Gandhi Jayanti 2024: Famous personalities inspired by Bapu’s life and words

October 2, year on year, marks a unifying time for India as patriots band together in essence to commemorate the birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation. Much of what Mahatma Gandhi did in his life was geared towards empowering the people of his land to live a life of independence. However, his message continues to resound loud and clear, not just in independent India, but the world over. So as the country marks Bapu’s 155th birth anniversary, here’s taking a look at some notable international personalities, who found themselves influenced by his life, words and work.
Steve Jobs was touched by Gandhi’s light when his 19-year old self made his way to India in 1974, seeking spiritual guidance. Upon returning to the States, Jobs was quick to declare, “There is no one that embodies better what I want to become, other than Gandhi, he changed the world”. As per a Paperclip report, several years later, during a particularly trying stretch of time with Apple, Jobs switched out his regular glasses for the now iconic circular wire rim kind, so as to better match Gandhi — an idol for him, a picture of whom was a constant in his wallet.
As a matter of fact, for his 1999 interview with Time Magazine, Jobs said, “Mohandas Gandhi is my choice for the Person of the Century because he showed us a way out of the destructive side of our human nature. Gandhi demonstrated that we can force change and justice through moral acts of aggression instead of physical acts of aggression. Never has our species needed this wisdom more”.
John Lennon’s connection with Gandhi was much more in essence than literal. In a rare instance when he addressed the same, the Beatles singer had said, “Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King are great examples of fantastic nonviolents who died violently. I can never work that out. We’re pacifists, but I’m not sure what it means when you’re such a pacifist that you get shot. I can never understand that”.
Lennon had reportedly included Bapu in the early drafts of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover. The band decided to not go ahead with it however, as they feared backlash from India. The final draft switched out the imagery with a palm leaf instead.
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Speaking of non-violence, he and wife, Yoko Ono were front and center when it came to pushing for non-violent interactions to bring the Vietnam War to an end. Not just this, his 1973 anti-war song, Mind Games, carried lyrics directly referencing Gandhi — ‘Playing the mind guerrillas/Chanting the mantra: Peace on Earth Millions of mind guerrillas/Putting their soul-power to the karmic wheel’.
Words could very well run short if we were to trace each time His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, has acknowledged the influence Gandhi has had over him and the world. As a matter of fact, whilst receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, 1989, the Dalai Lama said, “a tribute to the man who founded the modern tradition of non-violent action for change, Mahatma Gandhi, whose life taught and inspired me”.
Several years later, during a conversation with Mint in honour of marking Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, he said, “He was the most influential person of the 20th century with his idea of non-violence, ahimsa. He took a 3,000-year-old Indian tradition of ahimsa and karuna and made it something living and relevant. He made it relevant by fighting for India’s freedom through non-violence — that’s great”.
Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America, has been unabashed in expressing his deep admiration for the father of our nation. Excerpts from his 2020 memoir, A Promised Land, read, “More than anything, though, my fascination with India had to with Mahatma Gandhi. Along with (Abraham) Lincoln, (Martin Luther) King, (Nelson) Mandela, Gandhi has profoundly influenced my thinking…As a young man I’d studied his writings and found him giving voice to some of my deepest instincts”.
Writing about his November 2010 visit to Gandhi’s Mumbai residence, the Mani Bhavan, Obama expressed, “And in that moment, I had the strongest wish to sit beside him and talk. To ask him where he’d found the strength and imagination to do so much with so very little”.
As a matter of fact, Obama reportedly used to keep a framed picture of Bapu in his Senate office as an unending source of inspiration.
Actor Matt Damon credits his leanings towards humanitarian work to Gandhi being his inspiration. Many moons ago, for an interview with Parade Magazine, Matt revealed how his connection with Gandhi, actually dates back to his childhood. He shared, “When I was a boy, my mom had a magnet on the refrigerator with a little picture of Gandhi along with a quote from him. It said, ‘No matter how insignificant what you do may seem, it is important that you do it’. As a child, I was raised to believe that, and to this day I do my best to live it. It’s really powerful when you get to meet the people and shake their hands and listen to their stories”.
How will you be observing Gandhi Jayanti this year?