New Delhi, Oct 2 (Inditop.com) Mahatma Gandhi, the global peace icon, was Friday commemorated on his 140th birth anniversary with India renaming a rural empowerment scheme after him and US President Barack Obama saying Americans owed him enormous gratitude. Search engine Google decorated its home page with a sketch of the man whose message of non-violence still resonates around the world.
The anniversary was observed as the International Day of Non-Violence by the UN.
“This is a small effort to pay homage to the Mahatma, who always believed in Gram Swaraj. This is a pious and historic day,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at a function here where he rechristened the government’s flagship rural job scheme to empower millions in India the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were amongst the many ministers and parliamentarians who paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Parliament House here.
In a special message on the occasion, Obama said the US has its “roots in the India of Mahatma Gandhi and the non-violent social action movement” he led for India’s independence.
“His teachings and ideals, shared with Martin Luther King Jr. on his 1959 pilgrimage to India, transformed American society through our civil rights movement,” Obama said.
“The America of today has its roots in the India of Mahatma Gandhi and the non-violent social action movement for Indian independence which he led,” Obama added.
On behalf of the American people, Obama said he wants to express appreciation for the life and lessons of Mahatma Gandhi on the anniversary of his birth.
“This is an important moment to reflect on his message of non-violence, which continues to inspire people and political movements across the globe,” the US president said.
“We join the people of India in celebrating this great soul who lived a life dedicated to the cause of advancing justice, showing tolerance to all, and creating change through non-violent resistance,” Obama said.
Last month Obama had said that given a chance he would love to have a dinner meeting with Mahatma Gandhi.
The Google home page, seen by millions of people around the world every day as they search the Internet, showed Gandhi’s face in place of the initial letter ‘G’.
Gandhi joins a select band of people to have featured in ‘Google’s doodles’ that have previously honoured Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Confucius, Luciano Pavarotti, Dr Seuss, Andy Warhol, Claude Money, Louis Braille, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh and, posthumously, Michael Jackson.
In New Delhi, hundreds of children and adults flocked to various sites associated with Mahatma Gandhi.
For the not-so-young, this was a day of solemn introspection perhaps, and for the young, a chance to get a closer glimpse at life and work the man they have read about in textbooks.
Yash Vaghela, 11, couldn’t contain his excitement when he saw a Parker pen used by the father of the nation.
“I also use a Parker pen and he also used it. I am going to tell all my friends that Gandhiji used the same pen,” said Vaghela as he went around the Gandhi Museum, near the Gandhi memorial Rajghat where VVIPs and common people came in droves to pay homage to the apostle of peace.
The museum, which has five galleries, showcases a range of Gandhi memorabilia — his notebook, letters, spectacles, the utensils he used as well as the clothes he was wearing when he was assassinated on Jan 30, 1948. A bullet that pierced his frail frame that fatal day is also on display.
Even as the children chatted loudly about the Mahatma, 44-year-old Murali Khanna took notes.
“I had come here 10 years ago. This is my second visit. I am a Gandhian and I believe in peace and harmony,” he said.
Toledo, who did not give his second name and had come all the way from Spain to pay homage, said Gandhi was one of the greatest figures of history.
“When I think of Gandhi, I think of freedom and peace. He is a great historical figure… But very few individuals know about him,” he added.
Kiran Saini, who acts as a guide at the museum, said children showed maximum interest in Gandhi and his teachings.
Museum manager Bhaswati Ray Choudhari said about 200 visitors come every day. The footfalls go up on days like Gandhi’s birth and death anniversaries.
