MUMBAI, OCT 18: On this day, way back in 1917, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi took his first step towards attaining the status of Mahatma - he successfully championed the cause of the indigo farmers of Champaran. To commemorate the Mahatma's first successful satyagraha on Indian soil, a nine-and-a-half feet tall bronze statue of his was unveiled in the city this morning.On its way to Bihar, the statue is on display at the sculptor Vinay Wagh's studio at Veer Nariman Road.Wagh spent seven months trying to get over the image of a dhoti-clad Mahatma Gandhi marching to Dandi. He poured over hundreds of photographs of the Father of the Nation from all possible angles, then closed his eyes and visualised what Gandhi would have looked like when he initiated the Champaran satyagraha.He dressed up the Mahatma in the traditional Kathiaward costume, complete with the Gujarati pagdi and once he was through with it, he had sculpted the ``tallest bronze statue'' of the ``great man.'' Today, on the anniversaryof the historic event, this statue was unveiled at his studio by Syamnandan Mishra, former external affairs minister and president of the Ahimsa Panchayat of Bihar.``It was really difficult,'' says Wagh. ``See, most statues of the Mahatma depict the historic Dandi march scene. Champaran happened almost 35 years earlier, when Gandhi was much younger. Also, it is probably the first time anyone was attempting his statue in a traditional costume. It was a lot of hard work.''The Champaran agitation was started in April 1917, when Gandhi reached the Champaran district headquarters, Motihari. He was served a notice, he disobeyed it, pleaded guilty during the trial and forced the government to appoint a commission to look into the Champaran affair. The commission ruled in favour of the farmers. It was the Mahatma's first victory on Indian soil.To remind people of the significance of the event and highlight the Mahatma's role in the freedom struggle, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Bihar Ahimsa Panchayat and ManiBhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya commissioned the bronze statue. After the two-day display at Wagh's studio, the statue will make its final journey to Champaran, the place it belongs.
