The exhibition-cum-sale of books on and by Mahatma Gandhi, organised recently by the Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal and Gandhi Book Centre, has received good response with books worth ₹2.12 lakh having been sold between January 30 and February 4.
“The exhibition-cum-sale received overwhelming response from the readers as the books worth about ₹2.12 lakh were sold in six days,” Mandal’s managing trustee Tulsidas Somaiya said on Monday. Financial assistance for the initiative was provided by Babulnath Mandir Charities and Mahalaxmi Mandir Charities.
The exhibition was organised to commemorate 69th death anniversary (January 30) of Gandhiji.
According to Somaiya, books in four languages – English, Hindi, Marathi, and Gujarati – were sold at the exhibition. In the present world of modern technologies such as iPhones, tabs and e-books, it is difficult to believe that many people are still interested in buying Gandhiji books. The sale proves that Gandhiji’s teachings are relevant now than ever, he said.
Gandhiji’s autobiography, Talks on the Gita and Selected Works of Mahatma Gandhi were among the top-selling books. Besides, Gandhiji’s books on economics, politics, education, law, religion, health etc have also been popular.
Somaiya said most of the visitors were youngsters. “Many visitors requested that such exhibitions be organised at various places throughout the year,” he said.
Apart from selling books, the Mandal also conducts Gandhi Peace examination in jails on a regular basis in a bid to instil the sense of remorse among inmates through the moral values propagated by Gandhiji.
Autobiography tops
“More than 1.5 lakh copies of the bestseller An Autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi have been sold by Navjivan Trust in the last one year in sixteen regional languages.
“We are happy to note that our Gandhiji websites www.mkgandhi.org got 24,664 visits from all over the world on the occasion of Gandhi’s death anniversary on January 30 to collect the information about him as well as about peace, non-violence and related subjects,” Somaiya added.