THIRUVANATHAPURAM: The awe for her grandfather was easily discernible in her words. Tara Gandhi, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, sounded very much like a little girl recollecting her grandfather when she spoke at Gandhi Bhavan on Sunday in connection with the Gandhi Utsav. Speaking in crisp English in a fine accent, she recounted how Gandhi was insistent on her learning English.
‘’Once a white man asked me, ‘How do you do?’. Thinking that he wanted to know about my health, I went on talking about how I had been doing of late. The poor man was patient though and listened to me attentively. Later, grandfather called me and explained how I ought to respond when asked ‘How do you do’. I was left wondering why would somebody ask, ‘How do you do’, when they actually needed the same question back and did not actually want to know about my health,’’ she said in a humorous vein.
Calling Gandhiji a minimalist she said that Mahatma Gandhi was a man of great refinement. ‘’If he had two pencils he would give one pencil to somebody, not necessarily to his grandchildren,’’ Tara added like an afterthought.
‘’He would throw a junk to the waste bin only after making the most of it. He always found some use with articles which would seem unworthy to others’’.
She also mused over how people go on spending crores today in a country where a man lived and died as a minimalist without sparing a single pie.
Being an ardent advocate of khadi products, she said that the value of handicraft products is seldom appreciated in India.’’
‘’The price set for handwoven fabric from India in other countries is simply unimaginable. But back in our country, there are few takers for khadi, which is very unfortunate. We must advertise on a massive scale for the promotion of khadi products,’’ Tara said.
Tara, who is the daughter of Mahatma Gandhi’s youngest son Devdas Gandhi, also interacted with former freedom fighters K Ayyappan Pilai and Bhaskaran Nair and college students on the occasion.
trivandrum@expressbuzz.com