Gandhi’s Navajivan Trust opens café for youth; no charge for food, reading books on Gandhi

GANDHINAGAR: While the state government showcased Mahatma Gandhi in a glitzy state of the art museum in Gandhinagar, ahead of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Navajivan Trust set up by Mahatma Gandhi himself quietly opened a café a day before the death anniversary of Gandhiji to take his message to the youth.

What marks this café apart is the fact that it will not charge any specific amount to visitors for the food they have. Instead, they will hand them over an envelope for a contribution. Visitors also get to read the books published by the trust on Gandhian thoughts for free. There is also a provision to buy books if one wants. Along with the café, there is also an exhibition of some never seen before photographs of Mahatma Gandhi and the printing machines he had bought in 1922 to start his Harijan newspaper.

The café will serve simple food like idli, dhokla, thepla and upma as well as soft drinks on five working days and ‘Gandhi Thali’ comprising khichdi, kadi, roti or bhakri (a form of chapatis) and sabji with milk on weekends. "The trust is doing this on its own without any support from anyone," said Manilal Patel, consultant to the trust.

The café with both indoor and outdoor settings has a museum next to it with several rare photographs of Mahatma Gandhi.

"Many of these photographs were given to the trust by German Photographer Peter Ruhe after we got in touch with him," said Vivek Desai, the managing trustee of Navajivan Trust.

The museum also has for the first time put on display the printing machines that Gandhiji had procured in 1922 to publish his newspaper apart from the typewriters used by his secretary Mahadev Desai.