Sobhag’s Inspiration of Gandhiji

I, Sobhag Raichand Haria was born on 22nd June 1950 in a small town called Meru in Kenya. My inspiration and enthusiasm to learn about Gandhiji’s life started at the age of 12 when in primary school I had made a large sketch of Gandhiji. This inspiration continued and in May 2008 whilst on a trip to Kenya I got a permanent tattoo of Gandhiji done on my right arm by Shitu (Sid) Vadgama in Nairobi.

During my secondary school education I lived in Visa Oshwal Boarding Nairobi for 5 years. On 17th December 1965, 40 boarders including myself left on a tour to visit India. We sailed in a steamer from Mombasa to Bombay via Seychelles and Goa. We toured the whole of India by staying on a self contained mobile train compartment. Whilst on our trip (January 1966 ) we went to Delhi and met Indira (daughter to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru). We also met Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Virswami (The First Vice President of India- 1952- 1962, and the second President of India 1962-1967). During that time we had several meaningful discussions about Gandhiji and his life. It is that st 1 on the left Sobhag Haria with Indira Gandhi moment that has since been embedded in my life. – Jan 1966 After this period I returned back to Kenya. On 3rd March 1989 I came to UK for permanent settlement from Kenya. During the 1990’s I ventured into the business of 3 nursing homes in Manchester, Liverpool and Wigan. Simultaneously, I bought a residential property. In 1994 at another property in Edgware, I launched Sheena’s vegetarian Restaurant, which was later leased to Khana Peena.

On the 9th December 2000 I got married to Anju. In 2004 my entire family went on a tour to India. In Delhi, we visited a Mausoleum-like structure in sandstone and marble with a slab bearing Gandhi’s last words “Hey Ram” which has been built at Rajghat where Gandhiji’s mortal remains were cremated. Diagonally across the road from Rajghat is the ‘Gandhi Smriti (The place of MG Martyrdom). Unfortunately, we were not permitted to take photographs inside this area. Viewing this tour was my inspiration for wanting to hold a similar exhibition in the UK. In 2006 I organised a Meru re-union at K.P. Centre (Harrow, Middlesex) and gathered an attendance of over 600 people. The exhibition consisted of photos, letters from original Indian settlers (in the early 1900’s), general information about Kenya such as names of presidents, its currency, population etc. All this helped the younger generation born in the UK to see and hear about the background of their parents and grandparents. This was my first experience of preparing, presenting, organising and financing an exhibition.

In June 2008 the Swaminarayan Mandir Hall in Stanmore was home to a memorable family exhibition held by us in memory of my late parents Mr Raichand Virji Shah and Savitaben Raichand Shah and Muriben Hemraj Shah (Raichand Virji’s sister in law).The exhibition consisted of my family tree of 21 generations with 1,400 family members with their birth, marriage and death details. The family exhibition was attended by 400 invitees and will be remembered for several years thereafter.

In December 2008 we went on a trip to India to specifically research and gather detailed materials for the Gandhiji exhibition. We visited to prepare photography, Porbandar for “Pujya Kirti Mandir and“Kasturba Memorial”, and then went Ahmedabad for and met Narayan Desai for Gandhi Katha. Our last journey was to Mumbai for “”. On 22nd August 2009 we went for Gandhiji’s London Walk which took us a 3 hour journey through the heart of London. It took us back into MK Gandhi’s days into London as a student, civil rights activist and then the leader of Indian freedom struggle. We saw and felt the inner London that Gandhiji saw, places he lived, studied, explored and walked. The walk started at Temple underground station and took us through Inner Temple, Strand, Covent Garden, and towards Trafalgar Square with stories about London of late 19th and early 20th Century that Gandhi experienced as a young student and Lawyer. This tour also showed us where he went for his meals and his favourite shops. We took the photographs of all those places. On 6th September 2009 we held a meeting for 60 volunteers at home to explain their responsibilities for the “Mohan to Mahatma Gandhi” exhibition. On 13th September 2009 my dream had come true as the “Mohan to Mahatma Gandhi” exhibition came to life at the K. P. Centre. The doors opened to public at 9.00am. We had guests throughout the day, approximately over 2,000 people attended. Some of the VIP’s included: Deputy Mayor Councillor Chris Mote, Tony McNulty, Barry Gardiner, Navin Shah, Jitendra Kumar - 1st Secretary of Indian High Commission, Vijay K Mehta - 2nd Secretary of Indian High Commission, Dr Jagdish Dave MBE - President of Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, Bhanubhai Pandya - Secretary of Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, Keith Tomes - Ex Mayor of Harrow, Harshad Patel, C B Patel of G Samachar & his full team. The next exhibition is due to take place at Oshwal Centre, Coopers Lane Road, Northaw, Herts. EN6 4DG on Sunday 25th October 2009, from 9.00am to 9.00pm.

For further information, including photos, Gandhi family tree and upcoming events visit: www.gandhilife.com Or contact me (Sobhag Haria) on + 44 7939539244