Gandhian Pilgrimage - 40 years before

Memory Lane October 1971

I intend to write on the pilgrimage made to many places associated with Mahatma Gandhi   during  October 1971. All these years I have cherished the memories of visiting those holy places   . I love   think about writing the happy good old days of association with like minded youngsters who had similar love towards Gandhian principles and philosophies.

Mr.V.R.Radhakrishnan (  Late ) was the convener of Madras Students of Gandhi Forum, Mylapore , Madras.  He was a   true Gandhian , freedom fighter and Tamara patra holder at that time. His passion towards students participation in Gandhian   activities made him to conduct lot of competitions  , essays , oratorical and  public speaking for school and college students in  Madras city and also over Tamilnadu.

I am a student member of the Gandhi Forum and   never missed  any meetings and competitions. I am fortunate to live   as a neighbor to   VRR  and  worked with  him closely  in the Student’s Forum activities. This has helped me to follow strictly  , the principles of Mahatma.

In the competitions held for college students I was also a selected member   and wished to work with VRR as an aide. I feel proud to do that job with full satisfaction. There were about 35 students have got   selected in the written competition   for the college students.

The tour as planned   , covers all the places associated with Gandhiji , starting from Poona ( now Pune )  and ending at Wardha .

I was helping VRR for the mass booking in train ,  for a circular trip , from Madras to Madras for  all the students  . I had a best friend , Mr.Chandrasekar , who was my senior in Vivekananda College . He is a dedicated volunteer for the trip  .

Thirty nine   years is over and my mind travels in the Memory Lane from start to end of the Gandhian Pilgrimage.

We   started from Madras and our first halt was Poona. With great enthusiasm and commitment towards Gandhian activities, we had reached Poona   . We had   been to Sasoon Hospital where Gandhiji has got operated for Appendices   . The operation theater is converted into a monument with a big painting of the operating scene in the back drops.

Eravada prison is a place no one wants to visit even by accident. But the greatness of the place is ,  there only Mahadev desai, Kasturba Gandhi   , Motilal Nehru  and other freedom fighters got imprisoned  by the British government.

A common man or woman cannot dream for an evening with Governor. But we were given a special permission to have an evening tea with him. This happy moment cannot be forgotten by all we   students at that time.

Agha Khan Palace is the next place we visited. Mahadev desai and Kasturba Gandhi Samadhi is inside. In this palace only Motilal Nehru   , Gandhiji , Nehru and many great leaders were imprisoned by Britishers.

The mission left Poona to Bombay (   now Mumbai   ). Mani Bhavan   was the first place of visit. As a part of tourist interest   we had been to Kamala Nehru memorial park and the shoe house cannot be erased from any one’s memory.

 We have moved to Ahmedabad   to see Sabarmathi Ashram. Ba Kudil and Bapu Kudil is in  a serene atmosphere. We all have taken a secret oath in the place where Gandhiji has performed Bhajans, discourses   . Hope all those visited are keeping that vow till now.

We have proceeded to Porbandar   , the birth place of Mahatma on 2^nd October 1971 , which is a life time unforgettable date line for me .There on reaching   , we were very much delighted to sit is a small house   , where Mahtama was born and spent  his childhood.

Dwraka   was our next destination to have darshan of   Dwarakaanath Swami  , a Krishna temple. After a good darshan , we started  towards Rajkot .

Next destination was Rajkot in Gujarat.  We have visited the school where Mahatma studied  . The lingering thoughts recalled in My Experiment with Truth by Gandhiji , took us to the olden times. In that school, there are display of Gandhiji’s attendance and other documents.

Our   Convener   VRR has planned  for visiting wonderful historic places like Aurangabad , Ajanta and Ellora caves enroute to Wardha.

Bibi-ka-mqbara   looks like a miniature Taj mahal in Aurangabad   . Aurangaseeb’s Samadhi is the most  simplest one ever seen   , of a great warrior   ,   who ruled many parts of India.

The cave temples, sculptures cut in a single rock and paintings   got registered in our mind forever. The beauty and grace of the monuments can be cherished   at all times. A Bhudha statue in a dark cave   , when put on electric light   from three different angle gives three different face look . It is a master piece crafted in darkness.

Our journey continued to Wardha to meet Vinobha Bhave in Paunar Ashram. There are many people looks like Vinobha Bhave   because of their dressing similar to him. He gave us a small lecture and presented us “ Geethai Peruraigal “  - a tamil translation of his works on Bhagavat Gita. The Bhoodan movement was recalled by VRR in a small meeting in the ashram.

Now the time has come for a start back to madras. We are carrying many gifts to our dear and near purchased during the Gandhian Pilgrimage. All will be distributed soon after we reach madras. But the gifts of memory linger in our thoughts and memories all these 39 odd years.

VRR and VinobhaBhave are no longer with us   . But the freedom struggle message  , Gandhiji’s big role in getting our freedom with all other national Leaders , were unwritten  messages registered in our mind.

The legacy of VRR is not forgotten and Dr.Kulandai Swamy, a true Gandhian , continued VRR’s mission  on the students community by running Gandhi Peace Foundation Center in Chennai for the past 39 years by doing humble service to man kind and in particular to  school children. He writes articles periodically in THE HINDU, a news paper from  Chennai with quizzes and life changing stories based on Mahatma.

I am blessed to meet Dr.Kulandai Swamy after 39 years on 2^nd Oct 2010 at Gandhi Peace Foundation in Ambjammal Street, Alwarpet,  Chennai. Students were talking on Peace and a small thing they wish to carry from Gandhian principles. I have put up a request to unveil a photo of Mr.V.R.Radhakrishnan , who mentored me and also Dr.Kulandaiswamy and he gracefully agreed for that.

This made me to write this

Memory Lane

1971. If any one who read this , if a student associated with Madras Students Gandhi Forum in 1970s’, may please contact me for the benefit of sharing past memories . Let us spread the Gandhian principles and philosophy among youngsters to our best.