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Born on this day was Rajmohan Gandhi, a man of many flavours- politician, biographer, author, and academician. Through his eyes, people got to know more about the legend of his grandfather, M.K. Gandhi.
Born on 7th August 1935
Rajmohan Gandhi was quite literally the best of two worlds. His maternal grandfather was C. Rajagopalachari while his paternal grandfather was Mahatma Gandhi. The apple doesn't fall far away from the tree, neither did Rajmohan.
His father, Devdas Gandhi worked at the Hindustan Times as its editor and Rajmohan had a comfortable childhood. After graduating from St. Stephen's College, one of the most prestigious colleges in India, he was drawn towards academic research.
As someone who had lived through the bloody partition of India, the question of reconciliation between Indians and Pakistanis as well as between Hindus and Muslims constantly troubled him. To this end, he had worked closely with Initiatives of Change, a global organisation whose primary motive is to forge friendships over the wounds of the past.
In the 1960s, Rajmohan led from the front in establishing Initiative of Change's Asia Plateau, a conference centre in Panchgani. In the years to come, Asia Plateau has been recognised for its contribution to ecological conservation and development ventures.
When he saw the INC straying from its path, he launched scathing attacks on Indira Gandhi's authoritarian tendencies through his journal, Himmat. Throughout his life, he displayed exemplary courage (pun intended) in fighting for civil liberties.
Having seen both his grandfathers from close quarters, there were few better to pen down the intricate details of their lives than Rajmohan himself. Not only was he better positioned than everyone else but also he had developed a flair for writing after all this time.
Rajaji: A Life fetched him a Sahitya Akademi award in 2002, whereas Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, His People, and an Empire was given the Biennial Award of the Indian History Congress in 2007.
Rajmohan also tried his hand at politics but here he was unable to replicate his success elsewhere. Even then, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from 1990-92 and also led the Indian Delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 1990.
His love for academia kept bringing him back to university spaces. He served at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies till 2012, after which he took upon the role of a Research Professor there. Ever since then Rajmohan has remained there and looks set for a long innings educating and enlightening some of the brightest minds.
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