Arun Gandhi is a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Non-Violence in Memphis, Tennessee. He was born in 1934 in Durban, South Africa and endured beatings by "white" South Africans for being too black and "black" South Africans for being too white. He learned from his parents and grandparents that justice does not mean revenge, it means transforming the opponent through love and suffering. His grandfather Mahatma Gandhi taught Arun to understand nonviolence through understanding violence. "If we know how much passive violence we perpetrate against one another we will understand why there is so much physical violence plaguing societies and the world," Gandhi said. In 1946, just before India gained independence from Britain, Arun's parents took him to live with his grandfather Mahatma Gandhi for 18 months. At 23, Arun returned to India and worked as a reporter for The Times of India. He also cofounded India's Center for Social Unity with a mission to eliminate poverty and caste discrimination. Arun and his wife Sunanda came to the US in 1987 and founded the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence in Memphis Tennessee. The Chagrin Foundation for Arts & Culture in partnership with the Chautauqua Institution presented a summer series called Chautauqua Tuesdays. On July 10, 2007 the topic was The Meteoric Rise of India and featured a speech by Arun Gandhi, the fifth grandson of Mohandas 'Mahatma' Gandhi. The speech was entitled "The Legacy of Mohandas Gandhi". Here are two stories from that July 10, 2007 presentation.
How does a John Wayne double feature lead to a valuable lesson about life and non violence? As you will hear, when Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, lied about going to the movies, the response of his father led him to change his life. 3,923 KB
4:11
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Arun Gandhi recounts a favorite story of his grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi. A king was searching for the true meaning of peace and invited numerous intellectuals to explain it to them. But they could not.The king was finally steered to a wise old man who gave him a grain of wheat. Listen to how this grain of wheat explains peace. 2,430 KB
2:35
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Asian-Indians in Cleveland
Including photos of the Mahatma Gandhi statue unveiling in the Indian Cultural Garden
Arun Gandhi speaking in Chagrin Falls July 2007
Arun Gandhi in front of a photo of his
grandfather Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi statue
in Indian Cultural Garden in Cleveland
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