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Gandhi Jivan Charitra

5TH OCTOBER 2019| BORSAD

|DIST. ANAND, GUJARAT ========================================================

Conducted by

Atharva Planning and Research Centre PVT. Ltd. (APARC)

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Gandhi Jivan Charitra 5

th October 2019

Borsad

Dist. Anand, Gujarat

On 5th October, 2019, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited

organized a small discussion about ‘Gandjhi Jivan Charitra –

Biography of Mahatma Gandhiji’ under its very significant campaign

of the year, ‘Paryatan Parva 2019’ at Borsad village in Anand district

of Gujarat.

On the 7th day of historical Dandi March, Gandhiji along with his

fellow 80 marcher satyagrahis had stayed at Borsad for evening halt.

Some of the walls of villages around Borsad still has slogans written

over the walls during Quit India Movement, almost a decade post

Dandi March. As Dandi March had passed through this area, the

villages around were so much under Gandhian influence that it is still

visible in simplicity and grass root level development in the cluster.

Image 1 Students and Villagers attending Gandhi Jivan Charitra Program

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To commemorate the legacy, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited

had organized a discussion about Gandhiji’s life and biography in this

village. The prosperous village of Borsad is in close vicinity to the

cooperative capital of Gujarat and the epicenter of the milk

revolution, Anand.

The Talati of the village, Mukeshbhai, proactively supported in

organizing the event. The event first planned at the Panchayat office

was shifted to the school campus following the request from the

principal of the school, Kanubhai Solanki. He insisted that the

students and teachers also should take part in this event and get to

know about Gandhiji and his legacy attached with our village.

The Principal welcomed everyone in the event and read 11 vows

of Gandhiji in Gujarati namely Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Brahmcharya,

Aparigraha, Sharirshrama, Aswad, Sarvatra Bhayavarjana, Sarva

Dharma Sambhav, Swadeshi and Sparshbhavna. He urged the

villagers to take up as many vows as possible in their lives and

contribute in making the world around them more and more livable.

Describing Swadeshi, one of the vows, he quoted Gandhiji saying,

“According to Gandhiji, swadeshi in its ultimate and spiritual sense

stands for the final emancipation of the soul from her earthly

bondage. Therefore, a votary of swadeshi has to identify oneself with

the entire creation in the ultimate quest to emancipate the soul from

the physical body, as it stands in the way of realising oneness with all

life.”

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Image 2 Kanubhai Solanki, Principal speaking about life of Gandhiji

Teacher of the school, Deepikaben added to the discussion with

his valuable inputs about Gandhiji’s early life messages. Gandhiji

adopted truth as his principal at a very early childhood age and that

helped him stand for the nation, till his last breathes. She also

narrated the promise Gandhiji gave to his mother while going to

London for studying law. Gandhiji followed that promise not just in

London but for the rest of his life. He tried to encourage the villagers

and the kids present to be very serious about small or big promises

you make to anybody.

Image 3 Student Rachna M receiving Book of Gandhiji Image 4 Student Priya receiving Book of Gandhiji

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The principal of the school, Kanubhai narrated the life of

Mahatma Gandhiji in South Africa. He was earning a very big amount

as his salary. He had 5 people working under him. He was actually

living a very rich life there. In such prosperity, how one incident

ignited a Mahatma within him and he led the country to its freedom.

The principal also took an opportunity to encourage students to learn

spinning wheel as Gandhiji had always described spinning as his

weapon against the British on the grounds of self-independence –

Swavlamban.

A short film on Gandhiji’s life was screened at the function. The

expert also did a reading of selected stories from Gandhiji’s

autobiography ‘My experiments with truth’.

Image 3 Participants posing post event

The teacher of the school, Heenaben Rani thanked TCGL and the

Sarpanch for organizing this event in their school. Panchayat

Dignitaries, school staff and the school library were gifted a book on

Gandhiji’s life.