Heart to HEART

Children need good role models to emulate and inspire them to achieve greatness.

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And what better role model than Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation who masterminded and won India's freedom struggle from the imperial Great Britain's exploitative rule?

In the past few issues of the Kidzone section, we have been featuring excerpts from Growing Up with the Mahatma authored by Dr. Swati Popat Vats, president of the Early Childhood Association of India and the Podar chain of preschools. This richly illustrated book presents inspiring stories from the life of the Mahatma with each chapter narrating one of the many 'avatars' of Gandhiji and lessons to learn from them. The avatars include animal activist, fashion stylist, teacher, journalist, fitness expert, social worker, doctor, barrister and chef. Moreover chapter-end there are several activities for children to write a story, solve puzzles and a books quiz.

This month we present an excerpt from the chapter 'Mahatma inspires you to become a journalist'.

When I grow up I want to be a journalist just like the Mahatma...

"The sole aim of journalism should be service.

Did you know that... all the newspapers that Mahatma Gandhi published never carried any advertisements. That's because Bapu believed that ads could be misleading, as many of them sell products that can harm people.

As a school student, Bapu did not have the habit of reading newspapers. He started reading them only after age 19. Later, because he was shy to speak in public, he preferred to share his ideas by writing articles for an English weekly.