Gandhi Jayanti Programme, October 2, 2010

Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, Mumbai
&
Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya
Programmes for Gandhi Jayanti Week,
2nd October to 8^th October 2010at Mani Bhavan, 19 Laburnum Road, Gamdevi, Mumbai - 400 007

Programmes:

Date	Time	Programme	Venue
October 2, 2010	7.30a.m.	Mass Spinning	Mani Bhavan
	8.00-9.00a.m.	Bhajans by :   Smt.Geeta Yannamadi, Sarawati Vrindagan Mandal, Gamdevi. SKI Jain High School , Marine Lines. Balmohan Vidya Mandir, Dadar. J. B. Vachcha High School, Dadar	Mani Bhavan
October 2, 2010	9.15 a.m.	Inauguration of Khadi Exhibition & Sale Organised by Gandhi Seva Sena, Mumbai	Mani Bhavan
October 4, 2010	11:00 a.m.	Group Singing Competition of Patriotic Songs (Marathi) for Std I to IV school children
October 4, 2010	4:00 p.m.	Lecture for the tourist guides.	Mani Bhavan
October 5, 2010	11.00 a.m.	Group Singing Competition of Patriotic Songs (Hindi) for Std. I to IV school children.	Mani Bhavan
October 6, 2010	11.00 a.m.	Singing Competition for teachers– Hindi/Marathi	Mani Bhavan
October 7, 2010	2:00 p.m.	Documentary Film on Mahatma Gandhi	Mani Bhavan
October 8, 2010	2:00 p.m.	Documentary Film on Mahatma Gandhi	Mani Bhavan

Exhibition & Sale of Khadi  at Mani Bhavan , Laburnum Road , Gamdevi, Mumbai 400007. Daily from October 2 to October 8, 2010, from 11.00 am to 6.p.m. Screening of Gandhi Film every day at 6:00 pm at Mani Bhavan.

15 August 1947

On 15 August 1947, India became free from the foreign rule. Mahatma Gandhi was in Calcutta. He pitted his whole soul against this madness of communal hatred and tried to calm the angry passions on both sides. Lord Mountbatten  hailed  Gandhiji as One-man Boundary Force. He wrote  : " In the Punjab we have 55 thousand soldiers and large-scale  rioting on our hands. In Bengal our forces consist of one man, and there is no rioting. As a serving officer, as well as an administrator, may I be allowed to pay my tribute to the One-man Boundary Force. "


Speaking at Prayer Meeting on 20 July 1947 , Gandhiji said : " I cannot rejoice on August 15. I do not want to deceive you. But at the same time I shall not ask you not to rejoice.Unfortunately the kind of freedom we have got today contains also the seeds of future conflict between India and Pakistan. How can we therefore light the lamps? "

A day before on 14 August, speaking at Marwari Club in Calcutta, Gandhi said : " Tomorrow we will be free from the slavery of British; but from mid-night India will be cut into two pieces."


15 August 1947, Gandhiji spent his day with prayers, fasting and spinning. He did  not issue any formal message nor did he attend the celebrations in Delhi.  Talking to the group of students, Gandhiji said : '' I am not lifted off my feet by these demonstration of joy. "

Source : Collected Works Of  Mahtama Gandhi. Vols : 88 & 89.

Gandhiji's Talisman

" I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when
the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall
the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen,
and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use
to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control
over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj for
the hungry and spiritually starving millions?
Then you will find your doubts and yourself melting away." - M. K. GANDHI
August 1947

9th August 1942 - Historic Quit India Movement

Gandhiji arriving  for the historic session of All India  Congress Committee , at  Gowalia Tank Maidan,  Mumbai on August 1942.                                                                                                                Despite the police warning large crowd had gathered at Gowalia Tank Maidan. Aruna Asaf Ali hoisted the Indian flag. In March 1942, British Government sent Sir Stafford Cripps to India with proposal for a new constitution. This proposal were found unsatisfactory and were rejected both by the Congress & Muslim league.

In May 1942, Gandhi called on Britain to "leave India to God. If this is too much then leave her to anarchy."

The historic session of the All India Congress Committee began on the 7th August 1942 and was concluded after midnight of 8th/9th August 1942 at Gowalia Tank Maidan, Mumbai.

The resolution was passed unanimously. The resolution which came to be known as 'Quit India Resolution' created on 'electrifying atmosphere' in the country.

Gandhi in his stirring speech told the people "There is a mantra, short one, that I give you. You imprint it on your heart and let every breath of yours give an expression to it. The mantra is "do or die".

Indo-Pak Shanti Yatra

Indo-Pak Shanti Yatra was  launched from Mani Bhavan on 28 July, 2010 by Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Chagan Bhujbal. Also present were Dr. Rajan Welukar, Vice Chancellor of Mumbai University, RPI leader Shri Ramdas Athavle, Justice Chandrashekhar Dharmadikari and Dr. Shanti Patel. Students from Mumbai schools and colleges were also present at the function.
The peace march which started from Mani Bhavan, Mumbai will reach Wagah Border on 14th August, 2010.

Photograph of Gandhi published in Life Magazine

http://www.life.com/image/50876718

Governor of Riyad, Salman Bin Abdul Aziz in Mani Bhavan, April 14, 2010.

Ruth Simmons, President, Brown University visited Mani Bhavan on 1st April, 2010

Time Magazine: Man of the Year, 1930

Foreign News: Man of the Year, 1930

International Women's day

On International Women's day , here is an excerpt from the speech given by Gandhiji, at an annual gathering of the Bhagini Samaj (a women’s welfare organization in Mumbai), held in the Morarji Gokuldas Hall., on February 26, 1918 . Gandhiji aroused the women from their state of detachment , to respond to the call of the National Movement.

" Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacities. She has the right to participate in the very minutest detail in the activities of man and she has an equal right of freedom and liberty with him. She is entitled to a supreme place in her own sphere of activity as man is in his. This ought to be the natural condition of things and not as a result only of learning to read and write. By sheer force of a vicious custom, even the most ignorant and worthless men have been enjoying a superiority over women which they do not deserve and ought not to have. Many of our movements stop half-way because of the condition of our women. Much of our work does not yield appropriate results ; our lot is like that of the penny-wise and pound-foolish trader who does not employ enough capital in his business.

If I am right, a good many from among you, members of this Samaj, should go out to educate your ignorant sisters about their real condition. In practical terms, this means that you should spare as much time as you can to visit the most backward localities in Bombay and give the women there what you have yourselves received. If you have joined men in their religious, political and social activities, acquaint them with these. If you have gained any special knowledge about the bringing up of children, impart it to them. If you have studied and realized in your own experience the benefits of clean air, clean water, clean and simple food, and exercise, tell these women about them too. In this way, you will raise yourselves and them."

Mrs. Eva Luise Kohler, wife of Horst Köhler,President of Germany , visited Mani Bhavan to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi

School children singing Bhajans on Martyrs' Day at Mani Bhavan

Martyrs' Day Programme 2010

Gandhi Smarak Nidhi & Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya , has organised programme for Martyrs' Day to mark 62nd Death Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on Saturday, January 30th, 2010 at Mani Bhavan, 19 Laburnum Road, Gamdevi, Mumbai - 400 007.

Programme :

7:30 am to 8:00am - Mass spinning

8:00am to 9:00 am - Prayers and Bhajans by :

.Smt. Madhavi Nanal of Gwalior Gharana.
.J.B.Vachcha High School , Dadar.
.Ammulakh Amichand B.V.Vidyalaya, Matunga.

.SVDD Secondary English Vidyalaya, Ghatkoper.

9:00am to10:30am - Gandhiji's favourite Bhajans by Smt. Madhavi Nanal.

10:30am to 2:00pm - All Religion Prayers by various religious groups and organisations.

All are cordially invited .

With regards,

Shri Vasant Pradhan, President, Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya.

Smt. Usha Gokani, President, Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, Mumbai.

Dr Otis Moss in Mani Bhavan

Dr. Otis Moss Jr., American theologian, civil rights leader and a member of President Obama’s advisory council. Moss is in India to give lectures on the role of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. in the development of human rights across the world. He visited Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya on 30th December 2009.

Gandhi Jayanti Competitions Awards, 2009

Book Launch

Shri Vasant Pradhan, Shri Kumar Ketkar, Dr. Shanti Patel, Dr. Rohini Gawankar at the book launch of Jinku Kinwa Maru at Mani Bhavan on 7th Dec., 2009.

Lecture on 'Mahatma Gandhi and Terrorism' by Prof. Douglas Allen

Prof. Douglas Allen will give lecture on ' Mahatma Gandhi and Violence and Terrorism Today' , on Tuesday 15th Decmeber, 2009 at 3:p.m. at Mani Bhavan , 19 Laburnum Road, Gamdevi, Mumbai 400007.

Prof. Allen is Professor of Philosophy, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, USA. His most recent books are Myth and Religion in Mircea Eliade, Comparative Philosophy and Religion in Times of Terror and The Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi for Twenty-First Century. Prof. Allen is in India on a Fulbright-Nehru Senior Research Fellowship at Mani Bhavan to do research on ' Mahatma Gandhi and Violence,Terrorism and the Contemporary World.'

Relevant article written by Shri K.G.Mashruwala

Kishorlal Mashruwala (1890-1952) was born in Mumbai and did his early education from Akola and Mumbai. In 1909, he graduated from Wilson College, Mumbai. He was a close associate of Gandhiji. In 1930 he participated in Salt Satyagraha and Quit India Movement in 1942. He felt that constructive work is a necessary counterpart of non cooperation movement.

As an editor of Harijan in 1950, he wrote a relevant article in Harijan, dated February 12 1950, under the title ‘You Have Let Down Gandhiji’. Here is an extract from the article written by Shri Mashruwala.

“The charge of having let down Gandhiji has become a fashionable utterance because so many of us have cultivated the opposite habit of making Gandhiji and sarvodaya and truth and non-violence hackneyed phrases. Every leader and every minister seems to regard himself as on insecure ground unless he says, “This is what the Father of Nation taught us,” or, “ultimately the good of the world consists in taking to Gandhiji’s way of life.”

It will be far better if, instead of constantly referring to the Father of the Nation, we humbly rely upon Truth and Love within us. For whatever Gandhiji said or did came to him from his quest of Truth and sprang from non-violence. And though the Mahatma is no longer with us, the light which guided him is always there to guide us, if we have the will to accept it.”

-K.G. Mashruwala

Bhajan Programme on Gandhi Jayanti 2009

Smt. Neela Bhagwat, children from Happy Home School for Blind and other schools from Mumbai sang bhajans on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti 2009.

Gandhi and Parsis

Last month Mani Bhavan hosted an interesting talk on Gandhi and Parsis by Dinyar Patel. He also spoke on the role of Parsis in the Indian freedom movement. A very enthralling lecture.

Below is an excerpt from an article, Gandhiji addressed to the Parsis, published in Young India dated 23-3-1921.

DEAR FRIENDS,

I know that you are following with considerable interest the present non-co-operation movement. You may know, too, that all thoughtful non-co-operators are anxiously waiting to see what part you are going to play in the process of purification through which the whole country is passing. I, personally, have every reason to have full faith in your doing the right thing when the moment for making the final choice comes to you. And I address these few words to you because I feel that, probably, that moment has now arrived.

Apart from your being fellow-countrymen, I am bound to you by many sacred ties. Dadabhai ( Dadabhai Naoroji )was the first patriot to inspire me. He was my guide and helper when I did not know any other leader. It was to him that I bore, when yet a boy, a letter of introduction.( This was in 1888 when Gandhiji went to England to study for the Bar).
It was the late uncrowned king of Bombay, Sir Pherozeshah Mehta who led me in 1896 and showed me the way to work. It was he who, (when I wanted to give battle to a Political Agent as far back as 1892), restrained my youthful ardour and taught me the first practical lesson in ahimsa in public life. He taught me not to resent personal wrongs if I would serve India.
A Parsi merchant in Durban, Rustomjee Ghorkhodoo, was among my most valued clients and friends in South Africa. He gave freely to thepublic cause, and he and his brave son were the first among my fellow prisoners. He gave me shelter when I was lynched,and now, too, he is following the swaraj movement with considerable interest and has just donated Rs. 40,000 to it.
In my humble opinion, probably the first woman in India today is a Parsi woman ( presumably Gandhiji refers to Mrs. Jaijee Petit, wife of Jehangir Bomanjee Petit ) gentle as a lamb, with a heart that holds the whole humanity. To have her friendship is the rarest privilege of life.

M. K. GANDHI

Young India, 23-3-1921