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The copper
coin was most intriguing. On one side it read – MAHATMA GANDHI 1932 and the
other it displayed the emblem of the British Raj. So a coin minted by the
British in the name of Gandhi 15 years before independence , right after the failure
of the famous round table talks in London. It could not be further from the
truth … but what was the truth. Reading
Gandhi does not always mean reading volumes of pages written by him and
hundreds of others, the world has been at it for a long time, Reading Gandhi
according to me is reading between the lines, understanding this man we made
the Mahatma, understanding his life, understanding events around him and far
away from him and then learning from them for the 21st century. But
is it relevant …… Before I delve into that, let me tell you where the 1932 coin
came from. It was minted in New York in 1935 by a Magician – Frank Ducrot as he
had created a magic trick called the Mahatma. So how intriguing a man do you
have to be to have a magic trick in your name, 10,000 miles away, in a land you
have never visited in a time where Facebook, Twitter or YouTube did not exist.
The story gets even more interesting where we learn that in 1901 Frank Ducrot
was the editor and publisher of a magazine on magic called the MAHATMA …. Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi was called the Mahatma – Great One only from 1915 …. I am
still reading to unravel this!!!!
Going back
to the relevance of Gandhi in the 21st century and if learnings from
his life would cause change. Gandhi has been invoked by the most powerful even
today, President Obama stated him when stumped by a question from an elementary
school girl, Pop star Shakira invoked him in her award acceptance speech at the
ILO, a bikers group in the United States – BAAC – Bikers against Animal Cruelty
quotes him on their website, 10,000 people a city in brazil march in his honor
every year, in 2011 a nation got democracy in 18 days using the weapon
(SATYAGRAHA) created by him…….. Reading Gandhi is a book that gets written
every day in some part of the world and the process never stops.
My journey
on reading Gandhi began a few years ago when I started on my book – PEACE TRUTH
AHIMSA – a photo biography of Mahatma Gandhi; it was launched in a form of a
Limited edition on the 29th January 2010, a very cold day in London, the venue Nehru
Center did not offer parking, but the crowds overflowing into the street of
Mayfair proved without doubt that Gandhi still lives between us. The next 36
months have been a high speed adrenaline ride across continents, from the
Tolstoy farm in Johannesburg, South Africa, to the United Nations and the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The book got invited to the
international book fair in Beijing, was honored in Tokyo, and recently was at
Cairo in the midst of all the turmoil, hope and change. It’s like riding a hi
speed bike of change.
Speaking of bikes, I got an opportunity to engage with 900 teenagers who had gathered from multiple countries as a part of the
Harvard Model United Nations, I was to speak to them on “Mahatma Gandhi in the
21st century” for an hour before the start of a social evening. Needless to say the excitement was not very
high. The evolution I witnessed that night was motivating as
I attempted to inspire the children with the life of Gandhi. At the end to
express their energy they all transformed a Harley Davidson by
signing their names and messages, creating a symbol of peace truth and ahimsa.
This single act reconfirmed to me that the youth of today are ready to embrace
the path that created the most powerful weapon known to mankind – Satyagraha
(Truth Force).
That
night I started on a path that has a destination / a goal, a goal to inspire
the new generation with Peace Truth & Ahimsa (nonviolence) and create the
next Gandhi in the world. The world needs another Gandhi and needs him fast, in
fact the true need is a Gandhi in every continent, country, city, town and
village. The need is so immense that it’s in our blind spot and my task is to
show to the world why we need him in the 21st century. The
destination is clear but the route is mapped by people, people who provide the
opportunity to speak to the world.
As I
continue reading Gandhi, I attempt to rewrite it for the 21st
century at the Museum of PEACE TRUTH AHIMSA, at Bapu Ghat, Langar Houze in
Hyderabad. On most days the Ahimsa Harley is parked inside along with a host of
memorabilia – Time magazines from 1930, 31 and 47 featuring Gandhi on the
cover, a signed book by Sir Richard Attenborough, and the 1932 coin from New
York … the list goes on. The Museum also features the largest image wall on
Gandhi, its 76 feet long and 10 feet high with over 400 images. The digital zone
attached has the voice, letters and films of the Mahatma accessible on I-pads,
touch screens and projectors. The - I AM GANDHI student program at the museum
allows children to touch and read Gandhi in a unique way, hoping to find the
next Gandhi.
As a
footnote to this article: The Ahimsa Harley was recently displayed at the India
Bike Week in Goa, the bike invited maximum attention and got the maximum likes
on the Facebook page of the event. People
Reading Gandhi.
Birad Rajaram Yajnik
Feb 2013