ID :
210887
Mon, 10/03/2011 - 14:03
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/210887
The shortlink copeid
S Africa celebrates Gandhi Jayanti
Johannesburg, Oct 3 (PTI) Mahatma Gandhi's 142nd birth
anniversary was celebrated in and around Lenasia, an Indian
township at the city's outskirts.
The celebration started with a special prayer at the now
dilapidated Tolstoy Farm at Lawley south of Johannesburg,
where Gandhi established a thriving self-sufficient commune
during his tenure in Johannesburg at the turn of the 19th
century while he ran a legal office in the city.
Gandhi arrived in South Africa in 1893, and at first
practised law in Johannesburg in the early 1900s.
In neighbouring Soweto, the Gandhi Centenary Committee,
led by his great-granddaughter Kirti Menon, hosted a tea at
Othandweni, a home for abused, neglected and abandoned
children and a temporary shelter for destitute mothers or
pregnant women seeking support.
Supporters and donors surprised the 90-odd children, from
new-born babies to 18 year-old teenagers awaiting foster care
or adoption, with a range of gifts and items to be used by the
home.
A unique student exchange programme took place between
University of Mumbai and the University of South Africa
(Unisa). Among the visitors to Othandweni was a group of 10
Mumbai University students and three academics from the
institution. They were the first group in a novel exchange
programme which is planned to take place every year.
On Gandhi's birthday, a group from Mumbai University will
visit Unisa for six days, while the latter will reciprocate
with a South African group going to India on January 30 each
year, when Gandhi's assassination is commemorated.
"This inaugural visit has been beyond all our
expectations," said Sujatha Natarajan of Mumbai University as
the group proceeded to the Trade Route Mall in nearby Lenasia
to watch the launch of an exhibition of huge panels
commemorating the various phases of the history of the Indian
community in South Africa.
The exhibition was jointly hosted by the Mall, where a
life-size statue of the Indian leader was installed earlier
this year by the Mahatma Gandhi Remembrance Organisation, and
the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation to mark Gandhi Jayanti.
The Foundation, named after the South African Indian
activist who spent many years on Robben Island with the iconic
Nelson Mandela, aims to foster non-racialism in society.
The exhibit, commissioned by the Indian Consulate-General
in Johannesburg last year to help mark the 150th anniversary
of the arrival of the first Indians as indentured labourers in
South Africa in 1860 will eventually find a permanent home at
the Foundation, together with a statue of Gandhi. PTI FH
MNS
anniversary was celebrated in and around Lenasia, an Indian
township at the city's outskirts.
The celebration started with a special prayer at the now
dilapidated Tolstoy Farm at Lawley south of Johannesburg,
where Gandhi established a thriving self-sufficient commune
during his tenure in Johannesburg at the turn of the 19th
century while he ran a legal office in the city.
Gandhi arrived in South Africa in 1893, and at first
practised law in Johannesburg in the early 1900s.
In neighbouring Soweto, the Gandhi Centenary Committee,
led by his great-granddaughter Kirti Menon, hosted a tea at
Othandweni, a home for abused, neglected and abandoned
children and a temporary shelter for destitute mothers or
pregnant women seeking support.
Supporters and donors surprised the 90-odd children, from
new-born babies to 18 year-old teenagers awaiting foster care
or adoption, with a range of gifts and items to be used by the
home.
A unique student exchange programme took place between
University of Mumbai and the University of South Africa
(Unisa). Among the visitors to Othandweni was a group of 10
Mumbai University students and three academics from the
institution. They were the first group in a novel exchange
programme which is planned to take place every year.
On Gandhi's birthday, a group from Mumbai University will
visit Unisa for six days, while the latter will reciprocate
with a South African group going to India on January 30 each
year, when Gandhi's assassination is commemorated.
"This inaugural visit has been beyond all our
expectations," said Sujatha Natarajan of Mumbai University as
the group proceeded to the Trade Route Mall in nearby Lenasia
to watch the launch of an exhibition of huge panels
commemorating the various phases of the history of the Indian
community in South Africa.
The exhibition was jointly hosted by the Mall, where a
life-size statue of the Indian leader was installed earlier
this year by the Mahatma Gandhi Remembrance Organisation, and
the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation to mark Gandhi Jayanti.
The Foundation, named after the South African Indian
activist who spent many years on Robben Island with the iconic
Nelson Mandela, aims to foster non-racialism in society.
The exhibit, commissioned by the Indian Consulate-General
in Johannesburg last year to help mark the 150th anniversary
of the arrival of the first Indians as indentured labourers in
South Africa in 1860 will eventually find a permanent home at
the Foundation, together with a statue of Gandhi. PTI FH
MNS
