By Vivek Shukla
Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Kanubhai Ramdas Gandhi, who is living in an old age home with his wife Dr. Shiva Gandhi and sent one of his minister to ask about the well being of the old couple, it is still unknown as to why Bapu’s offspring has to live in a old age home in national capital, New Delhi.
However one fact is clear that the kith and kin of Bapu never used his name for their personal interest and propagation.
Kanu was adopted by Gandhi ji as his son though he was son of Ramdas Gandhi, the third son of Bapu.
Ramdas and Devdas had lit the pyre of Bapu. Kanu was a brilliant student and shifted to America for higher studies in 50s. Later he worked in prestigious NASA.
Currently both Kanu and his wife Dr. Shiva Laxmi Gandhi are staying at the Guru Vishram Vridh Ashram, an old-age home with 125 inmates located on the outskirts of the capital. They have no kids.
Kanubhai is Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson — that little boy, famously captured on camera, pulling the Mahatma’s walking stick and leading him on a brisk beachside walk. He is one of the three children of the Mahatma’s third son Ramdas.
It is shocking that even though Kanu’s cousin sister, Tara Gandhi lives all alone in Delhi in huge mansion, yet he had to live in a Age Old home. Tara Gandhi is the daughter of Dev das Gandhi, Bapu’s youngest son. Now Kanubhai is 87 and his wife 85. He returned to India couple of years back after spending more than four decades in the U.S.
Interestingly Kanu does not talk about his Banglaore based sister Sumitra Kulkarni who was an IAS officer. Kanu has another sister, Usha Gokani in Mumbai. It seems that he has no contact with two of his siblings too.
Kanubhai and wife had comfortable life in US, though all is not well here. Powercut is normal thing here.
Kanubhai was 17 when Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated. In an interview, Kanu’s says, “After Bapu’s death, Jawaharlal Nehru and U.S. Ambassador John Kenneth Galbraith sent me to Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study applied mathematics. Mr. Galbraith had initially suggested I go to Harvard Business School. But I said I won’t make it to Harvard because I am stupid.”
For a long time, Kanubhai and his wife lived in Hampton, Virginia where he worked at the NASA Langley Research Centre. He also worked for the U.S. government’s defence department. He used to do research on aircraft wing structures for the fighter planes.
Ms. Gandhi, a Ph.D in biochemistry, first taught in Boston and later left the job to do research at the Boston Biomedical Research Institute.
Vivek Shukla is senior journalist and an expert on Gandhi’s affair