Jasmin Sarangi
If Mahatma had been born on October 2, 2000, what would his persona look like today?
Would he have joined the “Cockroach Janta Party”? Would he be shouting slogans near Jantar Mantar, or protesting alongside Delhi University students against rising violence against women? Or perhaps he’d be a YouTuber with millions of followers, clad in Khadi, preaching absolute ahimsa (non-violence). What would a modern Satyagraha or Dandi March even look like? What would he have been?
Imagine Reels going viral with Gen Z claiming to love the man whose face is printed on Indian currency—is that his only remaining legacy? What would he make of today’s generation? Could he capture their support by dropping Gen Z slang? That would truly be “G.O.A.T.ed.”
The present generation knows little of the struggles, pain, and sacrifices that forged this country. Today, the nation is colonized not by a foreign imperial power, but by something far more insidious: the relentless grip of social media.
How do you liberate the minds of a generation that endless-scrolls instead of reading newspapers, whose attention span lasts all of thirty seconds? How do you hold their focus and make them see what truly lies behind the illusion of social media?
We need you, Mahatma, to be born again—to emancipate today’s youth with your vision and enduring wisdom.
