Gandhigiri and Dadagiri

Imagine all living life in peace and prosperity

"That is dadagiri" - I said to myself as I watched a rooster snatching food from young roosters in backyard of the cottage of a poor tribal in Mayurbhanj, Orissa. While waiting for farmers to join for a public meeting I was watching the ducks and roosters play. The dadagiri act of the matured rooster urged me to think.

The young roosters and hens accepted the might of the matured rooster and eventually surrendered. He would capture the grains of rice, bhel and everything else thrown towards the flock and the young and weak roosters would feed on his leftover. Albeit the matured rooster eats more and grows stronger, while the young weak roosters eat less and weaken further. This is how a cycle of suffering was created.


The rooster incident resembles to the modern economics and poverty situation in India where the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer - a cycle of suffering. The eternal Gandhian philosophies of Truth and Non-violence contain an idea that violence does not start with blood. It begins much before the actual cut is made. Before the damage is done in person, it is done in mind. And before the damaging idea incubates in the mind, it originates from a real or perceived injustice. Injustice would not flourish in an environment of Truth.

In that scenario, the Gandhian practice of Truth and Non-violence converges with the popular economic concept of Pareto Optimality. For a common man, there are not many popular professions to pursue without harming anybody in person or in spirit. Interests of some are hurt / compromised in the interests of others. Does that mean there are no non-violent professions?

No. There are still professions and enterprises that can set-in the optimal situation where one can be benefited without reducing the benefits of anybody else. The producers' owned, managed and controlled small-scale industries are an alternative if they are facilitated by professionals for technical inputs, market access and finance. That would be one way when Dadagiri would be defeated by Gandhigiri.