NECESSARY PREPARATION

A film has been made on the life of Gandhi, which became quite famous under the title “Gandhi.” The role of Gandhi was played by the British actor Ben Kingsley (b. 1943).

In order to mould himself into the role of Gandhi, Kingsley went through extraordinary effort. His real-life lifestyle was very luxurious. His dining table was more lavishly filled than the traditional royal or noble tables of earlier times. But to play the role of Gandhi, he lived for a long time in near-starvation conditions.

Kingsley was a stout man, while Gandhi was thin and frail, often walking with a stick in his hand. For the performance to appear real, Kingsley had to look like the lean figure of Gandhi on the screen. He achieved this by continuous fasting and eating very little, until he lost seven kilograms of weight. The same rigorous preparation was required of the Marathi woman who played Gandhi’s wife Kasturba in the film.

To play an artificial role in a fictional story is difficult, but far more difficult is to play a role in real life as the leader of a nation. Yet how strange it is that in the field of national leadership, people jump in without any preparation, as though no effort is required at all.

National leadership is undoubtedly the hardest of all tasks. To play Gandhi’s role in a film, Kingsley had to subdue his body. To play the role of a true national leader, one has to subdue one’s ego. In the first case, the actor had to reduce the fat of his body. In the second, the leader has to reduce the fat of his self.

Those who step into the role of guiding a people without proper preparation are not their leaders but their ruiners.