Letter from Arun Gandhi
My Legacy as the Grandson of Gandhi
"I called him Grandfather ... but he is known as Mahatma Gandhi."
"I was born in Durban, South Africa in 1934. My father was the second of four sons, and the only son of Mahatma Gandhis who dedicated his life to continuing in his fathers footsteps of non-violent conflict resolution in South Africa.
I suffered from much prejudice at a very early age. It filled me with a lot of anger. I wanted eye-for-an-eye justice. That is when my parents decided it was time to go to India to be with family and to be with my Grandfather to help me deal with anger. That is how I came to live with him for 18 months between 1945 and 1947 - just before he was killed.
Even though Grandfather had 14 grandchildren, I was the one who lived in his house with him during the final months of his life. I shall never forget that even though he lived with intense stress and tremendous demands upon his time from around the world, he always found time to spend with me, teaching me his lessons of non-violence.
My wife, Sunanda and I have dedicated our lives to helping the poor and the distressed following all that my grandfather, Gandhi, had taught me; and that has become the foundation of our life and our work. As many as 17 million children are born underweight and underdeveloped every year because their mothers are so malnourished.
This inheritance of starvation is halting development of children, communities, and nations around the world. Every year that this cycle of chronic starvation continues, 5 million children will lose their lives. Gandhi World Hunger Fund is targeting the victims of natural disasters, displaced people, the worlds poorest people, and especially women and mothers to deliver the help they need to survive.
And that is why I hope you will become a charter supporter of the Ghandi World Hunger Fund today. We must reach out to help the poor, hungry and distressed, so they can have a chance to survive the streets and have a real chance at life and a future.
My grandfather would appreciate the success of the rich nations. He would say that one should not be consumed by greed but by compassion. He would want us to use our talents with compassion and commitment to improve the lives of the less fortunate and aspire them to a more decent living."
"Please join us to help make a better world!"
- Arun Gandhi