Recreating Gandhi

Pramod Kapoor, Publisher and Founder of Roli Books, launched his book Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography with much fervour at NCPA. The book comprises interesting pictures, letters and anecdotes that makes reading about Gandhi, a completely new experience. 

Kapoor, in a panel discussion with filmmaker Shyam Benegal and veteran writer-columnist Anil Dharker, shared anecdotes from Gandhi’s life. Kapoor shared, “He had written his autobiography till 1921 and post that, Gandhi said that anybody can write about him as his life was an open book. So, the challenge was to recreate his life in an interesting way from 1921 until 1948.”

The audience was kept entertained with intriguing incidents, and even funny ones, picked up from Gandhi’s life. Not many in the audience knew about these—facts like Gandhi was ambidextrous, he used to collect funds for the Harijan movement by charging people for his autograph and the fact that he shared a strained relationship with his family. “This book is extremely engaging and is written in simple language, which is great, as Gandhi himself used to write in simple language. Also, the pictures published in this book are extraordinary and several of them have not been seen elsewhere,” added Benegal.

Gandhi’s eldest son, Harilal, who was known as the alcoholic son, had great resentment towards his father. This was evident in the 10-page letter that Harilal wrote to him; the letter is published in the book. “Pramod, via his book, has made Gandhi accessible to all. Again, the book is so well illustrated that it makes it a complete read.”