On Gandhi's death anniversary, leaf through an illustrated book that presents his early life to millennials
The graphic novel-style book has illustrations by Uttam Sinha
In the prologue of Tales Of Young Gandhi, Chin Chin, a geeky pre-teen with antlers sprouting out of her head, wonders why Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is known as Mahatma — a question that may plague many millennials too. To find answers, she begins to read his autobiography, The Story Of My Experiments With Truth.
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Chin Chin is the younger avatar of author Janhavi Prasada. Deeply impacted by the autobiography, she decided to retell Gandhi's story for a new generation of readers. The book chronicles his early life in graphic novel-style chapters, with blurbs and illustrations by Uttam Sinha.
A change from history textbooks that paint Gandhi as a larger-than-life icon who did no wrong, the 216-pager (Harper Collins India, '499) portrays his ordinary life. A life in which he spent 10 pounds to buy an evening suit while studying law in England, and later, took to Parsi-style of dressing with his wife, Kasturbai, and kids to match the European standards in South Africa.
The book also reveals his human side, including his weaknesses. In school, Gandhi shirked gymnastics because he was shy; he stole money, and before he turned vegetarian, the teen enjoyed many meat feasts. He was also fond of smoking. It goes on to reveal his exploits at a brothel and his self-confessed possessive, and almost suspicious, attitude towards his wife. It follows Gandhi's life until 1920. By then, he had shed his coats for a modest dhoti, launched the Satyagraha movement in Champaran and united the nation with the Civil Disobedience Movement.
In first person narrative, the book is a breezy read and may help the reader discover their hidden potential, just the way Gandhi did, on his journey from Mohandas to Mahatma.
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