In recent years, I’ve constantly deliberated on who is a Gandhian. Mahatma Gandhi himself never laid down a doctrinaire set of principles that could qualify someone as his follower or have them stamped as a Gandhian. Yet, there’s an unmistakable intuitiveness in calling certain individuals by that title.

For a curious seeker of the Gandhian way like me, yesterday was a rare alignment—finding myself in a room with three remarkable intellects who are, each in their own way, carrying forward this evolving ideology – Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the statesman-scholar and diplomat whose lineage is matched by his grace and gravitas; Ramachandra Guha, Gandhi’s biographer & historian whose work bridges past and present with sharp insight and unflinching honesty; and T. M. Krishna, the musician-activist who dismantles hierarchies with his voice as much as with his activism rooted in his convictions. Each is a public thinker shaped by distinct disciplines, yet all are engaged in the same ongoing act of becoming—becoming the human beings they are yet to fully be. And in that becoming, there is a grounding unification that unmistakably feels Gandhian to me.

A Gandhian, as I’ve come to see—and had affirmed by these three men—is an individual who reposes deep faith in the self. Their integrity toward their own values often becomes self-consuming; the self-criticality they practice is an altar of fire they step into again and again, only to emerge, phoenix-like, each time with renewed clarity. But their evolution is not contained within the self. The by-product of their personal inquiry extends far beyond individual transformation—their growth ripples outward, leaving a lasting imprint on the social fabric.

They possess an exasperating stubbornness, a mercury-like temperament, and an almost absurd optimism about the future. Their ability to roll up their sleeves and allow their irreverence to serve as a propulsion device—not for power, but to reverse-engineer a more empathetic, utopian world—is, for me, the hallmark of the Gandhian ethos.

What we must note, however, is what distinguishes these shapers of the world from other well-meaning social influencers. 

What qualifies them as a Gandhian is not just their relationship with seeking truth, struggle in dismantling redundant ideologies, or sheer discipline. More importantly, it is their relationship with joy, with lightness, and with the sheer radiance of being alive with purpose.

And so, the most disarming—yet definitive—attribute of their Gandhian nature is this: despite the fires they walk through, the ideals they chase, and the weight of their aspirations, there is an unbridled laughter that erupts from within them. It stretches their jawlines to capacity, lights up their eyes with a brilliance that lingers, and spills over into their very aura—just like that of the Mahatma!

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Note on the picture and the after thought that triggered this note – At an event celebrating the exemplary life of Gopalkrishna Gandhi, as he turned 80 earlier this month, there was a rare alignment—a moment that a commoner like me could only marvel at—of illustrious men to whom I attribute a shared essence: that of being Gandhians.

And surely, of all the moments where I have managed to be a fly on the wall, this one tops the list. I must thank Krishna, who kindly helped make it possible after I requested him to gather the other two gentlemen and hold them up for just a little longer, despite their next engagement looming. As Vikram, the Director at BIC, came looking for where the three main stars of the evening had disappeared—while the rest of the guests had already assembled—he, too, extended his kindness toward foolhardy beings like me and graciously clicked this picture.

As I drove back that evening, I found myself enveloped by a quiet, persistent thought: what does it really mean to be a Gandhian?

This reflection that I have shared is how I see it today. In time, perhaps, it may evolve—as all living truths do.