Thanks Soumik for this account. If you are still in the SF Bay Area, perhaps volunteer a few days or a week at Gandhi Camp end of July, early August, led by Dr. Subba Rao, who is caarying Gandhi ji's legacy. Here is an account by my late father Arya Bhushan, A Day with Gandhiji When I was growing up, Mahatma Gandhi was a great name. He later became the father of the nation, having shown the way in which people of the country could get rid of the shackles of their bondage, entrenched for centuries. The path of non-violence shown by him was novel indeed. Masses found him to be a messiah, and equated him with God, almost at the same level as Lord Krishna. The following anecdote of which I was an observer, will amply illustrate the point. I was fortunate enough to have spent a full day in the company of Gandhiji. He visited our town, when I was twelve years old. He stayed at Anand Bhavan, the residence of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, an idol of the Indian Youth and a Hero of the Freedom Movement. Nehru, later became the first Prime Minister of a Free India, and remained so for over seventeen years. My father and Pandit Nehru were good friends, and it was arranged that I could have the unique opportunity of being in the company of the Mahatma. I was excited about it and reached there early in the morning, before the start of the morning prayers at day-break. It was a serene moment. The prayers were conducted accompanied by enchanting music. Thereafter, we had breakfast and then started the chain of visitors. A number of prominent personalities came to pay their respect to him. I was thus thrilled to have been in the company of all these great people. The day ended with evening prayers, where again the same serenity and tranquility was maintained. Finally it was one of the most eventful moment of my life, when I went for a walk with that Apostle of Peace. I was on one side of him and Mira Behn, one of her devoted disciples, on the other. It was a cold winter evening and the night had already set in. As we came out of the building, we saw a man lying there on the road, with no clothes on, except for his loin-cloth. The Mahatma stopped and asked him, "Why are you lying here?" He replied, "I have come to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi, but no one will allow me to go in and see him. I have come from far off and will not go back unless I have seen him." On this Gandhiji responded, "I am Gandhi, so you can see me and go back." The man sprang up, stood in front of the Mahatma, looked up and down, and then lay down again in the same position as earlier. Now Mahatma Gandhi was baffled at this odd behavior of his, and asked him," Now you have seen me, so why don't you go back?" "How can I be sure that I am not being tricked? If you are really Gandhi, please show me your 'Chakra Sudershan Roop (divine form with all it's glory)." No amount of persuasion could convince the man, that he was indeed meeting the real Mahatma. Frustrated, Gandhiji proceeded ahead to continue his walk. However, when we returned back from our walk, he was not there. Perhaps others present there were able to convince him that he had indeed seen the real Mahatma Gandhi.