OPINION | Why Are We All Afraid of Mahatma Gandhi?

OPINION | Why Are We All Afraid of Mahatma Gandhi?

(left) Tales of Young Gandhi, published by HarperCollins India; (right) Janhavi Prasada

In the run-up to the birth anniversary of the ‘father of the nation’, Siddhesh Inamdar, editor of a new graphic novel about Gandhi, introspects

We are all afraid of Mahatma Gandhi. It might be a strange thing to say about the apostle of non-violence, but it’s true. Why else would we distance ourselves from him in our day-to-day lives? It’s because he is a ‘Mahatma’, next to God, larger than life and, therefore, intimidating. He is to be remembered only on national holidays and forgotten the rest of the year.

What Janhavi Prasada’s Tales of Young Gandhi sets out to do is bring Gandhi within our reach again. It draws on his autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, to remind us that he was an ordinary man who in his younger days smoked, drank, stole money, was shy, visited a brothel and was driven mad by lust. But he experimented with his experiences to become the person he did.

Tales of Young Gandhi reminds us that we all have Gandhi within us. We share his weaknesses and strengths. And we too, like him, can sift through our baggage to become a better version of ourselves.

Tales of Young Gandhi hopes to introduce a new generation of readers to a fascinating life through a new medium – an exquisitely illustrated graphic novel – and make him relevant again at a time when the world is torn by violence.

(Tales of Young Gandhi, by Janhavi Prasada. Illustrations by Uttam Sinha. Buy your copy here: http://amzn.to/2dn8eCo)

HCI

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