Arun Gandhi

Arun Gandhi

Co-founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence.

Born in 1934 in Durban, South Africa, Arun Gandhi is the fifth grandson of India’s legendary leader, Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi. He is co-founder of the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, now at the University of Rochester in New York. He is a regular participant in Renaissance Weekend deliberations with President Clinton and other Rhodes Scholars. He worked for 30 years as a journalist for The Times of India. He is the author of several books, including "A Patch of White" (1949) and "The Forgotten Woman: The Untold Story of Kastur, the Wife of Mahatma Gandhi," which he wrote with his late wife Sunanda. Close.

Arun Gandhi

Co-founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence.

Arun Gandhi is the fifth grandson of India’s legendary leader, Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi. He is co-founder of the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, now at the University of Rochester in New York. more »

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Problem is Commercialism, not Secularism

The question whether we are too politically correct about celebrating Christmas I think is misstated. I believe we are too politically "incorrect" in our celebrations of important religious occasions in any religion because we have taken the spirituality out of it and replaced it with crass commercialism.

The essence of the teachings of Jesus -- love and compassion for all of humanity -- has long been forgotten. We pay lip-service to His message in Church services and then go out and exchange presents and boost the economy with a lot of unnecessary and wasteful expenditure. The important question after Christmas is not what we did to further Jesus' message but how much money was circulated in the economy and who got the largest share of it.

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Posted by Arun Gandhi on December 20, 2007 8:43 AM

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