mani bhavan

mani bhavan is the place gandhiji stayed whenever he came to bombay (which he did very frequently).
a small, quiet and peaceful place near gamdevi/grant road in south bombay.
very close to august kranti maidan (where the epochal quit india movement was launched).

am also reading rajmohan gandhi's biography of gandhiji. very deep and insightful. since i have not read any other biography/autobiography, i do feel very moved and shaken at the stories and events which are elaborated in detail with the author's personal analysis.

one particular place where he states "gandhi realised that the path to leadership is though simple service, even menial labour, and once one is able to serve such, the leadership is unquestionable." (this is my own interpretation). this happened during the time when gandhi was on his last years in south africa just during the famous transvaal march.

another stand out piece was almost as soon as he landed in india. he was invited for the inauguration of the now famous benaras hindu university. he completely shocked the world with his appearance as well as his speech. really telling. take time off to read.
the context - he had just come to india in 1915 and was getting a feel of the local politics and diversity. he knew that he had to spend time with the poorest to establish his connection with the people as well as be able to use opportunities to broadcast from platforms such as these speeches.
i am imagining pipes and cigars tumbling down from the lips of the astonished gentry.