Gandhi’s Chattanooga VisitMonday• 5:30 p.m.: Westside visit at Renaissance Community Garden.Tuesday• 10:30 a.m.: ReCreate Cafe, Salvation Army, 800 McCallie Ave.• 11:30 a.m.: Lunch and tour of Chattanooga Community Kitchen, 727 E. 11th St.• 6 p.m.: Presentation at City Council meeting, 1000 Lindsay St.Wednesday• 5 p.m.: Unveiling of a mural, “A Season for Nonviolence,” at Brainerd Recreation Center, 1010 N. Moore Road.• 6 p.m.: Celebration, festivities sponsored by Chattanooga India Association, Chattanooga Hindu temple, 7706 Colemere Drive.Thursday• 8 a.m.-noon: Connecting the Dots Summit where Gandhi will be keynote speaker, at Bessie Smith Hall, 200 East M.L.King Blvd. (reservations required; 425-7826).• 3:15 p.m.: Walking tour of Brainerd Mission, 5600 Brainerd Road.• 4:15 p.m.: Sitar music by Joe Ridolfo, Eastgate Senior Activity Center at Eastgate Town Center, 5600 Brainerd Road.• 5 p.m.: Eastgate Library blessing, Gandhi message of “A Season of Nonviolence,” Eastgate Town Center stage with music by T-Ran Gilbert and Sera Hill.More information: Contact Melissa Turner at turner_m@chattanooga.gov.
If I really wanted to be dramatic about it, I’d ask you to shut off your lights while reading this column. Your breaker box, too. By the end of the column, I’ll explain why.
This week, Gandhi’s grandson comes to Chattanooga. Invited by Missy Crutchfield and the Department of Education, Arts and Culture, Dr. Arun Gandhi is both the biological and philosophical descendant of Gandhi, a man historians consider the most influential figure of the 20th century.
“Gandhi was the spokesman for the conscience of mankind,” eulogized U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall in 1948.
Gandhi’s grandson, who founded the Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence (currently in New York), will spend the week here. I wish he would stay for years. Organizers say he’ll help Chattanooga move “toward a season for nonviolence.”