Dear Friends,
Yesterday, October 2, marked the birthday of Mohandas K. Gandhi, a.k.a., Mahatma Gandhi. At age 20, I came across Gandhi’s autobiography. Captivated, I subsequently read over a dozen books by or about him. Gandhi’s life and work continue to inspire me and have a profound impact on my life.
The satchel gifted to me by Sumitra Kulkarni in 1995.
Gandhi’s principles of truth and nonviolence are as essential for our time as they were during the struggle for independence in India and during the civil rights struggle in the US.
In 1994, I invited Gandhi’s granddaughter, Sumitra Kulkarni, to give a series of presentations in Des Moines. To my surprise and delight, she accepted!
The most memorable moment of her visit was when she chastised me over dinner at our home for not owning a dishwasher. “But your grandfather would never approve of a dishwasher,” I offered.
“That was then. This is now. You need to buy your wife a dishwasher,” she responded, while waving a finger at me.
Sumitra invited me to visit her in India. I jumped at the chance, and later that year spent a few days with her and her husband G.R. in Ahmedabad. I then traveled the country visiting activists who were using Gandhi’s principles to address various social, political, and environmental challenges.
During my visit, Sumitra gifted me a satchel which has been the centerpiece of nearly all my long marches. It’s seen many a repair job over the years, most recently under the loving and skillful attention of my wife Kathy.
Besides my walking stick, this satchel is the only item I carry with me on the Save America March. It holds a change of clothing, water bottle, phone charger, small lunch box, and a handful of other essentials.
Both my satchel and walking stick (acquired at a Trappist monastery in 2006) serve as reminders of the central importance of truth and nonviolence — or satyagraha, as Gandhi called it — in addressing our country’s current upheaval. I can’t predict whether we, the people, will prevail against the rising tide of violence, disinformation, and authoritarianism. But if we do, it will be through nonviolent action, not violence.
— Ed Fallon