GANDHI KATHA & NARAYAN DESAIJI

5-10 March 2009

Everyday 6-9 PM @ the Freedomfighter's Grounds, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa

Contact:  Pradeepta, 9438301818

Gandhi Katha, written by Narayan Desai, son of Mahatma Gandhi's
personal secretary Mahadev Desai, has gained considerable popularity
over a period of time. Gandhi Katha is Narayan Desai's(Babu Bhai) way
of dispelling ignorance and misinformation about Gandhi, such as his
role in the Partition of the country. Desai brings into his katha ,
deep scholarship about the life, thought and times of Gandhi as is
evident from his four-volume biography of Gandhiji - 'Maru Jivan Ej
Mari Vani' (My Life is My Message). More than that, he brings to his
audiences his abiding faith in Gandhi. Desai's Gandhi Katha is an act
of atonement and satyagraha.

The katha will have a prose narrative, of course, but in order to
break the monotony, there will be parts in verse and song - all penned
by Desai. During the katha, two singers and musicians also accompany
him - one of them being Bhadraben Savai, an expert in Gandhi bhajans .

 Narayan Desai, 85, has held 75 Kathas so far, both in India and
abroad. Desai spent his childhood at the Sabarmati Ashram of Ahmedabad
under the eyes of the great man — his reminiscences were published as
'Sant Sevata Sukrut Sadhe' ('Gandhi Through a Child's Eyes' in
Gujarati).Later, he worked with Jaiprakash Narayan and Vinoba Bhave.He
is currently Kulpati or chancellor of the Gujarat Vidyapeeth, the
Ahemdabad-based university established by Gandhi, and also the
president of the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad. His four-volume biography
of Gandhi, 'Maru Jeevan Ej Mari Vaani' ('My Life is My Message'),
published in 2004, is hailed as among the most exhaustive works on the
Mahatma