Yet the grief over the disappearance of Gandhi’s spectacles from Wardha’s Sewagram Ashram is not gone, members of the Mahatma’s extended family are wondering why they have been left out of the diamond jubilee celebrations of the ashram.
Yet the grief over the disappearance of Gandhi’s spectacles from Wardha’s Sewagram Ashram is not gone, members of the Mahatma’s extended family are wondering why they have been left out of the diamond jubilee celebrations of the ashram.
On June 16, Sevagram ashram will celebrate diamond jubilee. Usha Gokani, Gandhi’s granddaughter said she has not been called for the event. “My mother, Nirmala Gandhi is the only member of the Gandhi family to be cremated in the Sevagram Ashram compound. But the organisers of the diamond jubilee celebrations have not even bothered to invite me or intimate me about the same,” Gokani told DNA.
“With people like this involved in preserving the Mahatma’s memory, it is no wonder that his spectacles have gone missing,” she added. According to her, the organisers are afraid that her presence could steal the limelight from them.
Bapu stayed in Sevagram ashram between 1936 and 1946. In 1936, Mahatma Gandhi came to Wardha and selected Shegaon as the site of the ashram. Industrialist Jamanalal Bajaj donated the land. Shegaon was renamed as Sevagram.
Gokani is the daughter of Bapu’s third son Ramdas and Nirmala. Nirmala worked for around 40 years at the ashram. Ramdas died in 1969. “I really do not understand why the ashram trust did not invite me. Before my mother died, I visited the ashram regularly. They may have called my cousin Tushar Gandhi. They may be scared that if we visit the place, they may not get much importance. In fact, Vinoba Bhave had asked my mother to take charge of the ashram, but my mother refused,” she said.
Madhav Gadkari, chairman of the Sevagram Ashram Trust confirmed that the trust had not invited Gokani. Speaking on the phone from Wardha, he said, “We did not invite Usha Gokani because we do not have the address of her house. We sent an invitation to Mani Bhavan. But we did invite Tushar Gandhi who was present in the ashram on Wednesday. We do not have the addresses and data of the all members of the Gandhi family. We did whatever we could.”
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