India Abroad - August 5, 2011

Sushil Rattan as Motilal Nehru and Natwar Gandhi as the Mahatma
From left, Krishna Subramanya Murti as Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr Shazad Rehman as Madan Mohan
Malaviya and Natwar Gandhi as M K Gandhi

Natwar Gandhi to play the Mahatma
AZIZ HANIFFA

Natwar M ‘Nat’ Gandhi, chief financial officer of
the District of Columbia, will play Mahatma
Gandhi in A Tryst with Destiny, a play to be
staged on the eve of India and Pakistan’s inde-
pendence anniversaries.
“The play weaves together three main charac-
ters – Gandhi, (Pakistan’s founder Mohammed
Ali) Jinnah and (India’s first prime minister
Jawaharlal) Nehru – as well as other significant
men such as (Chandrashekhar) Azad, Motilal
(Nehru), (Madan Mohan) Malaviya and
(Babasaheb) Ambedkar, who all played important
parts during this tumultuous period of our histo-
ry,” Gandhi told India Abroad.
“I contend that just as much as the Civil War is
central to our understanding race relations in the
United States, so is the partition of India to our
understanding of Hindu-Muslim relations as well
as to the relationship of India and Pakistan, the
two ever quarreling nuclear powered nations in
what Henry Kissinger recently called the most
dangerous neighborhood in the world,” Gandhi
added.
Asked why he decided to play this challenging
role despite having no acting experience, Gandhi
said, “I have been fascinated by Mahatma Gandhi
ever since I read his autobiography in high
school.”
“For me Gandhi is probably the most influential
human being in the last 2,000 years. His impact
is clearly evident in organized, non-violent mass
movements that we have seen over the last hun-
dred years, in various parts of the world,” he
added. Gandhi spoke of how his namesake argued for
peaceful coexistence among the Hindus and Muslims, even
opposing India’s Partition in 1947. He stressed on the
Mahatma’s role in trying to eliminate the Hindu caste sys-
tem and the subjugation of women and their inclusion in
Indian politics.
The DC CFO, himself a Gujarati poet, said he had always
been influenced by the Mahatma’s superb writing style,
especially his autobiography in Gujarati and his volumi-
nous works in English and Hindi.
The play is written and directed by Dr Amita Jha, a DC-
based psychiatrist and produced by Manoj Singh of Ceasar
Productions, who will play Ambedkar in the play. The two
Natwar Gandhi as the Mahatma
decided to collaborate because they strongly believed the
theme of Partition is still relevant for modern India.
According to Singh, Jha had planned the play for over
two years, reading a lot of books on Nehru and India’s inde-
pendence. When she came up with a story, Singh held a
first reading at his home, where Natwar Gandhi was also
present along with 20 others, and the team decided to
tighten the script.
Singh said, “I was fascinated with the fact that a few men
could decide the fate of millions and divide the country into
two. I had read history in school, but then life took over and
had forgotten most of it. I am happy and excited that
Ceasar Productions has the opportunity to produce this
play and work with people like Natwar, Amita,
and the whole team.”
Jha said she became interested in the script
after reading the letters between Nehru and
Gandhi.

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