Egypt exhibition traces spirit of Gandhi's message

An exhibition of paintings depicting the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi's message of peace during the pro-democracy revolution in Egypt was inaugurated here today.
The exhibition titled 'Did you catch the spirit of Gandhi in Tahrir' was inaugurated by Gandhi's granddaughter Kirti Menon.
The peaceful nature of Egypt 2011 revolution earned the world's respect when hundreds of thousands of Egyptian youth faced the violence of the security apparatus with one word 'Silmeyah' -- the Arabic word for peaceful.
Seizing the opportunity the embassy announced a competition for school children asking them if they had sensed the spirit of Gandhi in Tahrir square. The competition was for children both in Egypt and India.

The competition attracted more than children and the result was more than 150 paintings and drawings which seem to have linked Iconic Gandhi with the Iconic Tahrir.
Now these paintings are on display at the exhibition.

"I don't think there has been anybody who hasn't been following the Egyptian revolution," says Menon.
"At the time of the revolution it was quite apparent that Egyptians were committed to a peaceful revolution and it was a sort of rising of the people against social injustices."
The exhibition was the idea of Indian Ambassador to Egypt Navdeep Suri.
"One of the most important characters of the 25 January revolution, that it was peaceful as the protesters in Tahiri were chanting Silmeyah and some of them were carrying plaques with Gandhi's famous quotes," Suri said.