Near Congress' Belagavi session, a village walks on Mahatma's path

BELAGAVI WAS BUZZING with activity on Wednesday as the Congress prepared to celebrate the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi's appointment as party president in the city.

- ASAD REHMAN

Around 30 km away, it was life as usual in Hudali, a village that takes pride in silently following the Mahatma's teachings.

Mahatma Gandhi spent a week in Hudali in 1937 and held several meetings on the invitation from freedom fighter Gangadharrao Deshpande, the "Lion of Karnataka", who hailed from the village.

The story of the Mahatma's visit has been passed on from generation to generation. Even the details -- how during his visit from April 17 to April 24, 1937, huts were built but they were ruined due to rain; and how he walked in the rain and stayed at the Kumari ashram in the village. "I heard it from my father who heard it from his mother," said Afroz Mujawar (45), a sugarcane farmer as he sat at a coconut water stall in the village.

He expects someone from the Nehru-Gandhi family as well may visit his village this time. He said he heard that one of them might. "The Mahatma came here in 1937, so maybe they too will come," Afroz said.