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told Gandhiji that he would get ready and join him soon. But then he took a very long time in getting ready. To Gandhiji the very idea of getting ready seemed somewhat strange. Becoming uneasy over the delay, he peeped in and found that Rabindranath was busy dressing up in front of a full-sized mirror. Gandhiji said, "What is all this that you are doing and at this age?" The poet replied, "When I was young it would do even if I did not care how I looked, but now without all this, it will not work. and if I appear ugly to someone, I feel guilty of doing violence to him."
It is my view that a reactionary cannot be rebellious in the true sense of the term. A reactionary who just reacts to the society becomes quite the reverse of it. If our society dresses in a particular way he takes to clothes of just the opposite fashion. If we like to live in cleanliness, he adores filth, and if we behave in one way, he does the reverse of it. But to act like that does not mean that one is 'rebellious,' it is merely reaction. The quality to be rebellious is dear to me, and I value it most, but the hippie is caught in reactions. Reaction is of no value at all.
The spirit to revolt is of value, but reaction is only a malady. And it should be borne in mind that a reactionary always remains tied down to that which he is reacting against. If a person comes naked and sits here, it is not at all necessary that his behaviour is spontaneous or natural; it may be that he is only reacting against those who dress by demonstrating that he has discarded clothes. He may not be at all natural. Naturalness is valuable, but who can say that naturalness may not be in a person who dresses. Reaction is having a firm grip. Its results can be dangerous, and reaction never lasts long because it is merely a phase of transition. Therefore, gradually, reaction is also getting settled down.
The hippies now have a society of their own with its rules and norms of behaviour. They have also given birth to a certain type of orthodoxy. Priest-craft, leadership and such evils have also crept into their society as well. If you go there as you are, they may not allow you to live in peace.
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