Mahatma Gandhi's 134th Birth Anniversary was celebrated on October 5th, at the Peace Abbey, in Sherbourne, MA. The program was organized by Kirtan Vrund (a bhajan group in the metro-west area of Boston) under the sponsorship of Dr. Hemendra Acharya. The program began with a recitation of holy hymns from ancient Hindu scriptures. The participants stood in front of Gandhiji's statue and recited the hymns in chorus. The rest of the program was conducted in the Prayer Room of the Abbey. The program included recitation of Chapters 12 & 15 of Bhagwad Geeta, singing bhajans or devotional songs that were Gandhiji's favorites, and were always sung in his prayer meetings. There were three talks on Gandhiji's Life and His Message. The celebrations were attended by about 70 people.

Speaking first, Dr. Pramod Thaker (a physician, who teaches ethics and philosophy at Boston College) stated that various insults that Gandhiji suffered in South Africa, made him think that although these insults were aimed at him on account of the color of his skin, yet they were insults to the Indian Community as a whole. Although he was advised to press for criminal charges, even by white people, yet Gandhiji refused to budge or press charges, because he felt that persons insulting him were really ignorant. In a short while, he thought out the concept of Non Violent Resistance and practiced it successfully all through his sojourn in South Africa, and later on in India.

Prof. Madhu Jhaveri of U Mass Dartmouth questioned the concept of using non violent methods to deal with violent acts. He cited the cowardly behavior of Indian Maharajas when facing intruders from across Khyber Pass. He said that, Indian Maharajas, were brought up in the climate of non violence and forgiveness, created by teachings of founders of great religions in the past centuries, and they abhorred the idea of using violence even against intruders of other faiths. This abject behavior led to forgiveness when victorious, and surrender in defeat. Every surrender led to occupation of the land by foreign rulers, who in turn forcibly converted people to Islam. Prof. Madhu Jhaveri affirmed that Indian history shows that violence is necessary against violence and that Non Violence cannot turn violence into non violence.

Prof. Bijoy Mishra of Harvard University Divinity School mentioned that Gandhiji saw that violence was a crime and in that vein developed the weapon of nonviolent opposition and resistance. He used it successfully ever since, both in South Africa and in India. Prof. Mishra also explored the importance and significance of understanding some one's pain.

Mr. Louis Randa who developed the Peace Abbey, discovered Gandhiji's teachings through the work of Dr. Martin Luther King and is always glad to welcome such soul lifting programs.

The program ended with everyone standing up and maintaining two minutes of silence in memory of the recent victims of terrorism at Akshardham in Gandhinagar Gujarat, as well as other victims of terrorism.

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