Showing posts with label Mahatma Gandhi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mahatma Gandhi. Show all posts

UN releases stamp on Mahatma Gandhi


Marking the International Day of Non-Violence, the United Nations has released a stamp of Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of his 140th birth anniversary.

United Nations Postal Administration, the world body's postal agency, released the one-dollar stamp designed by a world famous Miami-based artist Ferdie Pacheco, with the Father of the Nation in red, blue and gold. Also the envelopes marked with the stamp and the United Nations' seal were on sale.

Several UN envoys, present at a function organised by the Indian Mission to celebrate his 140 the birth anniversary, reiterated the influence of Mahathma Gandhi's life.

"In many ways, Mahatma Gandhi previsioned the UN. Much of the work that we do in the area of human rights owes its genesis in the struggle against racial discrimination, which he focused on," Hardeep Singh Puri, India's ambassador to the UN said.

President of the General Assembly Ali Treki stressed upon Gandhi's commitment to communal harmony between Muslims and non-Muslims.

Paying tribute to Gandhi, the US envoy to the UN Susan Rice said "Gandhi had influenced millions of Americans. Gandhi believed that physical force could be turned aside by moral forces."

Advertisement

Rare Mahatma Gandhi Pictures(from childhood to father of nation)











Advertisement

The girl who painted Gandhi


Gandhi had thrown a poser to an aspiring artist - I’ll pose for a portrait if you can complete it in 30 minutes. The young girl took up the challenge.

Main Story

In what makes a remarkable story, in the year 1934, a European artist Elizabeth Sass Bruner and her daughter Elizabeth Bruner (Lizi), who was an aspiring painter, were travelling across India on the advice of their Gurudev, Ranbindranath Tagore.

At a government school in Bangalore, a multitude had gathered, waiting with bated breath for a glimpse of the Mahatama, who was due for a visit. Somewhere squashed and hidden were the mother-daughter duo among the teeming sea. As the clock ticked away, Elizabeth grew more anxious, she tugged her daughter along to the verandah, where they stood near a pillar.

The first encounter

At last the moment came, when Gandhiji arrived. But to the surprise of so many, he squeezed through the crowd and walked straight to where Elizabeth stood half-hidden and said, “I know you”, before taking her into a warm embrace. They looked at each other mystically and then Gandhiji turned to a startled Lizi, who was well aware that the two were meeting for the first time. A spiritual bond had obviously established.

Taking them both by the hand, Gandhiji then introduced them to his party, before proceeding towards the reception committee and then the inner courtyard.

A fascinated Lizi watched this carousel of events. Gandhi ji went and sat on the dais addressing this all-women gathering. As it was spoken in Hindi, she understood very little, but observed that women started removing their ornaments and submitted them before him as a contribution towards the freedom movement.

After the fortuitous meeting, Gandhiji invited the two of them to attend his prayer meeting in the evening. As the gloaming painted sky in orange hues, Gandhi ji sat under a big tree in garden singing a medley of bhajans. Lizi sat behind the crowd as her mother feverishly drew her sketches, capturing the mood of the magical evening.

Just as Gandhiji got up to leave and the crowd began to scatter, Lizi saw her moment. She rushed ahead saying, “Bapu ji, Bapu ji”.

Bapu turned around and looked quizically at her. What followed was witty repartee.

Bapu: Yes

Lizi: I have a request. I would like to paint you, please give me time.

Bapu: Why do you want to paint an ugly man like me?

Lizi: Bapu ji, I want to paint your soul.

Bapu: How much time do you want?

Lizi: Half an hour.

Bapu: Do you little chick of a girl beg to say that you can paint my soul in half an hour?

Lizi: Bapuji, can you prove that I can’t?

Bapu: Okay, you will have that half an hour tomorrow afternoon.
The unforgettable protrait

Next day, a damp grey afternoon of wintery January 08, Gandhi ji, clad only in a Kashmiri shawl and dhoti, sat on a verandah, busy doing some paper work. It was his day of Maun (silence). Looking up at Lizi, he took out his watch and placed it in front of him. Lizi was both cold and nervous and the thought of 30 odd cameramen waiting below only added to her unease.

There was a lack of space for the set-up. Gandhiji signalled to Lizi that she must start. But soon after 30 minutes, he sent her a slip saying her time was up. Ms Brunner communicated that 10 minutes were used up in placing her easel and paints. And by that standard she had 10 minutes left. Gandhi ji agreed. At the end of given time, Lizi placed the portrait in front of him. Bapu’s face lit up with joy and he promptly autographed it with a paintbrush. The young Elizabeth was grateful, beyond words. She did not know how this incident would help her burst on the Indian national scene as a recognized artist. The shutterbugs had captured this beautiful moment, and newspapers next day screamed about how a Hungarian artist had painted Gandhi ji in 30 minutes. Elizabeth had got her break.

An intimate friendship

The painting, more impotantlty, won little Elizabeth Gandhiji’s affection. He invited her and her mother to travel with him to Conoor where he was to stay for two weeks. By the time they arrived, Lizi was suffering from malaria and the chill of the hills only aggravated her condition. Hearing about her illness, Gandhiji came to her room and asked after her health. He then asked an attendant to get him a glass warm milk. Lizi was taking vegetarian diet then, avoiding even milk products. Gandhiji held her pale face in his hands and requested, “Have it for my sake” and then fed her with his hands. In what young Elizabeth continued to believe as a miracle, her fever disappeared the next morning.

While Elizabeth continued to hold a treasure trove of stories of how Gandhiji, worked, lived, prayed and read, the above incidents clearly reveal Gandhi to be more than just a nationalist leader who fought for the freedom of our country. She perhaps through her encounters portrayed him to be a very humane, sensitive and a spirtiual person; and in doing so she, in one way, painted to us his soul, a promise that she had made to Bapu.

(The piece is an adaptation of the encounter as described by the artist Elizabeth Brunner) Advertisement

UK PM to Write on Mahatma Gandhi


Describing Mahatma Gandhi as "one of the great leaders" of the 20th century, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he wants to write about the apostle of peace's contribution to the world civilisation.

"I want to write something at some point about the contribution of Gandhi to our civilisation. I think he was one of the great leaders of the 20th century. He didn't seek power, he sought to win by changing people's hearts and minds and he managed to do so," Brown said in an interview to 'Garavi Gujarat', a leading Gujarati-English bilingual weekly, published today.

Noting that Gandhi is an inspirational figure for him and for so many people around the world, Brown said "I have read a lot about how he developed his non-violent faith and how he practised his civil disobedience and how he won support because people could see his moral integrity."

The British Prime Minister also spoke about his strong links with India, which he plans to visit again soon.

Brown said India is going to have a bigger role in world affairs in the future and Britain is working with it on development of its new educational institutions.

"We want to work closely with India on a whole range of issues like climate change. On financial services, industry, pharmaceuticals and the use of information technology there is growing cooperation between our countries," he said, noting that New Delhi has "a highly respected role in the G-20" as well.

The British Prime Minister said his strong links with India went back to his childhood days, when he received constant updates from a close relative living in Delhi.

"I have got a great affinity for India. One of my family's closest relations spent a few years as a professor of engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi. I visited it a few months ago and it is a great institution.

"When I was growing up he was in India and his family were in India and they were telling me about all the changes taking place. So I have always had great knowledge about what's happening in India and I continue to retain that contact I had, including a close personal relationship with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is one of the people I admire greatly," Brown said.

During a visit to India in 2007 as Chancellor, Brown was one of the first senior British politicians to call for a "new world order" that recognises India's central role in the global economy. He expressed his commitment to pushing for India's right to a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

Brown said "it is part of our proposals to bring up-to-date the international institutions, including reform of the IMF and the World Bank. It's very important for the world to recognise that the world is changing and people need to know that their role in the world is respected.

"India is going to have a bigger role, and rightly so, in world affairs in the future. In economic and financial decisions but also in security decisions affecting the world and we want to recognise it in our partnership with India and India's important role in the world."

We are working with India on development of their new educational institutions that are to be built," Brown said.

"In future, as the Indian economy grows, I think there will be more opportunities for us to buy from India and for India to buy from us," he said.

Brown said India is respected as a member of the G-20. "While the G-8 discusses a number of issues, the big economic issues have been discussed with Prime Minister Singh and I think that is important. India has a highly respected role in the G-20."

Bureau Report

London: Describing Mahatma Gandhi as "one of the great leaders" of the 20th century, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he wants to write about the apostle of peace's contribution to the world civilisation.

"I want to write something at some point about the contribution of Gandhi to our civilisation. I think he was one of the great leaders of the 20th century. He didn't seek power, he sought to win by changing people's hearts and minds and he managed to do so," Brown said in an interview to 'Garavi Gujarat', a leading Gujarati-English bilingual weekly, published today.

Noting that Gandhi is an inspirational figure for him and for so many people around the world, Brown said "I have read a lot about how he developed his non-violent faith and how he practised his civil disobedience and how he won support because people could see his moral integrity."

The British Prime Minister also spoke about his strong links with India, which he plans to visit again soon.

Brown said India is going to have a bigger role in world affairs in the future and Britain is working with it on development of its new educational institutions.

"We want to work closely with India on a whole range of issues like climate change. On financial services, industry, pharmaceuticals and the use of information technology there is growing cooperation between our countries," he said, noting that New Delhi has "a highly respected role in the G-20" as well.

The British Prime Minister said his strong links with India went back to his childhood days, when he received constant updates from a close relative living in Delhi.

"I have got a great affinity for India. One of my family's closest relations spent a few years as a professor of engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi. I visited it a few months ago and it is a great institution.

"When I was growing up he was in India and his family were in India and they were telling me about all the changes taking place. So I have always had great knowledge about what's happening in India and I continue to retain that contact I had, including a close personal relationship with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is one of the people I admire greatly," Brown said.

During a visit to India in 2007 as Chancellor, Brown was one of the first senior British politicians to call for a "new world order" that recognises India's central role in the global economy. He expressed his commitment to pushing for India's right to a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

Brown said "it is part of our proposals to bring up-to-date the international institutions, including reform of the IMF and the World Bank. It's very important for the world to recognise that the world is changing and people need to know that their role in the world is respected.

"India is going to have a bigger role, and rightly so, in world affairs in the future. In economic and financial decisions but also in security decisions affecting the world and we want to recognise it in our partnership with India and India's important role in the world."

We are working with India on development of their new educational institutions that are to be built," Brown said.

"In future, as the Indian economy grows, I think there will be more opportunities for us to buy from India and for India to buy from us," he said.

Brown said India is respected as a member of the G-20. "While the G-8 discusses a number of issues, the big economic issues have been discussed with Prime Minister Singh and I think that is important. India has a highly respected role in the G-20."

Describing Mahatma Gandhi as "one of the great leaders" of the 20th century, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he wants to write about the apostle of peace's contribution to the world civilisation.

"I want to write something at some point about the contribution of Gandhi to our civilisation. I think he was one of the great leaders of the 20th century. He didn't seek power, he sought to win by changing people's hearts and minds and he managed to do so," Brown said in an interview to 'Garavi Gujarat', a leading Gujarati-English bilingual weekly, published today.

Noting that Gandhi is an inspirational figure for him and for so many people around the world, Brown said "I have read a lot about how he developed his non-violent faith and how he practised his civil disobedience and how he won support because people could see his moral integrity."

The British Prime Minister also spoke about his strong links with India, which he plans to visit again soon.

Brown said India is going to have a bigger role in world affairs in the future and Britain is working with it on development of its new educational institutions.

"We want to work closely with India on a whole range of issues like climate change. On financial services, industry, pharmaceuticals and the use of information technology there is growing cooperation between our countries," he said, noting that New Delhi has "a highly respected role in the G-20" as well.

The British Prime Minister said his strong links with India went back to his childhood days, when he received constant updates from a close relative living in Delhi.

"I have got a great affinity for India. One of my family's closest relations spent a few years as a professor of engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi. I visited it a few months ago and it is a great institution.

"When I was growing up he was in India and his family were in India and they were telling me about all the changes taking place. So I have always had great knowledge about what's happening in India and I continue to retain that contact I had, including a close personal relationship with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is one of the people I admire greatly," Brown said.

During a visit to India in 2007 as Chancellor, Brown was one of the first senior British politicians to call for a "new world order" that recognises India's central role in the global economy. He expressed his commitment to pushing for India's right to a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

Brown said "it is part of our proposals to bring up-to-date the international institutions, including reform of the IMF and the World Bank. It's very important for the world to recognise that the world is changing and people need to know that their role in the world is respected.

"India is going to have a bigger role, and rightly so, in world affairs in the future. In economic and financial decisions but also in security decisions affecting the world and we want to recognise it in our partnership with India and India's important role in the world."

We are working with India on development of their new educational institutions that are to be built," Brown said.

"In future, as the Indian economy grows, I think there will be more opportunities for us to buy from India and for India to buy from us," he said.

Brown said India is respected as a member of the G-20. "While the G-8 discusses a number of issues, the big economic issues have been discussed with Prime Minister Singh and I think that is important. India has a highly respected role in the G-20."

Bureau Report

London: Describing Mahatma Gandhi as "one of the great leaders" of the 20th century, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he wants to write about the apostle of peace's contribution to the world civilisation.

"I want to write something at some point about the contribution of Gandhi to our civilisation. I think he was one of the great leaders of the 20th century. He didn't seek power, he sought to win by changing people's hearts and minds and he managed to do so," Brown said in an interview to 'Garavi Gujarat', a leading Gujarati-English bilingual weekly, published today.

Noting that Gandhi is an inspirational figure for him and for so many people around the world, Brown said "I have read a lot about how he developed his non-violent faith and how he practised his civil disobedience and how he won support because people could see his moral integrity."

The British Prime Minister also spoke about his strong links with India, which he plans to visit again soon.

Brown said India is going to have a bigger role in world affairs in the future and Britain is working with it on development of its new educational institutions.

"We want to work closely with India on a whole range of issues like climate change. On financial services, industry, pharmaceuticals and the use of information technology there is growing cooperation between our countries," he said, noting that New Delhi has "a highly respected role in the G-20" as well.

The British Prime Minister said his strong links with India went back to his childhood days, when he received constant updates from a close relative living in Delhi.

"I have got a great affinity for India. One of my family's closest relations spent a few years as a professor of engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi. I visited it a few months ago and it is a great institution.

"When I was growing up he was in India and his family were in India and they were telling me about all the changes taking place. So I have always had great knowledge about what's happening in India and I continue to retain that contact I had, including a close personal relationship with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is one of the people I admire greatly," Brown said.

During a visit to India in 2007 as Chancellor, Brown was one of the first senior British politicians to call for a "new world order" that recognises India's central role in the global economy. He expressed his commitment to pushing for India's right to a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

Brown said "it is part of our proposals to bring up-to-date the international institutions, including reform of the IMF and the World Bank. It's very important for the world to recognise that the world is changing and people need to know that their role in the world is respected.

"India is going to have a bigger role, and rightly so, in world affairs in the future. In economic and financial decisions but also in security decisions affecting the world and we want to recognise it in our partnership with India and India's important role in the world."

We are working with India on development of their new educational institutions that are to be built," Brown said.

"In future, as the Indian economy grows, I think there will be more opportunities for us to buy from India and for India to buy from us," he said.

Brown said India is respected as a member of the G-20. "While the G-8 discusses a number of issues, the big economic issues have been discussed with Prime Minister Singh and I think that is important. India has a highly respected role in the G-20." Advertisement

Gandhi's house in S Africa up for Sale


A house in Johannesburg, where Mahatma Gandhi had lived for three years when he was in South Africa, has been put up for sale by the owner, but it has so far found no takers with even the Indian-origin community members showing little interest in buying it.

Hidden away on a quiet street in Orchards, north of central Johannesburg, the house was designed by Gandhi's confidant and architect Hermann Kallenbach.

Its distinct thatched roofs and rondavel style gave the house its informal name "The Kraal". Gandhi lived in the house with Kallenbach for three years from 1908.

The owner of the house Nancy Ball, who has been living in the house for the past 25 years, wants to move to Cape Town and she has put the house on the market after failing to attract someone with an interest in preserving its historical legacy, the Times newspaper reported.

However, she did not reveal the price of the house.

She enlisted the support of Stephen Gelb, founding director of the Centre of Indian Studies in Africa at the University of Witwatersrand, on a voluntary basis, to try to find a suitable buyer.

Gelb tried to solicit the interest of prominent Indians in South Africa and even explored the possibility of Wits acquiring the property for use as a residence for visiting professors.

"There is little interest among members of the Indian-origin community and also from Wits University," Gelb told the Times.

Ball said: "Mahatma Gandhi left a lot of his peace here. It's a very special place."

The House in Orchards in Johannesburg is one of several legacies left by Gandhi in South Africa. In Johannesburg, there is another area known as Gandhi Farm, where Mahatma Gandhi and his followers stayed and practiced their philosophy of Satyagraha.

In Durban, the most famous Gandhi legacy is the Mahatma Gandhi Settlement in Phoenix, north of Durban, where Gandhi initially devised his Satyagraha philosophy.

Gandhi's fight against racial discrimination in South Africa in the late 1800s and early 1900s is today recognized with several institutions, streets and religious and cultural organisations named after him. Advertisement

Gandhi letters: NRI’s to Return them to India


A series of letters and postcards signed and autographed by Mahatma Gandhi were bought in an auction here on Tuesday by two leading NRIs, who will present the precious documents to the government of India.

NRI entrepreneurs Sir Gulam Kaderbhoy Noon and Prof Nat Puri bid for the priceless letters and postcards almost for double the pre-sale estimates at London auctioner Sotheby's.

A series of 29 letters and four autograph notes signed by Jawaharlal Nehru for friend Mridula Sarabhai, together with a signed document, a signed greeting card and 29 envelopes (estimated price 4,000-5,000 pounds or Rs 3.17-3.97 lakh) also sold for 8,750 pounds, but it was not known who was the buyer.

Curry King Sir Noon said to a news agency he telephonically bid for the Gandhi articles and bought them for around 10,000 pounds.

The first lot comprised Gandhi's three autographed letters to Maulana Abdul Bari, an Islamic scholar and leading figure in the Khilafat movement, in Urdu. The letters referred to Hindu-Muslim relations, including communal tension in Lucknow, their personal friendship and in one letter writing from prison with thanks for the gift of cotton for spinning.

Maulana Abdul Bari (1878-1926) worked closely with Gandhi from 1918 onwards.

The second lot comprised a piece of Khadi cloth signed by Gandhi and said to have been woven by him. The hand-woven white cotton piece (420x390mm) with a simple purple border was signed by Gandhi in Gujarati. Advertisement