Friday, February 28, 2014

The Best Advice I Ever Had

The Best Advice I Ever Had

By Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit


The Best advice I ever had come from one of the greatest souls the world has ever known - Mahatma Gandhi. Most people pass through a period of anguish when their belief in humanity is at a low ebb. I was in such a period. My husband had recently died. My deep sorrow over his loss was followed by the humiliating realization that in the eyes of Indian Law I had no individual existence.


Thought For The Day ( RELIGION )

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes on Religion

Monday, February 24, 2014

e-Newsletter of Gandhi Seva Kendra, Hyderabad

e-Newsletter of Gandhi Seva Kendra, Hyderabad

Many regions of the world are inflicted by violence and strife. Peace loving people all over the world, including leaders, are in search for a solution to these problems. One name that emerges is that of Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi is more relevant than ever in the world today. Many peace-loving individuals and organizations are trying to find ways of establishing peace in the world through the teachings of Gandhiji. From several world leaders to common man, have drawn inspiration from Gandhiji. The significance of Gandhiji’s teachings of truth, non-violence, peace, brotherhood, equality, conflict resolution and harmonious living are imperative in today’s world which is of full of hatred, violence, exploitation and inequality.

In this context, Gandhi Seva Kendra, at Hyderabad have put a step ahead to propagate Gandhiji’s ideology in the form of a book centre on 2nd October, 2013 with the objective to promote Gandhian philosophy.

Here we presents e news letter of Gandhi Seva Kendra, Hyderabad with additional features and news on the activities of the Kendra.






Thought For The Day ( EDUCATION )

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes on Education

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Life Sketch of Kasturba

Life Sketch of Kasturba


Kasturba was born in Porbandar in April 1869, a few months before Gandhiji and in the same town. Her father, Gokuldas Makanji, was a merchant and a friend of Gandhiji's father, Karamchand or 'Kaba' Gandhi. Both the parents decided to knit their families closer together by marrying their two children. At that time early marriage was a common custom in Saurashtra, as in many other parts of India. So, the betrothal of the two children, Mohandas and Kasturbai, took place in their seventh year. The actual wedding, however, was celebrated in 1882, when the two began to live together as husband and wife at the early age of thirteen. Referring to his marriage Gandhiji later observed in his Autobiography as follows-"I do not think it meant to me anything more than the prospect of good clothes to wear, drum-beating, marriage processions, rich dinners and a strange girl to Play with..........Little did I dream that one day I should severely criticize my father for having married me as a child. Everything on that day seemed to me right and proper and pleasing. There was also my own eagerness to get married ".


Thought For The Day ( HUMAN NATURE )

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes on Human Nature

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Online Discussion on Gandhian Trusteeship and Non-violence

Gateway House cordially invites you to an online discussion on:

Gandhian Trusteeship and Non-violence: the Basis for a Creative Society

India Economic, Business & Political Series)

 with
 Rajni Bakshi
Senior Gandhi Peace Fellow,
Gateway House

 &

 Ashni Biyani
Chief Ideator and Director,
Future Ideas

at
6:30 pm
On
Friday, 21 February, 2014
On
Google Hangout

A growing environmental crisis and the increasing inequality between the rich and the poor now constitute major risks to global economic and social stability. Societies around the world are struggling to address these issues.  As the problems associated with these risks escalate, it is necessary to look at unconventional solutions. Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of Trusteeship is one such approach that can provide the basis for a creative new solution. 

The idea of Trusteeship is based on the premise that you are never really the “owner” of wealth, but rather its temporary holder, a benevolent custodian. Gandhi was confident that eventually Trusteeship would offer an alternative to both capitalism and socialism. How did Gandhi conceptualise Trusteeship? How does the idea go beyond philanthropy and corporate social responsibility? Can Trusteeship become the foundation for a renewed, non-violent, and creative society?

Discuss these topics at a Google Hangout with Rajni Bakshi, Senior Gandhi Peace Fellow, Gateway House, in conversation with Ashni Biyani, Chief Ideator and Director, Future Ideas, on “Gandhian Trusteeship and Non-violence: the Basis for a Creative Society” on  February 21, 2014 at 6:30 PM IST. 

The live discussion will be interactive with the online audience. We invite you to post your questions in advance or during the hangout using #GHTrusteeship on Twitter or on the Google+ event page. 

You can access background reading on this topic herehereherehereand here.
Click here to register for the event on Google

or

Click here to register for the event on email
Follow the discussion on Twitter on @GatewayHouseIND #GHTrusteeship on 

February 21, 2014. 

Sincerely,
Manjeet Kripalani & Neelam Deo
Directors, Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations
___________________________________________________________
Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations, 3rd floor Cecil Court, M.K. Bhushan Marg, Colaba, Mumbai 400 039
+91 22 2202 3371 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +91 22 2202 3371 FREE  end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +91 22 2202 3371 FREE  end_of_the_skype_highlighting|  meetings@gatewayhouse.in  |  www.gatewayhouse.in 
Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations is a foreign policy think tank in Mumbai, India, established to engage India’s leading corporations and individuals in debate and scholarship on India’s foreign policy and the nation’s role in global affairs. Gateway House is independent, non-partisan and membership-based.
________________________________________________________________________

Rajni Bakshi
Senior Gandhi Peace Fellow,
Gateway House

Rajni Bakshi is the Gandhi Peace Fellow at Gateway House, Mumbai. She is the author of  a Gateway House research paper  (October 2012) titled Civilizational Gandhi. She is also the author of  several books, including Bazaars, Conversations and Freedom: for a market culture beyond greed and fear (Penguin, 2009), which won two Vodafone-Crossword Awards. Her earlier book, Bapu Kuti: Journeys in Rediscovery of Gandhi (Penguin, 1998) inspired the Hindi film Swades. Her other books include Long Haul: the Bombay Textile Workers Strike 1982-83 (1986); A Warning and an Opportunity: the Dispute over Swami Vivekananda’s Legacy (1994); Lets Make it Happen: a backgrounder on New Economics (2003); and An Economics for Well-Being (2007). Rajni has a BA from George Washington University, U.S, and an MA from the University of Rajasthan. She serves on the Boards of Child Rights and You (CRY) and Citizens for Peace. She is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, an autonomous body under the Indian Ministry of Culture, and a long-term associate of the Centre for Education and Documentation (Mumbai and Bangalore).

Ashni Biyani
Chief Ideator and Director,
Future Ideas

Ashni Biyani is associated with Future Group, a business house in India that operates  retail chains such as  Big Bazaar, Pantaloons, Central and Home Town. She is the Director of Future Ideas, a consultancy for strategic thought for business and society. She leads a team that maps the behavioral shifts of consumers and communities. She has also led the conceptualisation and launch of a number of the group’s retail formats.  Ashni’s team is currently working on an assessment study for the Ministry of Social Welfare and Empowerment. Ashni graduated as a textile designer from the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore. She has attended courses on scenario planning at New York’s Parsons School of Design, and the Summer Institute of General Management at Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, U.S.

Thought For The Day ( LABOUR )

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes on Labour

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

The lodestar of Indian liberalism

 The lodestar of Indian liberalism

The values Gokhale embodied could have new relevance in today’s India
Malala Yousafzai invokes Mahatma Gandhi in her UN speech
Gopal Krishna Gokhale is now a forgotten man even though both M.K. Gandhi and M.A. Jinnah were inspired by him in the years before they became mass leaders. Gandhi described Gokhale as his political guru while Jinnah aspired to be the Muslim Gokhale.
However, the importance of Gokhale goes far beyond his influence on these two star disciples, who continue to be worshipped as the fathers of their respective nations. He was the lodestar of a style of liberal politics that needs a fresh airing in contemporary India.
Gokhale died on 19 February 1915, so today marks the beginning of his death centenary.

Thought For The Day ( DEMOCRACY )

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes on Democracy

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Gandhi Journal Article - III

Gandhian perspective on Tribal Resources and the Modern State

By Birinder Pal Singh

Abstract
The modern state, whatever be its nature and type, has come to stay. It has become an extremely powerful engine to steer the so-called traditional society on the path of development following the framework of western modernization. It is positively related to the development and multiplication of resources for the 'benefit of its people' but negatively related to the tribes


Thought For The Day ( LOVE )

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes on Love

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Gandhi Journal Article - II

Gandhian Concept of Non-Violent Society: A Modern Perspective

By P. I. Devaraj & Syamala K.*

The WORLD TODAY is dominated by greed and competition, speed and restlessness, pollution, poverty and starvation, exploitation, ecological destruction, war and violence. The standard of living of the people has risen with multiple amenities for a comfortable living. But despite extra ordinary progress in the fields of science & technology, there are ample signs of a sick human society. As a result of the degradation of man, culture and society many serious problems have arisen. If democracy is to survive and if science has to be utilized for maintaining the stability of society, if peace and security of the people is to be ensured we have to work hard and steady. 
A healthy and harmonized society can exist only when its members imbibe some moral and ethical values. Only such values can ensure mutual aid and co-operation. Only when the people internalize ethical and moral values in their lives and actually practice them in their day-to-day lives they can build a healthy and progressive human society. In order to attain this we have to bring about certain changes in human nature and attitudes. For the reconstruction of society, its social, economic, political and religious institutions, value systems and tradition which breed violence should be removed and replaced by new ones. As stated by Dr. Sampooran Singh, “we are often caught in an acquisitive culture which consists of ambition, comparing, competing and acquiring. This is called psychological aggressiveness. This is actually a subtle violence which has led to making the whole human race in to a civilized violent community. Violence benumbs the sensitivity and this makes our understanding of life poorer. No wonder, man has emerged as a violent species. Mahatma Gandhi foresaw this situation and one of his major intentions while he wrote 'Hind Swaraj' was to teach the Indians that 'modern western civilization' with the above said consequences posed a greater threat to them and to humanity than did colonialism. He said that "I would ask you to read Hind Swaraj with my eyes.... and see therein the chapter on how to make India non-violent. You cannot build non-violence on a factory civilization..."

Thought For The Day ( RELIGION )


Friday, February 7, 2014

Gandhi Journal Article - I

Mahatma Gandhi's Last hundred Days and the Kashmir Crisis: The Making of a Dispute
By Suryakant Nath
Abstract
India and Pakistan have battled over the territory of Kashmir for over sixty years. The two nuclear-armed states have not only fought three bloody wars in the region but have also been fighting shadow wars for quite some time. Of late, Kashmir has been one of the contemporary world’s most troubled and dangerous places, even a ‘nuclear flash point’ in what India calls ‘terrorist insurgency’ and Pakistan ‘a freedom movement’. Today there is a flood of literature on Kashmir. However, even though we frequently read about Pt Nehru or Sardar Patel’s views on the subject, very little is said about the kind of views that Mahatma Gandhi held towards the Kashmir issue and the role which he played with regard to the Kashmir issue during the last few months of his life. This paper attempts to study Gandhi’s views on the then newly-emerging Kashmir dispute which in later years would eventually culminate into a nuclear flash point in contemporary history and continue to remain one of the most vulnerable areas in the world. It would be purely speculative to hazard a guess if Gandhian methods could have been successful in diffusing the crisis in Kashmir.

Thought For The Day ( MASSES )

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes on Masses

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Record-breaking sale of 13,800 Gandhian Books worth Rs. 5.52 lakhs within six days

Record-breaking sale of 13,800 Gandhian Books worth Rs. 5.52 lakhs within six days
Exhibition-cum-sale of Gandhi Books organized by Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal to commemorate 66th Gandhi death anniversary

In the present world, full of modern technologies like i-phones, tabs and e-books, it is difficult to believe that many people still interested in buying Gandhi books. But a week-long exhibition-cum-sale of Gandhi Books proves that Gandhiji's teachings are relevant than ever.

About 13,800 Gandhi-Vinoba-Sarvodaya books (in English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati) worth about Rs. 5.52 lakhs were sold within six days at the books exhibition organized by Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal and Gandhi Book Centre with the financial assistance from 'Babulnath Mandir Charities' and 'Mahalaxmi Mandir' from 27th January to 1st February to commemorate 66th death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Thought For The Day ( SPINNING WHEEL )

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes on Spinning Wheel

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Why Mahatma Gandhi is becoming popular in China

Why Mahatma Gandhi is becoming popular in China

By Ankur Jain


For the first time, Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi's own story of his life is to be available in China.

The Story of My Experiments With Truth, which has sold more than 200,000 copies in India alone and has been translated in to some 35 languages, will now be translated in Mandarin to cater to what Chinese scholars say is the "growing interest" in the leader in their country.

Five volumes of Gandhi's selected works containing his writings on satyagraha [people's movement], religion, politics and speeches, will also be translated into Mandarin.

"Gandhi's works have largely not been available in Russia and China so far. We are really excited with the growing interest about his writings in China," said Vivek Desai of the Ahmadabad-based Navajivan Trust, the 84-year-old publishing house founded by Gandhi which has published more than 300 volumes of the leader's works.



Thought For The Day ( POVERTY )

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes on Poverty