Gandhi books worth around Rs 2.5 lakh sold in a week

Books worth around Rs 2.5 lakh,written on and by Mahatma Gandhi, were sold in a week-long exhibition-cum-sale organised by Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal here to commemorate death anniversary of the Father of the Nation.

"Feedback of website visitors makes us believe that after reading Gandhi books, many people have decided to follow the path of truth and non-violence and are striving to sustain morality by practising philosophy of Gandhi which is the need of the hour," TRK Somaiya, of the Sarvodaya Mandal, said.

Books on Mahatma Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave and Sarvodaya movement (in English, Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati) worth about Rs 2.5 lakhs were sold at exhibition, organised at Hutatma Chowk and Gandhi Book Centre at Nana Chowk from January 27 to February 3.

'An Autobiography', 'Talks on the Gita' and 'Selected Works of Mahatma Gandhi' were top-selling books at the exhibition. Most of the visitors were youngsters and many people requested to organise this kind of exhibitions at various places throughout the year, Somaiya said.

Over two lakh copies of 'An Autobiography: Or, the Story of My Experiments With Truth' by Mahatma Gandhi have been sold in 16 Indian languages by Navjivan Trust in the last one year, he said.

"In the present world, full of modern technologies like iphones, tabs and e-books, it is difficult to believe that many people are still interested in buying Gandhi books. But the week-long exhibition-cum-sale proves that Gandhiji's teachings are relevant than ever," he said.

"We are happy to note that on Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary, our website www.mkgandhi.org got 39,633 visits from all over the world for information about him, peace, non-violence and related subjects," Somaiya added.