I do not wish to discuss Peter Ruhe: Tata Gandhi Bhattacharjee

She carries the legacy of none other than the Mahatma, but Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee is a picture of absolute simplicity. This graceful lady, the grand daughter of the father of the nation, was in Ahmedabad recently for promotion of Khadi and natural fabric. In conversation with DNA, she shared her views on Gandhi's values, the controversy surrounding his memorabilia, and on preserving what he's left behind of himself in the country.

On the Mahatma: Gandhi had great organising abilities. He brought together hundreds of people during the freedom struggle, people with different sensibilities and levels of intellect. He was able to capture the imagination of not just Indians, but people around the world. His strength was that he was able to deduce the abstract of what we commonly call religion, from various different religions, and implement these ideas in his daily life.

There is a proverb in Bengali, which says that you can get Krishna (God) by devotion, not by reasoning or logic. Gandhi is very difficult to understand that way, or summarise. One word though, that I feel would represent him quite well, would be 'compassion'.

Encashing on 'Brand Gandhi': I cannot stop people from benefiting by quoting his name. But to those who use his name to sell goods or brand him in different ways, I would appeal that they stop, if they have the slightest respect for him. Using his name to bring people together for a cause would be ideal. But cashing in on the 'Gandhi' tag to make money is something I do not endorse.

Selling of Gandhi's memorabilia: Gandhi was characterised by his simplicity. He never hoarded things, never kept more than what his basic needs demanded. For a man who always believed in having the least number of personal belongings possible, selling his memorablia or passing it from one hand to another somehow sounds very antithetical. I would say, if you happen to chance upon any of it, please put it in a museum. We need to respect the fact that anything associated with a man of his stature is way beyond a price tag. Besides, he belongs to the whole of humanity.

On Peter Ruhe's act of transferring Gandhi's memorabilia abroad and getting it to an auction house: Peter Ruhe is someone I do not wish to discuss. Besides, I haven't spoken to him recently, so I do not wish to comment on him. All I'd say is, I do not wish to get personal here, but what he's been doing is terrible.  Having said that, please do not assume that the whole of the West is like him. On the contrary, the West is very sensitive and sensible in these matters. Not every one is like him. On the other hand, we have many Peter Ruhe's in India as well.

On Ruhe's claim that India is not capable of preserving Gandhi's memorabilia: Indians are most certainly quite poor with documentation. In our museums, you'd hardly see a gun-toting guard around precious antiques, something that's necessary. Even further, look at institutes that are supposedly based on Gandhian values. They claim to follow the path shown by him, of hygiene, something that he considered essential. But hygiene is very often totally absent. Gandhi believed in clean bathrooms. Whenever I go to these supposed 'Gandhian' institutes, I dread having to go to the bathrooms.  So in a way, Ruhe's claims are not entirely incorrect either.

Erosion of 'Gandhian' Values from 'Gandhian' institutions: Firstly, I do not like words like 'Gandhian' and 'Gandhivadi', because they sound rigid and fanatic. I would rather call our lot 'Gandhipremis' - lovers of Gandhi's ideals and way of life. Secondly, we would be learning Gandhi in a partial way, if we practiced the man's ideology within the four walls of certain specific institutes. Rather, the whole country should be one global institution based on his principles.

Tinkering with Gandhi's writing: It is very unfortunate, and also dangerous, that people are toying around with his writing. I'm in little position to do anything about it, but it saddens me all the time.