Travellers at the airport can now buy duty-free Mahatma memorabilia.
With Mahatma Gandhi for company you might not mind the next time you are informed of the delay of your flight. The Aditya Birla group recently opened a souvenir shop dedicated to showcasing and selling collectibles inspired by the Mahatma at the departure lounge of the Mumbai international airport.
The shop, called Eternal Gandhi (in Marathi, Shashwat Gandhi), has around 50 custom-designed items, each of them bearing a short printed revolutionary message chosen from Gandhi’s writings and speeches.
There are puzzle cubes, crystal cubes, wristwatches, statues of the iconic “three monkeys”, khadi shirts, mugs, bookmarks, magnets, notepads, calendars, ceramic statues, paperweights, keychains and pens. The cheapest item is a Gandhi fountain pen priced at Rs 100, with an ahimsa logo. A khadi shirt will cost you Rs 500-600.
This outlet grows out of the Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum, founded five years ago by industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla. Birla’s great-grandfather, Ghanshyam Das Birla, was a close associate of Gandhi. The museum uses digital media to showcase historical events related to Gandhi’s life and documents the struggle for freedom from British rule. The most expensive item at the new Eternal Gandhi shop, as a matter of fact, is a Rs 4,000 coffee-table book. Its contents are a compilation of the displays in the Gandhi digital museum.
After the museum, the Aditya Birla group opened a counter to sell Gandhi-related items in the duty-free shopping complex of Delhi international airport’s new Terminal 3. The shop received a “stupendous response”, according to the group, which in turn prompted it to open the standalone Eternal Gandhi shop in Mumbai. In fact, the group is planning to open more such Gandhi-goods outlets across India, including in Mumbai, and not just at airports.
“In the last 20 days, from the time the store was inaugurated, we have received a massive number of customers from disparate backgrounds,” says Tony Valechha, who will be managing this store. “Students are as enthusiastic about owning an item with a message of the visionary as are their parents."
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He adds, “Our aim is to raise awareness about Gandhiji and his teachings and hence, we have given a contemporary touch to the items so that it can appeal to the young and old alike. These items are very relevant at a time when strife, division and corruption prevail. They help reinforce a feeling of peace, harmony and equality through the simple message of truth and non-violence.”
The Gandhi collectibles are designed by Bharat Parekh, head of Eternal Gandhi and special projects at the Aditya Birla group, before being outsourced to craftsmen in countries like Hong Kong, China and Spain. Eternal Gandhi will remain open 24x7 at the airport.
