Remembering Mahatma Gandhi
By kamla bhatt • Jul 17th, 2006Category: Books and Authors, Diaspora, Life, New York
Flower Silliman shares her memories of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi). On January 30, 1948, Gandhiji was shot dead. He was on his way to his evening prayer meeting at Birla House in New Delhi. He was 78 years old.
Flower was a student at Lady Irwin College, New Delhi, during the mid-1940s. She was part of the choir that sang during Gandhiji’s prayer meetings at Birla Mandir. Gandhiji’s favorite hymn was “Lead Kindly Night.“Originally from Calcutta, Flower belonged to a tight-knit Arab-speaking Baghdadi Jewish community. Much against her mother’s will, Flower decided to pursue a college degree. The only reason that Flower was able to attend Lady Irwin College was because the principal of the college Hannah Sen belonged to the Baghdadi Jewish community.
India’s struggle for independence left a lasting impact on Flower. When India became independent in 1947, Flower and her husband decided to stay in India and raise their family. Flower taught Home Science at Loretto House, Calcutta. She later migrated to Israel, and currently lives in New York, USA.
Kamla Bhatt is the host and producer of an Internet Radio show where listeners can find stories about the new and emerging India and the global Indian community. As a pioneer of 'internet radio' format in India Kamla started her first show News about India, followed by TalkNewsIndia in 2005. In 2006 she premiered her new show: The Kamla Bhatt Show: Life, People and Ideas. 
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