Gandhi’s critics, and there are many, often cite his ‘quirky’ ways to run him down. They hold out his beliefs in isolation and out of context, and make a mockery of them to serve their own ends. Dr. Ramdas Bhatkal debunks and explains the ‘quirky Gandhi’. The life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, known even to his sworn enemies as the Mahatma, is perhaps the most contemporarily documented life. ‘Gandhi as a Student’ documents his school days in Rajkot. The period in South Africa is recorded through the reportage and his writings in the South African press including his own, the…
Author: oiop
Mahatma Gandhi’s experiments with food were as elaborate as his experiments with truth and nonviolence. Food for him represented a critical step in the journey to attain the ideal life as he envisaged it. But a lot of these experiments, based as they were on sound research, are so relevant today, says E. Vijayalakshmi Rajan. Mahatma Gandhi once offered goat’s curd to Lord Louis Mountbatten, who looked at the yellowish sludge, and demurred. Gandhi was at the Viceroy’s Palace (known today as Rashtrapati Bhavan) for talks with the new Viceroy of India. At tea time while Mountbatten was served tea…
We have become a nation of bans, in short, an intolerant nation. Is this the legacy we want to pass on to our younger generation? The BJP-led Maharashtra government recently imposed a ban on consumption and sale of meat in Mumbai for four days, in deference to a request made by the Jain community as they were celebrating ‘Paryushan’, a sacred festival. The ban boomeranged badly with even a long time ally of the BJP, the Shiv Sena, openly opposing the ban and even joining with other parties like the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in flouting the ban. The ban was…
The Bhavai theatre form of Gujarat and Rajasthan are actually folk forms, where mythology is used to impart social messages. Though traditionally performed by the backward classes, during the festival of Navaraatri, everyone joins in, says Dr. Kanak Rele, describing the performances in vivid detail. Come the month of ‘Ashvin’, after the rains, and the whole of Gujarat throbs with the beat of the drums which can be heard from every nook and corner. The drums are accompanied by the shrill note of shehnai and large cymbals called traansaa. Almost every, home rich or poor, participates in the festivities. This…
In these times of deep religious schisms, one would do well to remember the traditions like the Bhakti and Sufi movements, which stress on the unity of humanity. These traditions came from within the established religions, but they preach a culture of tolerance and love, says Prof. Ram Puniyani.. IIn contemporary times, religions’ identity is being used as cover for political agenda. Be it the terrorist violence or the sectarian nationalism in various parts of the world, religion is used to mask the underlying politics. While one was talking of separation of religion and politics many decades earlier, the times…
Visionary social reformer (1858-1962) Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve was a preeminent Indian social reformer, especially in the field of welfare of women. Apart from the appellation, ‘Maharshi’, meaning ‘a great sage’, he was also affectionately called Anna Karve (‘father’ or an ‘elder brother’ in Marathi). Queen’s Road in Mumbai (Bombay) was renamed as Maharshi Karve Road. Born in a lower middle-class Chitpavan Brahmin family at Khed Taluka of Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra on 18 April 1858, he received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the Elphinstone College in Bombay. Hindu social mores in those days discouraged education of girls; daughters…
All young love is sweet, given or returned, says A. Radhakrishnan. He indulges his whimsy and narrates his own experience of college love. My mind harks back to my college days and it’s surprising how those four years sped by. Time and tide surely wait for no man and I recollect all those incidents, which though seemingly petty then, now emerge to be significant. I have had my share of failures, while at college. And which failure or regret could be more hurting than failing to get to know the girl you are captivated with? Girls…temptuous, exciting, lovable beings, are…
An exhibition of paintings and sculptures on Goddess Durga in Kolkata shows how entrenched she is in the Bengali life and consciousness. The Goddess is depicted in a myriad ways, which depict her influence on the Bengali culture, reports Shoma A. Chatterji. Durga, the Mother Goddess with ten hands, each holding either a weapon of war or a symbol of peace and harmony has seeped into the cultural, religious and creative consciousness of Bengalis across the world. Over time, she has stepped out of geographical and linguistic barriers to soak into the consciousness of the Indian across the country and…
Gallant officer (1913-1947) Dewan Ranjit Rai was born on 6 February 1913 in Gujranwala, now in Pakistan, and was educated at the Bishop Cotton School, Shimla. General P. N. Thapar, former Chief of Army Staff, was his maternal uncle. Faced with invasion by more than 5,000 tribesmen from Pakistan, Maharaja Hari Singh sent an urgent appeal to India on 24 October 1947 for military help. He signed the Instrument of Accession on 26 October, and the Indian Army rushed to Kashmir. The only unit in Delhi then was 1 Madras. It was considered inappropriate to send it as its commanding…
Tireless crusader (1909-1981) Durgabai Deshmukh, an embodiment of woman empowerment in her lifetime, was among the few brave hearts of the 20th century, who thought, fought and worked, day and night, for the education and emancipation of women. Born on 15 July 1909 in a middle class family of Rajahmundry (East Godavari District), Andhra Pradesh, Durgabai faced myriad difficulties in her childhood. Her father passed away in her early childhood and she was married off when just eight. She was widowed soon after her wedding. Her mother, who was associated with the Congress and was a follower of Mahatma Gandhi,…