Bapu in the bylanes
Bapu in the bylanes
It could have been a crazed fan or just a peace-loving person who recently spray-painted the wooden gate of Hollywood actor Halle Berry’s home in Los Angeles with a rendition of Mahatma Gandhi’s face in hot pink. The LA police attributed it to vandals. Gandhi’s appeal crosses many boundaries. No world leader is as ubiquitous. To commemorate Gandhi Jayanti, we looked for Gandhi in unlikely places all over the world and found him on road junctions in Indian and European cities, on crowded beaches and nondescript walls. Here are five memorable ones:
Bangalore
Initially, the local authorities decided to remove it, but there were protests. Ishwaran, a long-time area resident, who runs an automobile parts shop opposite the statue, says there was a statue of Jawaharlal Nehru in an adjoining lane which was removed. The lane dwellers decided they wouldn’t allow this one to go. On Independence Day, Republic Day and 2 October, residents conduct a flag-hoisting ceremony and occasionally, the statue gets a wash. Nobody in the neighbourhood or the municipality knows who put up this sculpture.
Ahmedabad
Kolkata
Jodhpur
Ahmedabad
Krish Raghav, Shamik Bag, Rahul Jayaram and Sanjukta Sharma contributed to this story.
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