SoCultures October 2018

SoCultures October 2018
S
May I call you Mahatma?
M Hmm…Well! I don’t mind. But I would like to be called Bapu.
S But how you got this title,
Mahatma?
M According to some authors,
Rabindranath Tagore is said to have
used this word as my name on March 6,
1915. Some claim that while he was
writing his autobiography then he used
this title for me.
There are lots of stories about me getting
this title. A few people believe that I was
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1842
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called ‘Mahatma’ in a small function organized by the royal physician of erstwhile
Gondal State in Saurashtra Peninsula.
(Waves at the people gathered outside, some volunteers of the ashram are taking
care of various activities at ashram, some are
there from some faraway rural areas that work
on the Charkha (spin wheel) and produce
Khadi. The volunteers are busy listening to their
problems and trying to resolve them. )
Gandhi_and_Bose_at_the_Indian_National_Congress,_1938
Another story comes from Gurukul Kangari
University located in Haridwar, India. And I
had lots of respect for its teaching methods --Vedic education system, Indian
philosophy, Indian culture, modern sciences and research. I told Ba that it’s the
pilgrimage to education.
You see, I used to visit this place quite often with Ba especially after I had come
back from South Africa. More interestingly, during that time, the founder of
Gurukal Kangri, Mahatma Munshi had conferred this title on me .Another version
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