A discovery near Gandhi Bhavan in Bengaluru.

 As I walked past Gandhi Bhavan on 2nd Oct, an unpretentious entrance gate next to it caught my eye. It seemed like a place the Mahatma would have preferred to honour his memory. It was open with many trees and a small building tucked in at the rear  

It occupied an area as big as the Gandhi Bhavan and the bungalows, occupied by legislators, on the same row. As one would expect the bungalows had secured entrances and high compound walls.  Mysterious how this precious piece of land had escaped the developers. 

I saw an young boy climbing the compound wall. A few kids were playing cricket and obviously the batsman had hit a six which went over the wall!

There was also a school bus parked in the premises. 

Totally curious now, I walked in and noticed many big cars parked. To see a compound wall painted with murals was totally unexpected. Just then a car came  in and stopped near the small building which was more like an outhouse in one corner.  A lady got out of the car and a driver took out  a basket full of Bananas from the car.  The kids stopped playing walked up and ate the bananas the lady gave and ran back to play.  

It was fascinating

 Went across  to speak  to this person,
who said it was a hostel for about 40 kids.
They went to a school situated elsewhere.
He did not elaborate further. 

Feeling he was not in a mood to talk or show me around, walked across to look at the boards. 

I was not far wrong in thinking that it felt like an ashram Gandhi would have liked. I did see a picture of Mahatma and also that of Acharya Vinobha Bhave. Acharya was called the spiritual successor to Gandhi. His bhoodhan movement which did persuade a few rich landowners to donate to the landless. It was a success for a while, then lost momentum. An ideal, which perhaps could not resolve the practical aspects of the movement. It could be the quality of the land donated, and  I guess, the support needed for the tiller during their hard times. They did not own the land! No idea about the present status of the lands donated!

Bhoodhan movement was supported by congress and it is said J P Narayan joined the movement in 1953, quitting active politics. It seems to have lasted for about a decade? It was surprising to read that Acharya supported the emergency imposed Indira Gandhi, calling it time for discipline!  The times were eerie, even though it looked good for a short while.

Anyway was happy to read seven such ashrams are now in India. I tried to meet the person heading the place. He had gone out!