Vinoba Bhave on Gandhi

Here is Vinoba Bhave sharing his thoughts on Gandhi:When, still a child, I was drawn by Bengal and the Himalayas. I cherished dreams of going to these places. In Bengal it was the upsurge symbolized by Vande Mataram that called me, in the Himalayas it was the Jnana-Yoga. When in 1916 I left home I wanted at the same time to go both to the Himalayas and to Bengal. The city of Kashi was on the way

Gandhi's Higher Standard of Leadership

It's Gandhi's birthday today. In perhaps a statement of our times, I was first reminded of him when I saw him on the homepage of Google. :) Then, I thought of my dear friend Jayesh Patel at the Gandhi Ashram, who is an exemplar of Gandhian values; and at some point, I happened upon an unread book sitting on my desk -- A Higher Standard of Leadership: Lessons from the Life of Gandhi, by

The Missing Celebrant on Independence Day

An article by Ramachandran Guha, on Aug 16, 2009:It is well known that when India became free on the August 15, 1947, Mahatma Gandhi declined to join the festivities in New Delhi. While his follower, Jawaharlal Nehru, spoke in the Council Hall about India's tryst with destiny, and the crowds danced on the streets outside, Gandhi was in Calcutta, seeking to restore peace between Hindus and Muslims

The Gift That Changed Gandhi's Life Overnight

In March 1904, when Gandhi was about to embark on a 24-hour journey from Johnnesburg to Durban (in South Africa), his friend Henry Polak gifted him a book to read on the way. It was a small booklet of four essays that transformed Gandhi; in his own words, "I could not get any sleep that night. I was determined to change my life in accordance with the ideals of the book."Unto His Last, by John

When Gandhi Encounters 600 Thugs in Rajkot

A while back, I had heard a story from Gandhi's life that gave me goosebumps. "My greatest weapon is a mute prayer," he used to say.I happened to be leafing through page 418 of Rajmohan Gandhi's biography of Gandhi and thought I'd post the full account as it appears in the book:There was talk of threat to Sardar Vallabh Patel's life. Then, on 16 April, a 600-strong mob of sword-swinging and