Coming clean

After the Teachers' Day diktat that made it compulsory for students to attend school for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech, here comes another one. On October 2, Gandhi Jayanti, which is a national holiday, students will be expected to be present in school to be part of Modi's nationwide cleanliness drive - "Swachh Bharat Mission". They will be given a crash course on Gandhi and the importance of cleanliness. Plus, there will be practical training with the students cleaning their classrooms. Just as Gandhi transformed the idea of azaadi into a national movement, Modi is determined to turn cleanliness into a similar nation-wide movement. It's a good idea. And an important one too. Only the approach isn't quite Gandhian. Gandhi sowed the idea of freedom, allowed it to take root and nurtured it as it flourished. Unlike Modi, he didn't thrust it on people.