SONIA! GIVE UP GANDHI's NAME!

Gandhi might be a surname for some. But the whole world knows only one Gandhi and that is our Mahatma Gandhi. His name is the next to any God we worship.

We do not want the usurpers to use his name. Sonia's father-in-law Feroze was originally named 'Ghandy' but changed its spelling to Gandhi before marrying Indira. Probably he was trying to pacify Jawaharlal Nehru who did not approve of his marriage to Indira Priyadarshini, his daughter. Indira by herself was next to nothing at that time. But she acquired name and fame because she was daughter of Nehru and had a surname Gandhi! If you ask any Indian in any village in India even today what was the relationship of Indira and Mahatma Gandhi, he will tell she was related to Gandhi family!

Feroze could not get along with father in law Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India. He was a dedicated nationalist. Rather Feroze was creating  embarrassing situations for Nehru, successfully exposing nationwide scandals in the largest public sector undertaking LIC, TELCO, etc. He could not get along with the Western oriented way of living and thoughts of Nehru and his daughter Indira and ultimately they fell out and Indira started living with her father.

Indira used the name Gandhi for increasing her popularity by subterfuge. Faced with stalwarts like Morarjibhai Desai, Ambedkar, Sardar Patel, Rajagopalachari, Azad, Munshi, etc. she was nothing except the daughter of Nehru. She was just 30 when India became independent and had not participate in the independence struggle. In fact she spent her young days in England studying and returned to India just before the World War Started.

How come someone having contributed nothing towards Independence struggle or having been part of the subsequent government, became so powerful? Just because she was taking care of her father as his personal assistant, she was seen a lot everywhere with him. She was fair complexioned and had a beautiful figure and was quite attractive also and became familiar to people. An internal struggle for power in Congress a couple of years after Nehru's death landed her in the PM's chair in 1966 because most of the senior leaders had quit Congress to form their own party.

After Mahatma Gandhi, it was Indira Gandhi who made the august name Gandhi, acquired by her by chance and not by merit. When she was killed in 1984 she was detested by one and all for the Emergency she imposed in India, though she could come back to power more by hook and crook.  Even today if at all some people don't abuse her, it is because she is a 'Gandhi'!

Sonia has no right to cheat people with this deception. She rightly said she was the daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi. She is as deceitful as Indira was. The only difference is while Indira was after fame (she mistook being famous is tantamount to being notorious!) Sonia is after money! Lucre! While Indira at least had genealogy on her side, this usurper does not even have it. I do not think Sonia has even once uttered the name of her late father in law. Then how can she hoodwink people by keeping his name?

Let's look at it from a different angle. Her own name 'Sonia' and people will instantly recognize her by that name. Say 'Mrs. Gandhi'; people will think you are talking about Indira Gandhi (Kasturba was never identified as Mrs. Gandhi!).

We give names to children. How do we select the name? We go for a name which we think will be perceived lovable by others and we want them to transfer that love to our child. Any name by itself does not evoke any sentiment. What your mind associates with that name the sentiments that arise in your mind when that name is taken. When you hear the name Rama, instantly your mind associates it with the Hindu God 'Ram' and a feeling of goodness, greatness. If there has been a rogue in your locality with the same name, you will get an obnoxious feeling. Why brand names are meaningless? Because the marketing people want you to imagine the product the way they advertise - great, good, excellent, tasty, beautiful, etc. The imagery that accompanies the name of the product is a beautiful girl, a good looking baby, a cute animal. The colors used are those which creating a sense which the product is supposed to evoke in you. Black is rarely used except in the background to enhance the imagery.

The name 'Sonia' without the photograph of Sonia Gandhi or any association with her, gives you a sense of lovable, precious like gold  (by association). It is only by association with something or the other already known to our sub-conscious mind that we develop some like or dislike to any name. Why do you think most Hindus name their children in God's  name? A God's name cannot evoke anything but good  feelings in a Hindu.

That is why I call upon Sonia Gandhi to drop the name of Gandhi from her name and go for anything else. Of course, she has a right to have the name legally. But does she have the moral right to use it? Her husband did nothing worthwhile for the nation, though he was the accidental PM of  our nation for a term. She had not even seen Mahatma Gandhi in her life! She should ask her daughter Vadra, who is also masquerading as another 'Gandhi' though married to a 'Vadra' in the fond hope that she can take over the reins of the nation, whenever there is a vacancy, in the name of (you are right!) Gandhi!

Only a couple of days back, Sonia related herself to Indira Gandhi as her daughter in law. I have not heard her taking the name of her father in law ever. So why use his name only just to cheat people?

We should make a Constitutional amendment saying nobody can name their child as 'Gandhi' if they expect the child to enter politics!