Kanu Gandhi (scientist)

Kanu Gandhi (scientist) Biography

Kanu Gandhi was an Indian scientist who lived during the period, 1928-2016. Kanu turned famous instantly soon after he was clicked along with his grandfather Mahatma Gandhi in one of the most popular and iconic photos. The boy seen in the photograph walking ahead of Mahatma Gandhi holding one end of his stick on the beaches of Gujarat's Dandi during Salt Satyagraha of March-April 1930 is none other than Kanu Gandhi. He was a son of Ramdas Gandhi, son of Mahatma Gandhi. He worked a scientist at NASA for two decades.

Kanu Gandhi was born to Ramdas Gandhi, the third son of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on 2 January 1897. Ramdas Gandhi was the one who lit the fire to start the cremation of Mahatma Gandhi as his father wished, and he outlived his parents and all of his brothers. His mother’s name is Nirmala, and he had two sisters - Sumitra Gandhi and Usha Gandhi. He got married to Shivalaxmi, and the couple had no children. His wife was a professor and researcher by profession, who worked at Boston Biomedical Research Institute. Kanu was 17 years old when his grandfather was assassinated in Delhi. At the age of 9, he clicked a photograph with Mahatma Gandhi holding his stick during Dandi March, and the picture became very famous.

Kanu Gandhi studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he completed master's degree in civil engineering in 1963. He worked for NASA and United States Department of Defence on aircraft design. He along with his wife Shivalaxmi worked in US for many years and returned to India in 2014. He died two years later in 2016, at a private hospital in Surat. He was 87. He suffered a stroke and has been in the hospital for two weeks before his death.

Earlier in 2016 Kanu and his wife Shivalaxmi were found living in a home for senior citizens and destitutes in New Delhi. When this news broke out, it hit headlines. They wanted to spend their final years in their ancestral home at Porbandar, which is now controlled by the government. They shuttled between different cities and finally settled in an ashram at Surat.

Published: November 25, 2018

Updated: November 25, 2018