India, Jan. 5 -- A little noticed centenary slipped by in 2025. Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography, a bestseller, is now 100 years old. It has long been widely agreed that Gandhi was a communicator par excellence. But was he a communicator in the current use of the term? Could it be that what he actually excelled at was true and heartfelt expression of experiences and insights arising from them?

The difference between expressing yourself truly and "effective" communication may be one of the most crucial challenges facing the human species as we enter the second quarter of the 21st century. Today, effective communication is more associated with marketing and playing with optics in ways that have impact. This can and is being done to manipulat...