Knowledge Grows When Shared

“'Rivers do not drink their own water, nor do trees eat their own fruit, nor do rain clouds eat the grains reared by them. The wealth of the noble is used solely for the benefit of others?”

John Ruskin’s ‘Unto This Last’ to read during his thirty-six hours journey from Johannesburg to Durban, in October 1904 which changed Gandhiji’s life and led to the setting up of the Phoenix Settlement . After reading Ruskin’s book Mahatma Gandhi said, "I could not get any sleep that night. I was determined to change my life in accordance with the ideals of the book." Ultimately it is the ideas that change anybody’s life. It proves beyond doubt that ideas and ideals rule the world.

Mahatma Gandhi led India to independence through non-violence and Satyagraha. Very few people know that he took these principles from John Ruskin’s book ‘Unto This Last’. Mahatma was so influenced by the thoughts and writings of Ruskin that he experimented the principles for the liberation of India from colonial yoke.

Did the author ever imagine at the time of writing that his own ideas will help a country to attain independence and setting a trend for others to follow? Never, but it happened. Taking a leaf from Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela also implemented the same principles for equal rights for Blacks along with Whites in America and abolition of apartheid in South Africa and they succeeded. Mahatma Gandhi honestly admitted that these principles were not his own but read and implemented. It is for these reasons he is revered as Mahatma Gandhi across the world.

All individuals have great ideas. Few individuals only share. And very few individuals accept and experiment. Usually the credit goes to these few individuals as they accepted, tried and tested with courage and conviction. What a great satisfaction the creator of the ideas gets when his or her ideas are accepted magnanimously and tried and tested by others successfully.

Great individuals never bother who gets credit for achievements. It is just because they are great. Many people have read John Ruskin’s book. But, did how many people take his great ideas into practice?

In our real life, we find few people having vast knowledge but not sharing. It does not help in any away. What happens when water stays in one place without any movement? It stinks. As there has to be flow of water movement there has to be flow of ideas and sharing of knowledge.

At any point of time, people will have similar ideas and insights. When opened up, the same can be shared resulting into generation of more ideas. This is the essence of the day.

The world is becoming complex everyday with the rapid growing technology. More and more problems are arising as a result of complexity and uncertainty. Having multiple ideas will help to tackle the problems.

This article is dedicated to those unsung heroes and heroines who share their knowledge and ideas with others with magnanimity without expecting any rewards or credit. If my blog “Where Knowledge is Wealth” becomes the torchbearer of knowledge,ideas and ideals, it gives me a sense of great satisfaction and joy.