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Clinton remembers Gandhi at Sabarmati

The former US President spent over 90 minutes at the ashram, interacting with Gandhians and paying homage at the site where the Father of Nation lived for years and launched struggles for the country's independence.

Later, wearing hand spun cotton as garland over his two-piece suit, Clinton sat under a tree and chatted with college students and others on the Gandhian model of development and other issues.

Shutterbugs merrily shot away as Clinton put his hand on the chest when school children sang a song in his honour.

"Thank you for making me welcome at this sacred place so crucial to the followers of India and to the spiritual advancement of the world," Clinton wrote in the ashram's visitors book.

Later, he told reporters that he was overwhelmed by visiting the place "where Gandhi lived pursuing a mission to free India."

During his presidential visit to India in March, 2000, Clinton had played an emotional visit to Rajghat, the 'samadhi' of Mahatma Gandhi in New Delhi.

Clinton wound up his tour of Gujarat praising the state government while promising to help "the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time in a lasting way".

"There are many things we can do. We are going to go back and raise money as much as we can, do as much good as we can, as quickly as we can," Clinton, who toured the worst affected Kutch district on Wednesday, told reporters at the Sabarmati Aashram.

"My sole goal here is to do as much quickly as possible in a way that actually gives people the capacity to help themselves," he said.

Clinton, who had prolonged discussions with NGOs in the morning on how to help quake-affected people, said he was interested in coming up with a model which would be helpful in developing other villages in India, Africa, Latin America and East Asia. That may not have had a natural disaster but would like to build a different future.

Praising the Gujarat Government's scheme to share the half the cost with NGOs in rebuilding houses, he said, "Nowhere in the world the government gives money to NGOs. Rather in many parts of the world they hate each other".

"But here the government is encouraging NGOs to build houses," Clinton, who had separate meetings with Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari and Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, said.

On what images of Gujarat he was carrying with him, Clinton said, "The dignity with which people, who lost their children, have borne their grief and tried to work with their neighbour to look to their future."

He said he liked the silver produced in the state and it could be marketed in USA for generating money.

On whether he planned to visit Gujarat again, Clinton, heading a 40-member delegation of American Indian Foundation said, "I intend to come back."

Lending a spiritual touch to his trip to Gujarat, Clinton offered prayers for the state's quake-hit people at the Akshardham Swami Narayan Temple.

After prolonged interaction with non-government organisations on quake relief-related issues, Clinton drove to the temple, where he spent over an hour offering prayers and admiring the architecture.

Clinton, who walked bare-foot over the hot red sandstone floor, placed rose petals before the presiding deity and prayed in silence with folded hands.

"He prayed for the people who were killed and affected by the quake," a member of the delegation accompanying him said.

Dressed in a grey two-piece suit with a blue shirt and a red tie, Clinton stood out in contrast as he walked along the corridors of the large temple with the saffron-robed monks of the Swami Narayan sect.

The monks chanted vedic and other religious hymns and held a special blessing ceremony for the visitor. They also presented him mementoes and literature.

The sect has a large following in the US, particularly among non-resident Indians of Gujarat origin.

Clinton ruled out playing a peacemaker between India and Pakistan but hoped the two South Asian neighbours would make peace.

"I have no official capacity. I am just a citizen. I wish they would make peace," he told reporters when asked whether he intended to be a peacemaker between the two countries.

As President, Clinton had played a crucial role in reducing tension between India and Pakistan during the Kargil conflict.

Twelve-year-old Prutha Desai, whose right hand had to be amputated following an injury sustained by her in the January 26 quake, presented a gift to Clinton.

She presented him a landscape she specially painted for him with her left hand.

On seeing the painting of Desai depicting a river between two mountains, Clinton said, "It's beautiful. I am going to put this up in our home."

Prutha, winner of national awards for her paintings before the earthquake, had her right hand amputated after she was trapped under debris for 32 hours. She now wears a prosthesis.

She said that after losing her right hand, she learnt to paint with her left hand. "If you think you can do it, you can," a confident Prutha said with a smile.

She said she was excited to know that Clinton would put up her painting in his house. "I never imagined he would say that."

PTI

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