Modi plays guide on Gandhi tour - Times of India

AHMEDABAD: When Chinese president Xi Jinping stepped into Sabarmati Ashram he was sporting an off-white khadi half-jacket and khadi-string garlands. After talking business at the hotel in Vastrapur, it was time for culture and history. Along with other gifts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted Xi a replica of a letter of appreciation given by members of the Chinese community to Mahatma Gandhi in Johannesburg in 1908.

Xi took a trip down the annals of history with Prime Minister Narendra Modi playing guide. The two top leaders of India and China walked the ashram campus with interpreters in tow. Modi stopped frequently and explained to Xi the various facets of Gandhian thought and historical significance. The duo seemed more like friends on a leisurely walk around the campus.

Xi and Modi stopped briefly under a tree near Prarthana Bhoomi, where the Prime Minister spoke to the Chinese president for some moments. Then they headed towards Hridaykunj where Mahatma Gandhi used to stay. The two leaders then went into Gandhi's Spartan cottage. Modi showed Xi how Gandhi used to spin cotton. The Chinese president looked keen on knowing details about Gandhi ashram.

When they emerged from Hridaykunj, Modi and Xi took another little interlude speaking to each other, keeping the interpreters busy. Here, the PM gave several gifts to Xi. They included a copy of the Gita and Gandhi's Autobiagraphy in the Chinese language along with another book: 'Gandhi in Ahmedabad'. Xi was also gifted a painting on the great Dandi March and a Yerawada charkha which is a mobile charkha fashioned by Gandhiji during his stay in Yerwada jail in Maharashtra.

While leaving the ashram, Xi wrote about his impression of the ashram in the Chinese language. "He wrote something in a very beautiful handwriting. But we don't know what he wanted to say, because it was in Chinese," said Kartikeya Sarabhai, who accompanied leaders in the ashram.

Box: 1. Nearly 500 kids studying in primary and upper primary were brought from various municipal corporation schools and lined up before the Sabarmati Ashram from Chandrabhaga river bridge to Abhay Ghat, the memorial of former prime minister Morarji Desai. They were holding the national flags of India and China. They were brought in the buses that are deployed for bringing poor children to schools. But these students had to give their studies a break for a day.

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