‘Gandhi is hero to the world’

This visit will be one that I will always treasure. The life and teaching of Gandhi must be shared with our children around the world.

Michelle Obama

With these words,US President Barack Obama and his wife,Michelle,concluded their “very inspiring” hour-long visit to Mani Bhavan,the two-storey structure on Laburnum Road where Mahatma Gandhi spent 17 years,between 1917-1934.

The US first couple arrived in a cavalcade that included two Cadillacs with the same numberplate 800-2 (Obama and Michelle were in the second one),two ambulances,ten American-registered SUVs,two armoured vehicles,four buses and 31 vehicles belonging to Indian security agencies.

They were welcomed by 75-year-old Usha Trivedi,a Gandhian and a trustee. Only six trustees and protocol officers were in the building during the visit.

Trivedi was 34 when Dr Martin Luther King visited Mani Bhavan. “When I told this to Obama,he seemed happy with the thought,as he kept shaking my hand,repeatedly,with such happiness,” said Trivedi.

She said Michelle was also “humbled” by an anecdote she recounted from Dr Martin Luther King’s visit. “Martin Luther King stayed with us,in the second floor of this building. I still recall how I had to hurriedly place orders for beds and sheets. They never stayed in any hotel. Michelle seemed genuinely touched. She held my hand and said ‘I hope we can follow their footsteps’,” said Trivedi.

Obama was then introduced to Gandhi’s granddaughter Usha Gokana,who is incidentally one of those who survived the 26/11 attack at Oberoi. According to trustees,Obama said it was an honour to meet “a direct descendant to the great man”.

Inside Mani Bhavan,Usha Thakkar,honorary secretary,guided the couple around the gallery,museum and library where they signed the visitors’ book. “Every time he walked past a frame with Gandhi’s quotation,he would be like,‘I know this one’. More than reading about Gandhi,they seemed to have understood his way of living and his thoughts,” said Thakkar. “He was most inspired by Gandhiji’s study room and spent some silent moments there.”

Joint director Yogesh Kamdar added: “He knew about the system of trustees and also a lot of other Gandhian ways of living.” US Ambassador Timothy Roemer and his wife,who accompanied the Obamas,selected a metal bust of Gandhi to be placed at the embassy in New Delhi.

“The President’s team has placed an order for a separate bust to be delivered to White House,after Obama requested for one. We have also gifted them a book titled Mahatma — A Golden Treasury of Wisdom (Gandhi’s thoughts in quotations),another titled Women in Indian Society,a documentary titled Mahatma by Vithalbhai Zaveri,and a cassette of songs by musician Shubha Mudgal titled Swadheenta Samar Geet,” said Kamdar.

Obama also signed and wrote “I continue to find inspiration from Gandhi’s teachings” in the library’s copy of his books Audacity of Hope and Dreams from my Father.