Though I had seen from distance leaders like Nehruji and Rajaji, even though I was born a few years before Gandhiji passed away, I never saw him in person. I very vaguely remember the day he was killed. It is only from books and from people like my father who saw him that I know about Gandhiji. Later I was mesmerised by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. whose voice beckoned millions on his peaceful marches. What a great orator, writer and human being he was! In recent years, everyone has seen on TV the modern day Gandhi, the South African leader Nelson Mandela, whose birthday falls on July 18. I still vividly remember the day he was released and came out of prison. Until then everybody saw only the file picture of his younger days. Who can forget the number 46664 or Mandela's hand with the contours of the African continent? Here are some rangOlis done with that hand impression. (Interestingly, kara in Sanskrit means hand as well as a ray of light and what a ray of light and hope his hand has been for the "dark" continent!)
Happy birthday Mandelaji!
Regards! - mOhana
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A rangoli created by using Mr.Mandela's handprint! Who would've thought! :)
Nice black and white patterns mOhanaji, thank you for such an informative entry.
JKM superb!! - I like the circular design the best - looks like a human chain...
yes judy madam correct ... circle design looks like a human chain, nice JKMji....
mOhanaji yes i also like that circle design .excelent...
Thanks for your comments, everybody!
As I mentioned in the blog, kara (as in prabhAkara) also means ray. I wanted to represent the hand-circle layers as sun. If you notice carefully, successive circles are rotated by 15 degrees. I deliberately avoided any colour and used only the black and white medium throughout.
Another personal observation. To me, MLK and Mandela are more like you and me than Gandhiji who is more distant due to his saintliness. The latter "Gandhis" are not blemishless, but more human and demonstrated that goals are achievable by nonviolent means even by ordinary persons if they have the determination and the will.
Regards! - mOhana