Gandhi’s grandson speaks

As a young child, Arun Ghandi was taught many significant lessons by his legendary… As a young child, Arun Ghandi was taught many significant lessons by his legendary grandfather, Mahatma Ghandi. On Thursday, he shared some of these life-altering lessons with Pitt students in David Lawrence Hall.

Born in South Africa, Arun Ghandi suffered prejudice because of the color of his skin. When he was 10 years old, he was beaten on several occasions because his complexion was too light or too dark.

He was full of anger and sought eye-for-an-eye justice. Seeing their son slowly succumb to the negativities of violence, Arun’s parents sent him to India to live with his grandfather – a decision that would forever alter his life.

The first lesson that Mahatma Ghandi taught his grandson was to understand anger and to live with it in a positive manner. Mahatma connected anger to electricity and explained to his grandson that like electricity, anger must be manipulated for good and cannot be abused or else it would become destructive.

The anecdotes and lessons that Arun shared with Pitt students about his grandfather were both humorous and inspiring.

One time, Arun explained, he threw out a pencil that was 3 inches long because he felt that he deserved a better pencil to write with. When he asked his grandfather for a new pencil later that night, Mahatma asked him what he had done with his other pencil.

After telling his grandfather that he threw it out, he was told to go look for it and was handed a flashlight.

For two hours, Arun searched the streets and gutters until he was able to find the pencil. It taught him about violence against nature and the over-consumption of resources that would deprive others and result in violence against humanity.

Another lesson that Arun shared with students was the importance of reacting to violence with forgiveness. Arun said that when his grandfather left India and traveled to South Africa as a young man, he was beaten within a week because of the color of his skin.

Instead of filing a police report and punishing those who had hurt him, he made them realize that they were in the wrong by forgiving them and allowing them to go unpunished. On at least four separate occasions, Mahatma Ghandi was beaten, and on all occasions he forgave those who had injured him. His powerful act of forgiveness caused 80 percent of those who had hurt him to become his followers, Arun said.

Arun emphasized the need to treat violence differently than how it is being treated presently. Instead of treating violence with violence, he explained that societal labels must be removed and that all relationships must be based on integrity, understanding, acceptance and appreciation.

He also spoke about the disparities that are prevalent throughout the world and included some startling statistics in his lecture.

To buy a loaf of bread in the United States, Arun said, one works on average six minutes. To buy a loaf of bread in a Third World country, one must work for at least 20 hours.

To buy a cotton dress in the United States, a woman would have to work on average four hours. In a Third World country, a woman would have to work on average for 4,500 hours, according to Arun.

Some of his words were reminiscent of his grandfather.

“Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your beliefs,” Arun said during his lecture. “Keep your beliefs positive because your beliefs become your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.”