You were the great soul of India and an icon of the world
Born after the noble saints and sages of yore
You taught the world by words and deeds the oneness of mankind
non-violence, peace, freedom and sustainable simple living of many kind
-to save the world for the futures
you were the one man UNESCO and UNDP then
when there were no such initiatives begun
How could you have envisioned these great ideals
imbued with moral values?
Your imagination was an asset to all humans
As Albert Einstein has remarked how will the
people of the future believe that a man like Mahatma walked on this Earth?
your life was the message for all
It is an inspiring legacy of humanity’s Call
If the world at large listened to your message
there would not have been a
catastrophic climate change,
global warming and many more
Your simple sayings such as
“Be the change, you want to see
in the world” and
“Earth finds enough to satisfy
everyone’s needs, But not enough
for man’s greed”
are philosophical guidelines,
for sensible and sustainable lifestyles
for today and for “Preferable futures”
you are a role model for mankind
We salute you forever for the beauteous
light you sparked and the righteous
path you showed against the unbridled
materialism and consumerism to which we are now
chained
- C. Kariyawasam