Groundbreaking ceremony held for Eternal Gandhi Museum – fbindependent.com

The first museum dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi in the Americas, Eternal Gandhi Museum Houston, took a concrete step in its journey with a groundbreaking ceremony on July 3, 2021. It is located at 12379 Riceville School Road @ Beltway 8 S, Houston, TX 77071. The museum is expected to open in 2022.

With Congressman Al Green as the Chief Guest, the ceremony was attended by a cross section of the Houston area community. The Guests of Honor for the ceremony were Consul General Aseem Mahajan and our beloved Mayor Sylvester Turner. Other elected officials namely Fort Bend County Judge KP George, Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis, Fort Bend County Precinct 4 Commissioner Ken R DeMerchant, Vice Mayor Pro-Tem and City of Houston District K Councilwoman Martha Castex-Tatum and Houston ISD board member Myrna Guidry graced the occasion as well.

In his remarks, Congressman Green highlighted Gandhi’s non-violent approach by citing a quote from Martin Luther King’s papers at the Stanford University’s King Institute: “Gandhi’s non-violent approach was the only morally, and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom. The struggle for freedom never ends. The freedom struggle doesn’t end with one protest. It is a struggle that we all have to assume at birth, we are born into the struggle for freedom, not just for ourselves but for every living being on the planet earth. Gandhi lived up to these words that we should take that to heart today”. Green quoted a poem, “Some measure their lives by days and years, others by heartthrobs, passions, and tears, but the surest measure under God’s sun is what we do for others in our lifetime.”

The construction of Eternal Gandhi Museum Houston also happens to be during “Amrit Mahotsav,” the period during which India will be celebrating 75 years of Independence, said Consul General of India, Aseem Mahajan. Mahatma Gandhi throughout his life remained committed to his beliefs in non-violence, even under oppressive conditions, he said. And in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy, teachings, and thoughts are of great relevance in the world today, Mahajan added.

“The power of peaceful means to seek justice, the effectiveness of non-violence in countering force, respect for diversity within and between societies, fighting social prejudices and promoting social reforms, conservation of nature and probity in public, are enduring ideas that can help us all to address many of the problems of the contemporary world,” Mahajan said. The deep ties between the city of Houston and India and also between United States and India and globally would strengthen “Because this is truly one of its kind initiative where they will connect locally with many schools, institutions and also showcase the life and message of Mahatma Gandhi,” Mahajan said.

Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the United States and it welcomes the addition of the Eternal Gandhi Museum Houston to its rich cultural landscape, Mayor Turner said. “We pride ourselves constantly by talking about our diversity and inclusiveness. But, what’s happening here today really amplifies the message by telling the story of Gandhi and the leaders he inspired. The Eternal Gandhi Museum activates a collection of educational initiatives that encourage children, youth and adults to choose the path of peaceful conflict resolution. And if there was ever a time for that to take place, that time is right now,” Turner said. “This museum is a step in the right direction.”

“With a lot of dignity and pride, I endorse the Eternal Gandhi Museum,” said Fort Bend County Judge KP George. “We all know that we are living in a very polarized, political world, and it needs to be taught that without touching a gun or without touching a knife, or without physically fighting, Gandhi shook the British Empire at that time and that was so powerful. And his teachings are inspiring people all over the world. And I’m so proud to learn about Mahatma Gandhi at a very young age and learning and understanding, and I will be part of this discussion,” George said. Fort Bend County will look into the possibility of financially supporting this effort, because these teachings need to be taught, he said.

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At the groundbreaking ceremony of Eternal Gandhi Museum Houston, EGMH, from left, Ajit Paralkar, Trustee EGMH, Dr. Manish K Wani, Trustee EGMH, Namita Sutaria(Hidden), Trustee EGMH, Ken R DeMerchant, Fort Bend County Precinct 4 Commissioner, Rodney Ellis, Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner, Myrna Guidry, HISD Board Member, Mayor Sylvester Turner, Congressman Al Green, Martha Castex-Tatum, Vice Mayor Pro-Tem and City of Houston District K Councilwoman, Aseem Mahajan, Consul General of India, KP George, Fort Bend County Judge and Atul Kothari, Trustee EGMH.

The groundbreaking ceremony was preceded by the Hindu fire ritual of “Havan” conducted by Acharya Surya Nanda from Arya Samaj Greater Houston. The Yajmans were Dr. Barkat Charania, Kamal Shah, Mrudula Sutaria, Sangeeta Sutaria and Dr. Kanti and Meena Wani.

The ceremony began at 9 a.m. with welcome by Emcee Dr. Manish K Wani, a trustee and co-founder of EGMH. He said the concept of bringing the Eternal Gandhi Museum from Delhi to Houston started more than 6 years ago. The EGMH will specifically focus on peace, truth and non-violence and will be based on the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.

“Today, we stand on the grounds of a future 12,800 square foot facility, planned by the prominent architectural firm from Houston, RDLR Architects, as a cost-effective structure which will be elegant in its simplicity, like Gandhi himself,” Wani said.

EGMH has teamed up with a Kentucky-firm Solid Light. “They have craftily designed the interior with innovative multi-media exhibits and are truly creating the heart and soul of this distinguished museum. We just completed the 75% design phase with them,” Wani said.

The construction contract has been awarded to TDK Construction, who specialize in commercial construction since 1993 and has completed more than 400 projects in and around the Houston Area.

EGMH has been guided by Smithsonian trained Museum Consultant Brian Crockett and education consultant Honor Moorman.

The Museum’s message is a transformative one: Through the practice of nonviolent conflict resolution, visitors (especially youth) can be catalysts for change in their own lives and communities. It is a simple, unique idea – build a cultural hub in our own backyard to further peace in our community. EGMH will impact the community in so many positive ways. Its primary focus will be on Nonviolent Conflict Resolution.

“Our vision is to see that every school-aged student visits EGMH at least once, before graduating, so they can be exposed to our mission of reinforcing the universal values of Peace, Truth, Non-violence, love and Service,” Wani said.

The project Budget is $12.5 million dollars which includes a $3 million endowment fund. To date, $3.1 million has been raised.

The welcome address was followed by multi-faith invocation led by Suresh Shah dressed as Mahatma Gandhi. The multi-faith invocators were Dr. Alejandro Chaoul, Director of the Mind Body Spirit Institute at the Jung Center representing Buddhism; Rabbi Richard Freeman of Congregation Beth Messiah representing Jewish faith; Rev Mindy Lawrence-Curtiss of Unity of Houston representing Christianity; Mrs. Eram Mansia, Educator, coach and mentor at the regional Academic Lead for Religious Education Center, representing Islam; Acharya Dr. Surya Nanda of Arya Samaj Greater Houston representing Hinduism; Dr. Hansa Raval, retired Colonel from the United States Army and Director of Brahmakumaris of Texas representing Hinduism.

The ceremony also featured the burial of a time capsule. Prem Cholia and EGMH board member Sesh Bala put together the time capsule to bury a historic cache of goods and information that depicts the current state of the world, with emphasis on the local situation and EGMH beginnings. The plan would be to remove the capsule in maybe 50 years as a means of communication with the future generation.

Then came the main event of the ceremony, the symbolic tree planting in place of traditional groundbreaking by dignitaries mentioned earlier and the Board of Trustees, Sesh Bala, Dr. Barkat Charania, Sanjay Jain, Atul B Kothari, Devinder Mahajan, Ajit Paralkar, Namita Sutaria and Dr. Manish K Wani. They were followed by $50,000 and plus donors, Aditya Birla Group representative Nitin and Charulata Mathuria, Dinesh & Vibha Agrawal, Anand and Sudha Bhagavatula, GV and Bhuvaneswari Krishnan, Noorali and Noorie Hussain, Atul & Rita Kothari, Devinder and Sushma Mahajan, Narinder and Aruna Mahajan, Aman and Seema Oberoi, Amit an Shivani Patel and Dr. Kanti and Meena Wani.

Atul Kothari, the founding Trustee of EGMH, and the main spirit behind the project, extended a vote of thanks to all the volunteers, organizations, foundations and public officials for their support. He recognized the critical and sustained support provided by Devinder Mahajan and the tireless volunteers of Arya Samaj of Greater Houston that he founded, and Dr Manish Wani – in launching the non-profit in 2002. The autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, had a profound impact on Kothari. He discovered the essence of life is to practice one’s own truth nonviolently. It was his “aha moment.” Gandhi notably said, “Be the change you wish to see.”

Kothari contemplated what he could do to spread this simple idea of practicing your truth nonviolently.

He and a dedicated cadre of like-minded individuals formed the Mahatma Gandhi Library (renamed the Eternal Gandhi Museum Houston in 2019) to honor Mahatma Gandhi, study his teachings, and give back to the community through activities and events that shared teachings of nonviolent conflict resolution.

During the ceremony, Abeezar Tyebji and his mother announced a donation of $50,000 on behalf of the Dawoodi Bohra community in Houston. Col R.P.S. Bhalla of Sugar Land raised his pledge to $50,000 as well.

The program concluded with Gandhiji’s favorite bhajan Vaishnava Jana sung by melodious voice of Smriti Srivastava of Swar Sangam School of Music . To learn more about the project visit www.egmh.org or call 713-785-3900.

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