MKG - Mahatma Gandhi in the 21st century: 2014

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Bapu Pha digital exhibition in Thailand

His Excellency Gen. Tanasak Patimapragorn, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kingdon of Thailand and Mr ANIL WADHWA SECRETARY (EAST) Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India with Birad Rajaram Yajnik at the Bapu Pha digital exhibition in Bangkok, Thailand

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Mandela Gandhi Youth Summit

The Mandela Gandhi Youth Summit held on 19^th July 2014 had a multi prong impact in the Republic of South Africa. The significance of the date ( 19^th July 2014 – a 100 years to the day when Mahatma Gandhi left the shores of South Africa) along with the location ( Constitution Hill, the current seat of the constitution of SA and a former prison that held Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela) carried a deep impact on all the stakeholders. The fact that the event was held during the Mandela week (the birthday week of Nelson Mandela) attracted the general public at large and also created a renewed interest in Mahatma Gandhi at the Government agency level. Officials of the Department of Arts and Culture, republic of South Africa and Constitution Hill publicly acknowledged the event. The Director General of the DAC in his opening remarks at the Festival of India made special mention of success of the Youth Festival.

The core target, groups of high school students were very perceptive to the interactive and multimedia format of the Youth Summit. Multiple short films with engagement build around them were a new format and caught the imagination of the youth. The fact that the granddaughter of Nelson Mandela and the Grandson of Walter Sisulu addressed the students further endorsed the engagement and interaction. The spontaneous engagement between students from India and South Africa was the catalyst and multiple views were engaged ensuring a long lasting effect. The culminating collaborative art project of the World citizen passport ensured that the impact of this youth summit would be felt for a long period of time. The secondary influence the summit had on the teachers and parents of the attendees has to be noted.

The local media picked up the story and we have ensured that the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi is engrained in the most important week of South Africa i.e. Mandela Week. This summit can be replicated every year during Mandela Week to further the legacy of the Mahatma.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Mandela Gandhi - A digital exhibition by Birad Rajaram Yajnik

MANDELA GANDHI A legacy of peace, change and reconciliation (1869 – 2013)
DIGITAL EXHIBITION AND YOUTH SUMMIT

Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi lived in different times and faced different opponents, but both leaders changed the destiny of their people for the better. They personally acknowledge the presence of the other in spirit and culture. Nelson Mandela said – “The spirit of Gandhi may well be a key to human survival in the 21st century.” Mahatma Gandhi said: “It was after I went to South Africa that I became what I am now.”

The core of this exhibition is to present the similarities between the two leaders, trace their path and plot the trajectory. The viewer would be surprised at the number of times they run parallel. The times they intersect they are based on the situation of that time and region. The exhibition outlines the development of their moral fiber and how the core principals of leadership are the same between the two leaders.

An integral part of the exhibition will showcase Madiba’s connections with India, his visits and the emotional connect with the Indian people. It will outline his inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi and how the Gandhian philosophy of non-violence helped shape his own transformation and adoption of the values of peace and reconciliation.

The exhibition is in a digital engagement format and allows viewers to interact at various levels. Multi touch and gesture controlled interfaces allow presentation in the latest technologies enhancing the viewer experience. It is curated by Birad Rajaram Yajnik, author of the book – Peace Truth Ahimsa – a photo biography of Mahatma Gandhi. A special edition of this book was released at the United Nations in 2010 to mark the international day of Non Violence. He is also the curator for the first digital interactive museum on Mahatma Gandhi at Hyderabad, India.

The exhibition will be opened on the 18th of July 2014 on Mandela Day at the Constitution Hill. Juxtaposing on the 19th of July a Youth Summit would engage participants from 50 high schools on how the values of Mandela and Gandhi can be adopted in the 21st century.