New Delhi, Oct. 2 -- "I will give you a talisman," Mahatma Gandhi offered in a handwritten note shortly before India achieved freedom in 1947, "Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?"

Back then, 'talisman' conveyed a sort of north star for guidance, 'man' was gender-neutral and the Hindi term 'swaraj' meant one's own liberty as much as national self-rul...