Vijay Mallya paid $1.8 million for a pair of Gandhiji's glasses, his sandals, a pocket watch and the bowl from which the Mahatma ate his last meal. Fellow Indians react to the auction and the high drama
Vijay Mallya paid $1.8 million for a pair of Gandhiji's glasses, his sandals, a pocket watch and the bowl from which the Mahatma ate his last meal. Fellow Indians react to the auction and the high drama
We will not tolerate anyone saying anything about our Taj Mahal, our Meenakshi Temple and our heritage in general but think nothing of scratching our names on our national treasures and even leaving them paan-stained. Do we Indians truly treasure our history? Or are they just empty words? We find out.
Preeti Ramesh, learning and development professionalu00a0
I think it's safer with them than it is with us. Spending $1.8 million to get it back is a little too much. If Vijay Mallya gives it to the government, well and good. But we should know how to maintain it. For instance, there was this piece of news sometime ago about how a whole lot of paintings by Rabindranath Tagore went missing and nobody even knew when it happened. We do not know how to look after our national treasures.
Lakshmi Rao, vice-principal, National Public School, Koramangala
We do have a sense of history but we are a vast country with different religions and that makes it difficult. Also, due to lack of education, people don't know the value of our heritage though they can be fanatical about other things. It's because of the lack of literacy that a lot of policies don't take off. Of course, the media is doing a lot to create awareness. We have film stars on TV telling people to take care of monuments. We need to make people understand that our national treasures have been handed down to us and we need to take care of them.
Jimmy N Amrolia, state mentor and vice-president, Reliance Industries Limited (retail)
The government and the people need to protect India's history. If Vijay Mallya can get back Gandhiji's memorabilia single-handedly, why can't a billion? We need to imbibe a sense of respect for history. Patriotism needs to be imbibed. Let's begin by singing our national anthem.
Anand Balaji, media professional
I think it's plastic patriotism, at best. We don't have a sense of history that stretches beyond the British period. But at the end of the day, it's good that someone stepped in and got back the memorabilia. I'm happy it was an Indian who got it back.
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