HARISH RAO
CHICAGO: Indian community members, along with Illinois State Senator Ram Villivalam and granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, Ela Gandhi, celebrated the 150th birth anniversary of Bapu at the Skokie Public Library in Skokie, a north side suburb of Chicago
The meeting started with Dr Sriram Sonty , a Gandhian from Chicago land area, talking about the transformation of Mohandas Gandhi to Mahatma after the train eviction incident at the Pietermaritzburg Station in South Africa in 1893. This had led to the Satyagraha, a passive civil disobedience movement in South Africa to eliminate the apartheid segregation culture.
Mandali Buddhaprasad, former Deputy Speaker in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, spoke about the ideals of Gandhi and his struggle towards the independence of India from the British. Senator Ram Villivalam spoke on the ideals of peace and non-violence of Mahatma Gandhi.
David Gengan, Chairman, Pietermaritzburg Gandhi Memorial Committee, spoke on the historical details of the Gandhi’s eviction from the first class compartment of the train.
Gollanapalli Prasad of Sarvodaya India spoke on the Gandhi’s life experiences in South Africa.
Ela Gandhi elaborated on her early childhood memories with her grandfather, his life’s struggles, the Satyagraha movement and the Phoenix Settlement and Tolstoy Farms, the first two Gandhi ashrams established in South Africa.
Ela Gandhi and Gollanapalli Prasad were honored with the Global Gandhi Peace awards by Sri Annamacharya Project of North America (SAPNA) and Gengan and Buddhaprasad with Gandhi Peace Awards.
Dr Sriram Sonty and Buddhaprasad donated selected works on Mahatma Gandhi by Dinanath Gopal Tendulkar to Matt MacKellar, a Skokie Library representative as a beginning of a Gandhi Section with more books by and on Mahatma Gandhi to follow.
An exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi’s life events was appreciated by the audience that attended the program. The program ended with a question-and-answer session with Ela Gandhi.
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