing damage or harm; murder, rapes and so on.
Passive violence harms because it is violence springing from our thoughts: anger, hatred, prejudice, racism etc.

LbT : Should people living under oppressive governments also strive for non-violence ?

AG: We may be oppressed, but violence cannot be our form of retaliation. Rather, we must strive to bring about a change of attitude in the oppressor. We can only do so by offering understanding, and by our own patient suffering. My grandfather always said: the British are not our enemies; they are our friends, only misled. So, we are not to consider our adversary as an enemy, but simply as a friend misguided.

LbT: Can you give us an example of the power of non-violence in your own life?

AG: As a boy, I lived in South Africa for a while and there I became a victim of apartheit. I was beaten and publicly humiliated. Years later, in 1968, when I was in India, a South African Member of parliament came to visit our country. He was a big supporter of apartheid and when he introduced himself to me, my first reaction was that he was in my country now and I would treat him as awful as I had been treated in his. I hated him because, as a politician and supporter of the regime, I considered him to be responsible for what had happened to me. But then I remembered my grandfather's words and offered him my hand in friendship. I invited him on a tour of the city and I showed him around. I asked him about apartheid, saying I just wanted to know the reasons for what he did. We spent three days together. By the end, he had changed completely. When he left India, we hugged and kept writing to each other for nine years after that. He went back to his country to become a great anti-apartheid activist. Such is the power of non-violence.

LbT: Can you share some of your memories of your famous grandfather?

AG: When I first met him I was about 14 years old and I had been sent to live with him. He received me warmly and I could see that he was very loved. Countless people were waiting outside his hut, hoping to catch a glimpse of him or to shake his hand. I was very proud of him, but I could not understand why he lived in such poverty. He had only a mud hut, no furniture, and we had to sit on the floor for our meals. I wondered why he had to live like that. But then he made me understand that even Jesus had lived as a pauper and that it was the only way for him.

LbT: What is the most important thing you learned from him?

AG: My grandfather was very good at teaching people profound philosophies through everyday occurrences. One day I was playing with some children outside his hut. They were mean to me, so I ran inside and told him “I hate those kids, I don't want to play with them anymore.” My grandfather said: “I don't want you to hate. Hate has caused a lot of anguish already. Anger is like electricity. If you let it run rampant, it can cause great damage. If you channel it by using its energy for love instead, it can be of great benefit.”

LbT: And you are saying that we need to extend this kind of attitude even to oppressive governments, meaning on a much larger scale?

AG: We need to mobilize all people, to stop oppression by refusing to accept it. Bad rulers control us because they put fear inside us and we submit to that fear. But if we cease being afraid, if we say that we will not stand for this anymore, then we can make a difference. Communism was gone overnight when people got together and said no to suppression. Only if we continue to fear will we continue to be victims. If we replace fear with love, and extend our hand to our enemies, we can hope to change the world.

Verbs and tenses explained with the unique LBT column system:

you grew up – statisch, 100% abgeschlossene 1. Vergangenheit, 3.Spalte
you have made – statisch, gegenwärtige Vergangenheit, 4. Spalte
it may not be – statisch, Gegenwart, 2 Spalte
I am saying – dynamisch, Gegenwart, 2. Spalte
you have to try - statisch, Gegenwart, 2 Spalte
to steer away from – (to stay away from, to go on a course that does not lead there) Grundform

it will prevail – statisch, Zukunft, 2. Spalte
can you provide – (can you give/show) – statisch, Gegenwart, 2 Spalte
to strive - (to seek for, to want to achieve) Grundform
we can - statisch, Gegenwart, 2 Spalte
I became – (ich wurde) statisch, 1. 100% abgeschlossene Vergangenheit, 2 Spalte

I was beaten - statisch, 1. 100% abgeschlossene Vergangenheit, 2 Spalte
I would treat him – konditional: (ich würde ihn behandeln) 1. Spalte - Ausnahmen
what had happened - statisch, 2. 100% abgeschlossene Vergangenheit, 5. Spalte
he had changed – statisch, 2. 100% abgeschlossene Vergangenheit, 5. Spalte
I had been sent – statisch, 2. 100% abgeschlossene Vergangenheit, 5. Spalte
were waiting - dynamisch, 1. 100% abgeschlossene Vergangenheit, 2 Spalte
we had to sit - statisch, 1. 100% abgeschlossene Vergangenheit, 2 Spalte

New Vocabulary (synonyms, antonyms and English definitions)

contemporary – happening at the present time
Synonyms: up-to-date, concurrent, present-day
Antonyms: from a previous time, old-fashioned, out-of-date

oppression – when you inflict cruelty or subjugate by force
Synonyms: abuse, brutality, maltreatment, tyranny
Antonyms: kindness, justice, mercy, liberty

harm (n), to harm (v) - damage/the act of doing damage to someone or something.
Synonyms: hurt, injure, maltreat, abuse
Antonyms: benefit, to do good to someone

springing from – happening as a result of
Synonyms: starting from, beginning from, emerging from, commencing from
Antonym: ending at

prejudice – an unfavourable (unfavorable AE) opinion of something or somebody, usually formed before knowing all the facts
Synonyms: bias, preconception, bigotry, narrow-mindedness
Antonyms: impartiality, open-mindedness

retaliation – the act of getting back at someone
Synonyms: revenge, an eye for an eye, retribution
Antonyms: acceptance, forgiveness, turning the other cheek

attitude – the way a person views something or behaves towards it
Synonyms: frame of mind, opinion, perspective, stance, bearing
Antonyms: No direct antonym

to bring about – to cause something to happen
Synonyms: to accomplish, to realize
Antonym: to have nothing to do with

we are not to consider – we must not think about
Synonyms: we are not to … believe, take into account, think
Antonym: we must not ignore

adversary – someone who is against you
Synonyms: enemy, rival, competitor
Antonyms: colleague, friend, ally

as awful as – if you don’t like dentists and you don’t like doctors just as much, then you think going to the doctor is as awful as going to the dentist. As…as means to the same degree, precisely the same.
Synonyms: as terrible as, as bad as
Antonym: as wonderful as

we kept writing to each other – we wrote to each other repeatedly and did not stop
Synonyms: we continued writing to each other, we carried on writing to each other
Antonym: we stopped writing to each other

to catch a glimpse of – to see something or somebody briefly or incompletely
Synonyms: to catch a brief sight of, to spot
Antonym: to see clearly and thoroughly

a pauper – a person who is extremely poor
Synonyms: beggar, down-and-out, indigent
Antonym: rich or wealthy person

profound – penetrating deeply into a subject, requiring great knowledge or understanding
Synonyms: deep, thoughtful, intellectual
Antonyms: shallow, superficial

occurrences – things that happen
Synonyms: events, happenings
Antonyms: things that do not happen, non-events

anguish – extreme pain or misery
Synonyms: agony, torment, distress
Antonyms: ecstasy, bliss, delight

to run rampant – to expand out of control
Synonyms: to run amok, to be unrestrained / excessive
Antonym: to be under control

to stand for – to put up with something
Synonyms: to bear, to tolerate, to endure
Antonyms: to oppose, to fight against



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