The Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize
The Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize for high-school students was initiated by Radha Kumar, the journalist, writer, analyst, and author most recently, of Paradise at War: A Political History of Kashmir (1).
Out of Print is privileged to be part of the prize along with the KMU Library and the Gandhi Peace Foundation.
In early October 2019, when the prize was announced, Indira Chandrasekhar, founder and principal editor at Out of Print asked Radha a few questions on why she had felt the need to institute the prize. We held the interview to publish it with the announcement of the prize winners. Given all that has happened in the country and the world since late last year, it seems doubly relevant to review the inspiration and thinking that went into the prize.
Radha, this is such an important initiative. What made you think of instituting the Kodaikanal Gandhi Prize?
I have been feeling in dire need of Mahatma Gandhi for the past eight years, as violence, untruth and meanness of spirit have overtaken our polity. I knocked on many doors in the hopes that political and intellectual leaders might start a fresh Gandhian movement, but with no success. Finally, I felt it was important to take an individual initiative, however small it might be, and in keeping with Gandhi's spirit, it had to start at home. Kodaikanal, where I now live, is still a pluralist town of Hindus, Muslims and Christians which stands apart from the religious chauvinism that we see in so many other parts of our country. What better place, then, to start thinking and talking about the relevance of Gandhi's views and actions today? Indeed, community groups immediately responded to my idea, and I am proud that it is being supported by the KMU Library. Ironically Gandhi has been rediscovered all over the world – even in war-torn Afghanistan – but in our country he has become a token for government to pay lip service to but not follow.
Why did you want to gear the prize at students of grades 10, 11 and 12?
We routinely celebrate Gandhi but we do not read him or practise his ideas and methods. So, the impromptu group that we formed for the prize decided that we would aim at the 10+2 students with the requirement that their entries show their reading and absorption of Gandhi's philosophy, whether they agree with it or not. In keeping with his inclusivity, entries can be either in English or Tamil and they can be either written or multimedia.
I know that you put considerable thought into the themes for the competition. They truly draw attention to Gandhi as a political, social and philosophical leader. Would you share some thoughts on the themes?
There are three themes, and we all in Kodaikanal felt that you had contributed the most important one, on truth.
Thank you for that, Radha. Like many of us, I feel Gandhi’s absolute commitment to the Truth is like a raft we must hold onto in a treacherous sea.
On the first theme, Gandhi's relevance today, I have referred to it above, but if I might elaborate, his many writings on communal violence and religious intolerance make clear that he would be anguished by their explosion across our country. I often feel ashamed that I am not in Jharkhand or UP, the most frequent sites of mob lynchings, sitting on hunger strike against them, because I believe the act will have an impact even in our vindictive times. Since August 5, I have been haunted by the thought of what Gandhi would do, surely a satyagraha to protest the deliberate subjugation and humiliation of an entire community, the Kashmiris.
On the second theme, our ruling party members and their supporters in the media routinely dismiss peace initiatives as a sign of weakness, even cowardice. As Gandhi showed in both word and deed, making peace not only demands a strong will and the courage to persist, it is a hallmark of just and compassionate leadership, central to our dharma and the vision of Ramrajya. At the current time, when an intolerant and forcible concept of Hinduism is spreading rapidly across our country, Gandhi's emphasis on the values, methods and behaviour of peacemaking is invaluable.
Tell us about the jury
The jury includes one member each from the sponsoring organisations – the Gandhi Peace Foundation, the Kodaikanal Fellowship – KMU Library, the journal Out of Print, at least one Tamil reader, possibly two, and myself. The Gandhi Peace Foundation has traditionally offered support and sanctuary to citizens combatting divisive conflict in our country, indeed during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi they were the base from which protection and relief work for Sikhs was carried out. The KMU Library is a public library run by a group of volunteers who are involved in a range of community activities, from a cooperative pottery to a women's tailoring collective to garbage collection, to mention but a few. Your journal sets a standard of inclusivity and will provide inestimable encouragement to young creators. I am proud and grateful to have these three institutions on board: with their help I believe this small initiative might gather strength and grow.
Members of the Gandhi family have shown support and encouragement for the Prize and have offered to remain associated with it, contributing their time and intellectual commitment going forward.
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