“The Trust was set up 10 years ago with a challenge to create an interest in the ideals of Gandhiji. The well-made film Lage raho Munnabhai has generated interested among youngsters on the effectiveness of non-violence”, Nazareth said in a chat with Metrolife.

Sarvodaya International Trust was established to revive, invigorate and diffuse nationally and internationally the moral ideals and action programmes of Mahatma Gandhi.  It aims to identify and support those Gandhian institutions and voluntary organisations which are engaged in the moral, non-violence, peace, communal and racial harmony and in the social, cultural and environmental spheres, on Gandhian lines.

“We try to reach out to the young and create interest in Gandhian ideals with programmes like song and dance. This year we are organising Gandhi Jayanthi Ahimsa Mahotsav at the Raj Bhavan on October 2. The ahimsa concept is significant as this year the United Nation’s General Assembly has declared October 2 as the International Day for Non-violence each year”, he said.

Nazareth, whose book, Gandhi’s Outstanding leadership was released in March last year said that world wide there is considerable interest in the principles of Non-violence. “Some of the books on Gandhism in recent times have come out from abroad. Harvard University has a course in Gandhiji’s political strategies. There is a similar course at Chicago University. In the United States there are at least seven or eight state-sponsored institutions promoting non-violence, inspired by Gandhi and Martin Luther King,” he says.

Nazareth’s extensively researched book is packed with insightful information on all aspects of Gandhiji’s leadership and is interspersed with rare photographs and depictions of Gandhi's impactful quotations by India's leading artists. Nazareth left for Washington on Sunday to deliver a lecture on Gandhi.

The Trust
Its trustees and office bearers comprise such eminent personalities as Justice R S Pathak (Chairman), Princess Irene of Greece (Vice Chairman), Air Chief Marshal (retd) A Y Tipnis (Vice Chairman), Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Soli J. Sorabji, Dr Mrinalini Sarabhai, Rajmohan Gandhi and Dr Saryu Doshi among several other stalwarts from India and abroad.