Psychedelic Gandhi

January 2, 2015

Gandhi. The very name evokes a man of great wisdom and peace. It also conjures up a man who had few possessions and believed in living a life of simplicity. Thus, when we arrived at the house where he spent the last 144 days of his life in 1948, we expected a hut or perhaps a one room bungalow. Instead, we found a grand and beautiful home.

The tale of how Gandhi ended spending the last days of his life and ultimately being assassinated at this beautiful and peaceful place involves the end of the British empire and independence of India. In 1947, Great Britain gave up its long and ill-intended fight to keep the Indian Subcontinent. At that time, the northern parts of the Subcontinent were predominantly Muslim while the southern parts were mostly Hindu. Although Gandhi wanted a united India with equal rights between Muslims and Hindus, British India was divided along religious lines into modern day Pakistan and India (with Bangladesh eventually being carved out of Pakistan).

Historically people of Muslim and Hindu backgrounds (not to mention India's large populations of Sikhs and Christians) did not live in neatly drawn separate communities but lived side-by-side in communities together. Thus at the time of partition, it impossible to draw a neat border between Pakistan and India in which on one side only Muslims lived and on the other side only Hindus lived. Horrible violence between neighbors and the deaths of thousands of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and other people erupted. Millions of people fled their homes as Muslims moved north to Pakistan and Hindus moved south to India in the greatest mass migration in human history.

During this religious strife, Gandhi worked to stop the violence in Calcutta by refusing to eat until the rioting stopped there in 1947. With much of the violence in Calcutta quelled, Gandhi travelled to Delhi to continue his work for peace. In Delhi, Gandhi slept at the huge mansion we had just reached, which was the home of his close friend G.D. Birla.

While walking to a prayer meeting on January 30, 1948, Gandhi was gunned down in the garden of Birla's home by a Hindu nationalist who believed Gandhi was too accommodating to Muslims. Gandhi's last words were reputed to be "Hey Ram" - meaning "Oh God" in Hindi.

Today the home and gardens are known as the Gandhi Smriti, or Gandhi Remembrance.  The home is a large colonial bungalow surrounded by large well kept grounds lined with palms and smaller manicured trees.

As we walked into the entrance of the grounds, we found an empty ticket booth. Instead a small sign was posted in the window that was titled "INSTRUCTIONS TO THE VISITORS" which told us that the museum was absolutely free. Obviously, this was an untapped opportunity for a good capitalist to make a nice profit off the death of one of the 20th Century's great symbols of non-consumerism.

However, the Litter of Wanted Items is Allowed

Once inside, we were able to admire the handsome house up close. Built for one of the great Indian industrialists of the 20th Century, G.D. Birla, the home was later sold to the Indian government in 1966 by Birla's son. Either wishing to make a handsome profit off of Gandhi's last residence or perhaps just not wanting to part with his family home, Birla's son drove a hard bargain in selling the property. Although the story may be apocryphal, Birla's son was said to have held out until the government agreed to reimburse him for the trees and saplings on the property that grew fruit. 

Jim Morrison Would not Have Found this to be a Typical Bollywood Bungalow

The room that Gandhi slept in has been perfectly preserved with a simple bed and his few worldly possessions on display. Included were his famous round spectacles, which were under heavy guard to keep aficionados of John Lennon and Harry Potter from stealing them.

Gandhi's Bedroom, Worthy of a Greek Spartan 

In front of the bungalow, we came across the World Peace Gong, a gong so famous that it even has its own website. Originating in Indonesia, the gong symbolizes world peace by containing the flags of the members of the United Nations. It also contains the symbols of the major religions of the world. Ironically, the gong contains a swastika which was used by Hindus, Buddhist, and Jains as a symbol of well being for thousands of years before Hitler co-opted it as a symbol of fascism. We would see that symbol throughout our travels in India.

Almost as Famous as the Gong Show

Having visualized world peace, or at least the whirled peas we expected to have for dinner, we continued walking around the bungalow until we reached a statue that suspiciously resembled Sir Ben Kingsley. Undoubtedly, the famous actor's performances in movies such as Species and What Planet Are You From had endeared him into the hearts of Indians everywhere. He was so beloved on the Subcontinent that they had erected a statue that bore remarkable resemblance to his character in a 1982 Academy Award winning movie which I forget the name of.

A Beautiful Tribute to Ben Kingsley and Two of His Children

After contemplating Ben Kingsley's brilliant voice rendition of Freddie the Frog in the animated Freddie as F.R.O.7, we moved on towards the garden at the back of the house. To our left, we spotted a small garage containing a car that looked like something out of the 1950s. It was an Ambassador, India's most iconic car.

Built by the Birla family's Hindustan Motors, it was modeled after a car manufactured in England for a few years in the 1950s, Known as the King of Indian Roads or Amby, the Ambassador was not discontinued until 2014. Although the Amby no longer dominated the roadways, we did see a smattering of them throughout India and we were lucky enough to ride in one in Jaipur.

Once Known as the King of Indian Roads, the Amby has been Relegated to the Queen of Abandoned Garages

At the rear of the house was a large sign that marked the beginning of Gandhi's last worldly journey. The path contained his footprints that continued to a small gazebo marking the spot of his assassination. I felt sad as we followed the footprints along the path and contemplated the death of the consummate man of peace.

The Path of Gandhi's Last Walk

The last part of our Gandhi Smriti's tour was more like visiting Salvador Dali's museum than one dedicated to a man of simple of living. The second floor of the bungalow contained the longwinded named "Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum." Although the exhibit began innocuously enough with a traditional mural of Gandhi praying, it soon moved onto wild projected images and sculptures of Gandhi with eerily glowing eyes. We felt like we were back in Dali's museum in Figueres, Spain or at least inside Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit video. 

One Pill Makes You Larger

And One Pill Makes You Small

And the Ones that Mother Gives You 

Don't Do Anything at All

And if you go chasing rabbits

And you know you're going to fall

Tell 'em a hookah-smoking monkey 

Has given you the call

And you've just had some kind of mushroom

And your mind is moving low

Go ask Gandhi, I think he'll know

A Man on His Ipad - Gandhi Meets Steve Jobs

Next up: Oh the Humanity