Our final time in Delhi involved meeting with the USIEF staff for debriefing and completing written evaluations. They were very interested in hearing our feedback, as they use this each year to plan for future groups. (Luckily, our big curriculum projects are not due until November 30th.) We also had a traditional farewell dinner in the evening. Some of our former lecturers joined us in this time of saying thank you and goodbye to everyone. The afternoon, though, was ours to enjoy, whether it was visiting a tailor or picking up a last minute gift. I chose to visit Gandhi Smriti. (It's amazing how getting an auto rickshaw and negotiating a price has become so comfortable. We've laughed about how "green" we were our first time in Delhi.)
I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country, in whose making they have an effective voice; an India in which there shall be no high class and low class of people; an India in which all communities shall live together in perfect harmony. There can be no room in such India for the curse of untouchability or the curse of intoxicating drinks and drugs. Women will enjoy the same rights as men. We shall be at peace with all the rest of the world. This is the India of my dreams. - Gandhi
Gandhi Smriti is the home where Gandhi spent his last 144 days when he came to Delhi from Kolkata. It was on these grounds that he was assassinated on January 30,1948. Now the home is a heritage site and open to the public. At the main entrance is a statueof Gandhi along with two children, a boy and a girl, standing on a globe (pic 1). It symbolizes his universal concern for those perceived as helpless, and is inscribed with one of his quotes - My life is my message. There is a museum with many pictures and quotes of Gandhi; as well, you can see the room where he spent his last days (pic 2). It has been kept exactly as it was on the day of his assassination. All of his possessions are on display: his glasses, walking stick, a knife, fork and spoon, and the rough stone he used instead of soap. His bed was a mattress on the floor, plain white, with a low wooden desk at its side. There are stone footsteps showing the path he walked that leads out to the prayer area (pic 3). It was here that he was shot by Nathuram Godse. Many Indian people were there the morning of my visit and would circle the site where he was killed (marked by a stone pillar), and then touch their foreheads and the ground as a show of respect and devotion for this leader (pics 4 & 5). Everyone was required to remove their shoes to approach the site. I had read Gandhi's autobiography while on this trip, so it was great to have so many events in his life fresh in my mind as I looked at the pictures posted on walkways around the grounds. I went to the garden area near the site of his martyrdom, sat on a bench in the shade and again, pondered the marvel of his life, the philosophy of satyagraha, and the "surreal-ness"of being in this particular place. I found it interesting that early in the trip I had visited the site where his wife died. It was very peaceful sitting in the cool and quiet; it felt like an appropriate ending for this visit to India.
Gandhi Smriti is the home where Gandhi spent his last 144 days when he came to Delhi from Kolkata. It was on these grounds that he was assassinated on January 30,1948. Now the home is a heritage site and open to the public. At the main entrance is a statueof Gandhi along with two children, a boy and a girl, standing on a globe (pic 1). It symbolizes his universal concern for those perceived as helpless, and is inscribed with one of his quotes - My life is my message. There is a museum with many pictures and quotes of Gandhi; as well, you can see the room where he spent his last days (pic 2). It has been kept exactly as it was on the day of his assassination. All of his possessions are on display: his glasses, walking stick, a knife, fork and spoon, and the rough stone he used instead of soap. His bed was a mattress on the floor, plain white, with a low wooden desk at its side. There are stone footsteps showing the path he walked that leads out to the prayer area (pic 3). It was here that he was shot by Nathuram Godse. Many Indian people were there the morning of my visit and would circle the site where he was killed (marked by a stone pillar), and then touch their foreheads and the ground as a show of respect and devotion for this leader (pics 4 & 5). Everyone was required to remove their shoes to approach the site. I had read Gandhi's autobiography while on this trip, so it was great to have so many events in his life fresh in my mind as I looked at the pictures posted on walkways around the grounds. I went to the garden area near the site of his martyrdom, sat on a bench in the shade and again, pondered the marvel of his life, the philosophy of satyagraha, and the "surreal-ness"of being in this particular place. I found it interesting that early in the trip I had visited the site where his wife died. It was very peaceful sitting in the cool and quiet; it felt like an appropriate ending for this visit to India.
Use truth as your anvil, non-violence as your hammer - and anything that does not stand the test when it is brought to the anvil of truth and hammered with non-violence, reject it. - Gandhi
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