Coming soon: Gandhi’s Birthday Song
By Willy | July 25, 2010
Coming December 2010:
Gandhi’s Birthday Song, and Other Tales
Nine months teaching and traveling in India and Nepal made for an adventure I will never forget. In my book Gandhi’s Birthday Song, I will share some of my colorful and humorous experiences. Highlights include:
- Catching Durga’s eyes — all three of them
- The mysteries of Ideal Form and More Cleanliness
- My river runneth over
- A wound that will not heal
- Dry season blues
- Spring fever, nausea, and intestinal distress
- Sexy, sexy Kathmandu
- How to catch a thief by smoking
Come back to WillyLogan.com later in the year to order your own copy.
Topics: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
January 29, 1948: India’s light goes out
By Willy | January 29, 2010
On this day in 1948, Mohandas Gandhi was shot and killed by Nathuram Godse, a fundamentalist Hindu who opposed the Mahatma’s fight against India’s traditional caste system. Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s prime minister and one of Gandhi’s closest associates, announced the assassination in a broadcast on All India Radio:
Friends and Comrades, the light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere. I do not know what to tell you and how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the Father of the Nation, is no more. Perhaps I am wrong to say that. Nevertheless, we will never see him again as we have seen him for these many years. We will not run to him for advice and seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow, not to me only, but to millions and millions in this country…
(Read the full text of the speech)
In traditional Hindu fashion, Gandhi’s body was cremated and the ashes were scattered in the Yamuna River.
Topics: History of India | No Comments »
Republic Day and Purna Swaraj
By Willy | January 26, 2010
Today is Republic Day in India, which celebrates the official adoption of the constitution on this day 60 years ago, which officially made the country a secular democratic republic. The date was planned to fall on the 20th anniversary of India’s first “Independence Day” in 1930, when Indians loyal to the Indian National Congress took the oath of Purna Swaraj. The oath, written mainly by Gandhi, declared the goal of the Congress to be Purna Swaraj (complete independence) from the British Raj. It was voted on just before midnight on New Year’s Eve 1929 by the Congress session in Lahore. Taking the Purna Swaraj oath was an exciting and memorable experience for many Indians, but it would be more than 17 years before India actually became independent.
(Read the full text of the Purna Swaraj declaration.)
Topics: History of India | No Comments »