After his viral video, this boy wants Gandhi as his surname
If youngsters start reading about Bapu, things will change, says Class 11 student
VARANASI: At a time when teenagers prefer to croon rap songs, here is a 15-yearold boy who became an Internet sensation for invoking Mahatma Gandhi.
Meet Ayush Chaturvedi, a Class 11 student of Central Hindu School, BHU.
An impressive speaker, his threeminute speech earned him laurels from Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and many others on social media last month.
An ardent follower of Mahatma Gandhi and his teachings, Ayush started reading about the Father of the Nation at the age of 11.
“I started off with reading several articles about Gandhi. Then I got a hand on his autobiography, ‘The Story of My Experiments with Truth’. It impressed me a lot. Non-violence is one of the most powerful tools,” said the boy who recited Imran Pratapgarhi’s couplet, ‘Kisne Kaha ki Main Andhi ke saath Hu, Godse Ke Daur me Gandhi ke saath hu’, so powerfully that it went viral.
“Gandhi’s principles are so powerful that they inspire the whole world. It is an irony that youngsters of my age are quite absorbed into whatsapp and other social media platforms. We don’t read about Gandhi. If we start reading about him, things will change,” he said.
Surprised over the reaction to his video, Ayush said he did not expect it.
It is perhaps because only a few people talk about Gandhi these days, he said, while adding, “Not only people of my age but also those in colleges and universities spend most of their time on Facebook and Whatsapp which is trash. Many of these people take pride in reading books which are bestsellers of this period. But these books don’t teach ideas of Gandhi.”
Insisting that Gandhi is an idea which will never lose relevance, Ayush said, he would like to add Gandhi title to his name in future. “Why not? He is my source of inspiration,” he said.