Obama's India visit: At Mani Bhavan, memories of US President's Mumbai visit enlivened

MUMBAI: As Barack Obama today paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat memorial in Delhi, it enlivened memories of the US President's visit to the Mani Bhavan here four years back.

The Mani Bhavan, where Gandhi used to stay during his visit to the city, has been converted into a Gandhi museum.

After visiting the historical building on November 7, 2010, the US President, who was accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama, had described Mahatma Gandhi as a hero for the entire world.

Obama had hailed the Father of the Nation as "a hero not just to India but to the world."

"I am filled with hope and inspiration as I have the privilege to view this testament to Gandhi's life. He is a hero not just to India but to the world," Obama had written in the visitor's book at the Mani Bhavan here, with a cupboard teetering with books of the Mahatma in the background.

Obama, who is a self-confessed admirer of Gandhi, had alongwith his wife spent about 45 minutes going around the simple, old-style, two-storey building on Laburnum Road in South Mumbai where the Father of the Nation stayed during his visits to Mumbai.

The US President has in his speeches often cited Gandhi has having a major influence on him.

Michelle had said she will always "treasure" the visit to honour Gandhi's memory.

"The visit will be one that I will always treasure. The life and teachings of Gandhi must be shared with our children around the world," she wrote in the visitors book.

"It would have been nice to see Obama at Mani Bhavan again but I am aware that such things are not fixed at a short notice," Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya's Executive Secretary Meghshyam Asgaonkar told PTI.

"During his visit, I recall that he appeared to be very impressed seeing Gandhi's simplicity when he went to his living room.

"Obama liked the wooden structure and also the library. He had lauded us for retaining Gandhiji's room as it was and had become very emotional while in the room," he said.

The room on the second floor, which used to be the living room and working place of Gandhi, has been preserved in its near-original setting.

Asgaonkar said Obama had also visited the adjoining room which is houses an exhibition depicting Gandhi's life through mini figures in about 28 tableaux. The rooms on either side of the exhibition have been turned into a photo gallery which gives glimpses of Gandhi in Mani Bhavan and the important events in his life.

It was at Mani Bhavan where Mahatma Gandhi stayed during his visits to Mumbai (then Bombay) and from where he launched some of his path-breaking initiatives like Swadeshi, Khadi, the non-cooperation and Khilafat movements. The modest building served as Gandhi's headquarters in Mumbai for about 17 eventful years from 1917-1934.

Visitors from all over the world come to Mani Bhavan to see the room Gandhi occupied, its picture gallery, the library hall and the terrace where he was arrested on January 4, 1932.

Obama in his speeches has often said that Gandhi has inspired Americans and African Americans, including Dr Martin Luther King. During a school interaction in the US, Obama had once said that if it was possible, he would have loved to have dinner with Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi launched the satyagraha from Mani Bhavan in 1919 and the civil disobedience movement in 1932. In many ways Mani Bhavan played a crucial role in moulding the course of history.

Gandhi's association with the charkha (spinning wheel) began in 1917 during his stay in Mani Bhavan.

The library consists of around 50,000 books and periodicals, several of them on and by Gandhi. On the first floor is the auditorium where films on Gandhi are shown from time-to-time and recordings of his speeches are played on request.

Obama has never missed an opportunity to mention how Gandhi has had a major influence on him. It's well known that Mahatma Gandhi's portrait hangs in Barack Obama's Senate office.

"In my life, I have always looked at Mahatma as an inspiration because he embodies the kind of transformational change that can be made when ordinary people come together to do extraordinary things" - wrote Obama in a newspaper before becoming President.