Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi never lived for long at the Sabarmati Ashram. Gandhi was always travelling from one city to another, and he spent more time in Porbandar, Nagpur and Sevagram. Gandhi also didn’t sign in one language, he always signed in the language of the particular state that he was visiting. It is facts like these that you will discover during the one-hour storytelling performance titled Mohandas to Mahatma Gandhi presented this weekend by Artkhoj and Around The Story Tree.
Vikram Sridhar, an oral performance storyteller not only throws light on lesser-known facts about Gandhi, but also looks at the lives of five people who contributed to his journey, through this online show. “Everyone knows Mahatama Gandhi. But this performance doesn’t look at his life like we always did. We take a look at people who influenced his life and contributed to him becoming the Mahatma,” explains Vikram. The artiste who is known for his compelling stories has researched the life of the Mahatma for years.
Vikram visited Ahmedabad and Baroda every year over the last decade, and spent significant time at Sabarmati Ashram and Sevagram. He says, “While I was growing up in Chennai, I was hugely influenced by Kamal Haasan’s Hey Ram, and I wanted to know more about Gandhi. This curiosity took me to all the places he visited.”
The storyteller shares some interesting details. “A tree planted by the Mahatma still exists at the RBANMS School grounds near Ulsoor in Bengaluru, and Kothanur, a village near Coimbatore that was visited by Gandhi, was the first town to get a railway track in Tamil Nadu,” he reveals. The focus however will be on the people who supported Gandhi in his jour ney, making him the Mahatma. “When Gandhi was in London and took up a job in South Africa, he had no plan of coming back to India. But something made him change his mind. We will look at the story behind this as well,” reveals Vikram.
The hour-long performance will be streamed on Zoom, and the link will be sent to registered participants. The live show will be recorded and made available for 24 hours to the audience in case there are any unexpected technical glitches.
Rs 150. April 18, 6 pm
ayeshatabassum@newindianexpress.com
@aishatax