New Delhi, October 2, 2012 | UPDATED 20:19 IST
Today is Gandhi Jayanti. The annual routine will be followed. Prayer meeting at Tees January Marg. Bhajans and wreath laying at Rajghat. Floral tribute in the Central Hall of Parliament. Twelve months later the same drill will be enacted. In between, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi will be all but forgotten.
I saw Gandhiji only once. That was in mid-June, 1945. His train had stopped for five minutes at Bharatpur station. The Mahatma was on his way to Shimla to attend a conference called by the Viceroy, Lord Wavell.
As the train approached the station all hell broke loose. I too was one of a huge crowd. I had taken my autograph book and Rs.5, the "Mahatma's fee" for getting his autograph.
As soon as the Frontier Mail came to a halt, there was an unseemly rush to reach the third class compartment in which he was travelling. I too ran, but to the other side of the train by jumping between two bogies. Several others did the same. I latched on to the window bars. I had a good look at him. He was in his half dhoti. The famous watch too I spotted. He was darker than I had imagined. It was impossible to get his autograph. The train moved. I had the Gandhi darshan.
In 1920, Gandhi arrived on the political scene of India like a whirlwind. He asked the prostrate people of India to stand up and hold their heads high. Non-violently he non-cooperated with the Raj. The message was loud and clear. It electrified India. He denounced the Raj, not the British people. Nevertheless, he did make the Raj stick in their throats.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/mahatma-gandhi-jayanti-celebration/1/223056.html
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