Now, 'Gandhi Katha' in paperback

Good news for those who savoured every word of the favourite lecture series, Gandhi Katha - it is now not only available in paperback, but in three languages too. Based on the popularity of renowned Gandhian, Narayan Desai's lecture series, a book on Gandhi Katha was launched on Sunday at the Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA). The book was released in English, Hindi and a second version of the Gujarati edition was re-launched.

The idea of converting the lecture series in the form of a book was that of Narayan Desai, reveals AMA president, Pankaj Patel. "We had organised Desai's lecture series in December 2005. Later Desai expressed his wish to transcribe and translate the audio series into books and we took up the task."

Patel added that the Gujarati version of the book which was earlier launched was quite a hit and it proves that the interest of the people in knowing more about Gandhi has not dipped. "1000 copies were booked soon after the edition was launched. Gandhiji's holistic approach and non violent means will continue to help the people for generations."

As has been the case, the audience was glued to Narayan Desai's speech as he shared his memories of the time spent with the charismatic leader. Desai, the son of the personal secretary of Gandhi, was brought up in the Gandhi Ashram in Sabarmati, and Sevagram near Wardha. "I am privileged to have traveled to many parts of Indian with Gandhi and have spent many moments with him. This book is a demystification of Gandhi," he commented.

Renowned poet-critic and translator Ashok Vajpeyi was present at the book release. The book is a narrative of the experiences and the time spent by Desai with Gandhi. The translator stated, he was fortunate to be part of the book launch and Gandhi's ideologies are very well woven in the book.