A reply

You are right, Turiya, it is very difficult to be like Gandhiji. But then, remember, he actually started wearing simple clothes only much later in life, when he was much much older than you. In fact, if I remember right, he was about 50 years old when he decided to throw away all the extra stuff, and dress like the poorest of the poor, an ordinary farmer. He was going to address a meeting in Madurai, and he emerged from the room with his new ‘look’. 

“Aren’t you getting dressed, Bapu?” the people accompanying him asked.
“I am dressed,” he replied. “Let’s go.”

You are barely ten years old, and already you’re not just talking about being simple, you are actually dressing simple. That’s fantastic! Never mind if others make fun, people made fun of Gandhiji too! In fact, Sarojini Naidu who worked very closely with Gandhiji, once said she could never lead his kind of simple life, and certainly not eat his kind of simple, tasteless food! He just laughed at this! The thing is, we just do what we believe in, and soon, people start accepting us as we are.

By the way, Gandhiji was quite a dandy dresser when he was your age and for a long time after that. The world is made up of different kinds of people, who are all different from each other. So, don’t worry. 

I loved what you wrote, it touched my heart. And your cartoon is fantastic. Maybe you should try and make up a Gandhi cartoon out of your own imagination!

- Sandhya