A tribute to Ajay Gandhi (1956–2021)
The shocking news came in the evening hours of 23rd September 2021 and the mind went numb. Ajay Gandhi, the iconic son of Hyderabad was no more. In his WhatsApp message in August 2021, he said he was getting chemotherapy for brain cancer and his MRI showed that the cancer had gone. This was indeed reassuring . But then fate had something else in store.
Saying goodbye to iconic figures is a hardest thing to do. Especially when the iconic figures are much more than icons and are the change makers who impact the world around them. In history, Mahatma Gandhi was such an icon, the crusader of peace, social justice and democracy, who inspired me. The other Gandhi who influenced surely was Ajay Gandhi, a visionary, institution builder, democracy crusader, protector of literature and art and most importantly, creator of Manthan, a platform for intelligent conversations, the kind that cannot be found anywhere in the world. A Chartered Accountant and Lawyer by training, his world view was not limited to these professional fields. His efforts as the Chairman of Hyderabad branch of Southern India Regional Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India did turn the sleepy branch into a flourishing centre. From launching Book Clubs to open spaces for democratic dialogues, he was like a chief ideologue of anything liberal in Hyderabad and was open to counterviews as well, with a purpose of inculcating the spirit of dialogue and debate. He started Manthan, a space for open and intelligent conversations which was ahead of his times and the people who delivered talks included diverse people from politics to archeology and poetry to aviation. The speakers included the likes of Shashi Tharoor, Subramanian Swamy, A S Dulat, Harsha Bhogle, Professor Christine Fair and many more people from diverse backgrounds. Besides this he was part of major protests against erosion of democratic values, be it the emergency of 1970s or the recently perpetuated right wing divisive politics in India. He was the festival director of Hyderabad literature festival, rated the best non commercial literary festival in India. One of the Manthan talks is shared here;
Albert Einstein said this about Mahatma Gandhi when he died, “Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth”. I am borrowing the same quote for Ajay Gandhi who was like Hyderabad’s soul and a prodigal son who changed the way we think and take actions and for me I am mystified that someone like him existed. There are so many moments of intellectual joys that he gave us, along with warning signs of bigotry and injustice that we see around us. He was like a comforting figure who was extremely approachable and full of gentle kindness. Many people are either born in a privileged background or create wealth by their hard work. But seldom use that privilege to create value for the society. Ajay Gandhi was one of those extraordinary people who used their privilege to facilitate social change. He was an atheist, humanist to the core and hardcore optimist. He was the founder of Gandhi & Gandhi, a chartered accountancy firm that created a reputation of high integrity and tremendous service orientation towards clients. I met some of his young interns and they used to praise the open culture of brainstorming on new ideas in the firm. He started an accounting software company, Wings Infonet, in those times when no one was talking about such types of products. The company has high profile clients now, including Unilever.
Not only people in Hyderabad, diverse people from different walks of life, all over the nation were shocked on his passing away and tweeted about it.
The continued work of Manthan Foundation (the organisation that runs Manthan talks) will surely keep his spirits alive but he will be missed all through my life! On a personal note, he was kind of a mentor to me and my wife and we could talk no-holds barred on any topic under the sun. I did some voluntary work for him, in creating snapshots of various Manthan events and I was happy that he thought of me for doing such kind of work. The loss of two people has been so difficult to bear — my father and Ajay Gandhi.
These lines of poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan are apt for his legacy,
“प्राणप्रिये यदि श्राद्ध करो तुम मेरा, तो ऐसे करना — पीने वालों को बुलवाकर, खुलवा देना मधुशाला”
(Beloved, if you want to follow any ritual after my death, let the door of my spirits be open to those who love the spirit of life!)
Let the spirit be alive in more and more intelligent conversations! I am now personally invested in creating a life full of purpose. He was surely a perfect human who instilled a sense of inquiry and rationality in our thinking. When I close my eyes and think of him, I see an eternal smile which is affectionate and soothing to the soul.
