The Gandhi Study Circle, Indraprastha College for Women organised a lecture on “The music of Humanity: Why Gandhi Still Matters” last week. Dilip Simeon, noted historian and author of Revolution Highway was the guest speaker for the same.
The President of the society, Kavyayani Bhatt, says, “The lecture marks the inauguration for the year-long celebration of the centenary year of Gandhi’s return to India, which will encompass a variety of other events like round table conferences, visits etc.”
The college principal, Dr. Babli Moitra Saraf, reminisced the tumultuous times present couple of decades back and emphasized on how teaching about pain is one of the best things history can teach us.
Prof. Simeon commenced his speech with his concern about the times we live in, an era where people are becoming timid to talk about Gandhi. He also spoke with a pang of anguish about how people, in their expression of thoughts over electronic media or otherwise have grown antagonistic to the idea that is Gandhi. He also implored the audience to see Gandhi as a staunch revolutionary rather than a pacifist, as his clichéd image goes. He also praised Gandhi for his equanimity.
The lecture was followed by a Question and Answer session. He answered the questions with enthusiasm and encouraged the audience to think about Gandhi as a unique personality whose truth was greater than trivial differences, rather than as a face reproduced on currency notes.
Baldeep Grewal, who attended the lecture, had a fulfilling experience, “I’ve heard so much criticism of Gandhi lately, it was really good to hear someone address a different side of the argument.”
Kritika Narula
Image credits: Asmita Jagwani, IP College
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