The Gandhi Smriti, Birla House, where hewas assassinated, wasn’t the most popular or fashionable tourist attraction inDelhi, nor did it deserve to be. It wasn’t very well cared for and symbolisedthe fate of Gandhi, who is honoured in name but not in deed. But now the newdirector, Dr Savita Singh, has changed all that. The interior is sparklingwhite, the walls are covered with well-documented photos, there are new andstartlingly life-like statues of Gandhi and Kasturba. Upstairs, there is one ofthe most imaginative multi-media exhibitions I have ever seen. The Aditya BirlaGroup have revived the Birla family’s connection with the house by joininghands with the Smriti and mounting computerised exhibits, which bring theMahatma back to life. As a railway fanatic, I particularly liked standing on thefootplate of the engine pulling Gandhi’s third-class carriage.
My visit to the Smriti made me think again about Gandhi’s non-violence, sooften dismissed as irrelevant today. I came to realise how relevant it was tome, and to my life in Delhi. I remembered how often I have been infuriated bycouriers ringing my doorbell, bringing publicity mail I never asked for. I takemy anger out on the poor courier when he asks me to sign two forms and write myphone number. He is only doing his job. But I do wish people would remember thatthe postman doesn’t create any problems, demand any signatures, or puncturethe mail with staples. Then there is the peon who brings the annual peremptorysummons to attend on an income tax officer in spite of the government’srepeated assurances that if you pay your taxes you won’t be harassed. I mustremember that the peon is only the messenger, not the message.
The touts at New Delhi Railway Station are one of my pet hates, hustling me andmaking it impossible to board a taxi peacefully. I have to realise theywouldn’t be there if they could find a job where they didn’t have to be soaggressive. But I do wonder why the police can organise the taxis at the airportso efficiently and totally fail at the railway station. Could it be that V.I.P.snow rarely travel by train?
That brings me to another occasion when I am tempted to take it out on innocentpeople—the cops who hold up the traffic to allow V.I.P.s to pass.
All these examples of verbal violence reflect the anger within me. Oneperson’s anger may seem insignificant in the context of a vast city like Delhibut Gandhi said, "The more you develop non-violence in your own being, themore infectious it becomes...and by and by might over-sweep the world." Solet’s hope that Gandhi Smriti will attract the visitors it now deserves andthey will be prompted to think about developing non-violence in their own being.Then Delhi will be a less violent city.
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This article originally appeared in Delhi City Limits, November 30, 2005
