Meet a great grandson of the Mahatma who has spent all his life in South Africa, changed jobs quite frequently because he doesn’t like getting tied down — and doesn’t carry the Gandhi surname.
Satish Kumar Shashikant Dhupelia, 54, is the son of Sita, the Mahatma’s second son Manilal’s
daughter.
Dhupelia is currently in Kolkata on his latest assignment, accompanying a South African football team participating in the 113th IFA Shield.
Dhupelia explains the South African link. “When Gandhiji left for India, he needed someone to look after the Gandhi Settlement in Phoenix (close to Durban) and run the newspaper Indian Opinion. He asked Manilal to do that,” he says.
He says his grandmother Sushilaben made sure he never forgot Bapu’s ideals. “From my grandmother, I heard about Bapu’s ideals and his way of life.” He says it doesn’t matter if he’s in India or South Africa, “what matters is that we follow Bapu's principles”.
Dhupelia’s CV reflects another shade of his personality — he has done different jobs in different fields. He taught computers, accountancy and physical education for 14 years in Durban. He has been a TV producer and has his own company, SD Enterprises, which made programmes for the BBC. He has written for newspapers and also hosts a talk show, Aap Ki Vani, on a radio station — Hindvani — that promotes Hindi in Durban.
Now he works for a promotional firm that has brought the Santos FC team to India. “I don’t like being tied down to a job,” says Dhupelia. That sure is a Gandhi trait.