An ongoing exhibition of books on Mahatma Gandhi has done business worth Rs 1.5 lakh within four days. Most volumes are being sold at half price.
TRK Somaiya of the Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal, which organises the biannual event, said, "We are receiving an overwhelming response to the exhibition-cum-sale at two venues, Hutatma Chowk, and the Gandhi Book Centre at Nana Chowk. Books worth Rs 1.5 lakh were sold within just four days.''
"The bestsellers remain Gandhiji's autobiography 'The Story of My Experiments with Truth' in English, Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati. The 450-page volume worth Rs 80 is selling for Rs 40. Another set of five books of about 2,500 pages titled 'Selected Works of Mahatma Gandhi' worth Rs 600 costs Rs 300. And 'Talks on the Gita' by Vinoba Bhave which is ordinarily priced Rs 100 is selling for Rs 50. These titles are on top of the popularity charts. We are happy to see that most of those who are frequenting the stall are youngsters.''
To commemorate the 70th death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, 200 books on and by him, as well as Vinoba Bhave, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and from the Sarvodaya stables in English, Marathi, Hindi and Gujarati are being sold at 50% discount.
The initiative is undertaken by the Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal and Gandhi Book Centre with the financial assistance from the Babulnath Mandir Charities from January 29-February 3. A special mandap has been built at Hutatma Chowk and at the Gandhi Book Centre near Tardeo Road, Nana Chowk. The sale is under way from 11.00am to 7.00pm.
The mandal's web site www.mkgandhi.org is a valuable resource for free book downloads, literature, photographs and historic memorabilia about Mahatma Gandhi. It receives thousands of hits from all parts of the world, and is a peerless archive of this chapter of Indian history.