In the footsteps of his grandfather, the mahatma
Gandhi’s advice about how to harness anger and turn it into a force for good is shared by his grandson on tours to South Africa and India
It is difficult to know whether people are absorbing the teachings I am sharing
FOLLOWING quietly in the footsteps of his famous grandfather, Arun Gandhi considers himself a humble “peace farmer”.
The 80-year-old writer and social activist is under no illusion that Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings of nonviolence will have an impact on everybody he addresses.
But he remains optimistic that it will be life-changing for those who open themselves to the teachings.
“It is difficult to know whether people are absorbing the teachings I am sharing,” he said.
“I always think of myself as a peace farmer. A farmer goes out into the field and plants seeds and hopes that he gets a good crop. I’m the same: I plant the seeds and hope for the best,” said Arun, who was once a journalist for the Times of India.
Eager to share his grandfather’s South African legacy with Americans, Arun is retracing history with them by visiting places such as the Phoenix Settlement, where the family lived, and Pietermaritzburg, where the mahatma was thrown off a train for attempting to travel in a first-class carriage, sparking his quest to achieve equality for Indians.
Arun, who now lives in New York following stints in South Africa and India, has been taking groups of Americans to India as part of his Gandhi legacy tour for many years.
“This time we thought we would add South Africa because this is where the transformation took place. In a sense, it’s like being in the footsteps of Gandhi.”
A member of the tour group, Candace Carnicelli, said she was touched by Arun’s childhood stories.
“It was really endearing hearing about Arun growing up with his grandfather by his side,” she said.
The son of Manilal and brother of Ela Gandhi said the tour had been nostalgic for him.
“It does bring back a lot of memories for me, especially in Phoenix, where I was born and brought up,” said Arun, who lived in South Africa for 23 years.
It was his grandfather who taught him to harness his anger at being discriminated against and turn it into something positive.
“Bapu taught me how to deal with anger. He said it’s useful if used intelligently, but could be deadly if abused.”
A young Arun was advised by his grandfather to keep an “anger journal” with the intention of finding a solution to dealing with his anger.
“I did that for many years and it helped me a great deal in understanding how to use anger constructively and intelligently.
“That’s a very important lesson, because today experts say that more than 80% of the violence we experience in our personal or national lives is generated by anger. We get angry and we just blow up and say and do things that change the course of our lives completely.
“If we can learn to use that anger intelligently, we can reduce a lot of violence.
“In my case, when I realised that my anger was due mainly to other people’s prejudices, I devoted my life to taking Gandhi’s teachings around and making people understand that prejudices are not good and that we need to respect people for who they are and what they are and not judge them.
“Gandhi said we must become the change we wish to see . . . Individually we can make a difference.
“When he talked about nonviolence, it was not just about the absence of war. It was more a philosophy of personal change, the change within,” said Arun.
He speaks fondly of his late wife, Sunanda, to whom he was married for 50 years, until her death in 2007.
“In 1956 my father died and I took his ashes to India. The idea was that I would spend a little time with my uncles to find out what my future would be.
“Before I had this dialogue with the family in Mumbai, I had a severe case of appendicitis and fell in love with my nurse. We were together for 50 years. The secret to this long marriage was love, compromise and respect.”
Arun and his wife, who lived in India for 30 years, started projects for the upliftment of the oppressed, particularly in rural areas.
Arun’s work has given him the opportunity to meet people such as former US president Bill Clinton, the Dalai Lama and Martin Luther King jnr III.
“People are always shocked to learn that I am Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson. People hold him in very high esteem and that obviously rubs off on me. I try to be as humble as I can,” he said.