2019 is the year of ‘Bapu’
The ideology and principles of Mahatma Gandhi never fail to inspire us. As later this year, on October 2, the nation will be celebrating Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, what could be a better way to celebrate his teachings than to remember him through events themed around the same, spread through the year?
This year, the R-Day parade on January 26 was themed ‘Life of Gandhi’. And now, the ongoing Bharat Rang Mahotsav, the biggest theatre festival of India organised by the National School of Drama, is also dedicating some plays to Gandhi. “We have selected four plays based on the philosophy and ideology of Gandhiji. We selected the best of four from a pool of several entries,” says Suresh Sharma, director, NSD. One of the plays is based on his autobiography, Satya ke Prayog.
The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and Dastkari Haat Samiti have also collaborated to present a unique exhibition combining hand-made paper and calligraphy on the theme of Mahatma Gandhi. Titled, Gandhi Virasat – Kagazkala, the exhibition display 61 works of 11 calligraphers from across the country. Each one has presented works in their inimitable styles and regional scripts, emphasising Gandhi’s life. Jaya Jaitly, founder Dastkari Haat Samiti, says, “This year a lot of events will take place based on Gandhi’s ideology. Some of them will be inspired by khadi, which is a cliché for me. People actually talk about Gandhi’s philosophy but they don’t follow it. Being a person fond of writing and paper, I thought to come up with this initiative which emphasises on regional language and recycled paper. Gandhiji also said we should never forget our mother language. This platform will highlight the same. I travelled across India and met rural people who made this eco-friendly paper.”