Gandhi 150 commemorated in Hungary – VIDEOS
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Looking at the short, thin, unassuming man in a loincloth, no one would imagine that this man with an iron will and a gentle approach towards humanity had the power to overthrow the tyrannical rule of the colonial empire in India. And not only in India, as he has also been the face of the civil rights movement in the early 20th century in the entire world, so much so that Martin Luther King Jr. argued that the Gandhian philosophy was “the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom”. That iron-willed man was born 151 years ago, and even today, his philosophy and approach to nearly everything in life apply to the modern world and society at large.
The government of India decided to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth in a befitting manner by having events of various kind to spread the message of his values and principles. The message of Mahatma Gandhi has appealed to a large portion of the Hungarian population. The influence of Gandhi and his teachings is way beyond the statues and mentions in the curriculum of schools and can be seen in the Gandhi School and its core philosophy, as well as several thinkers who have promoted Gandhi’s teachings and values at different levels.
’My Life Is My Message’ is what Mahatma Gandhi believed,
and it is reflected in the book called My Experiments With Truth, which has aptly been translated by Judit Tekulics and Eszter Somogyi to Hungarian.
To spread the message of Mahatma Gandhi, the Embassy of India in Hungary organised several events from 2018, which would culminate on Oct 2, 2020, in a special programme on one of the leading TV channels in Hungary, HírTV, in the programme Paletta at 13:30. In the programme, the Ambassador of India in Hungary, Mr Kumar Tuhin, spoke extensively on the philosophy of Gandhi and the significance of commemorating this day worldwide.
Dr Gábor Sonkoly from ELTE University shared his own experiences on Gandhi, and artist Panni Somi focused on how she has been influenced by Mahatma Gandhi in her life and the idea behind creating the dance drama. For this special programme made by the Amrita Sher-Gil Cultural Centre, 11 artists collaborated to create a melodious dance drama depicting Gandhi’s philosophy of truth, non-violence, and ‘Satyagrah’, which helped India gain freedom from colonial rule.
In this dance drama, classical dances from India like Bharatnatyam, Odissi, and Kathak were presented with live music on sitar, violin, and tabla by veteran artists from Hungary.
- Dr Chirayu Bhole
- Szabi Tóth
- Zoltán Lantos
- Virág Réka Túri
- Anita Szegedi
- Dr Neethu Mohan
- Panni Somi
- Kincső Pethő
- Zsófia Rukmini