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Where the Mahatma meets King Jr
Visitors swarm to historic park to pay respects to two great leaders, writes Meeta Bhatnagar in Atlanta Diary.
Imagine an Indian's delight when he or she finds a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in a US national historic site park honouring an equally inspiring world leader, Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
Take it a step further- imagine walking onto such a site to be greeted by the aforesaid memorial as the very outset of the journey.
The foregone feeling of exaltation and an unparalleled sense of recognition is outdone only by the outstanding number of visitors waiting in a queue patiently, to read the brief but poignant footnotes on Gandhji's statue. Unparalleled is also the fact that this statue, inaugurated in 1998, generates equal if not more interest amongst visitors from all across the States and abroad. Such is the case on most days at the Martin Luther King Jr National historic site, beautifully preserved by the National Park Service here in downtown Atlanta.
On this Memorial Day weekend, scores of local residents and visitors have swarmed to the authentically preserved site, (known as the Sweet Auburn neighbourhood locally) to parley in the stillness of time and witness the strides in history made here on this very ground. This is classic Atlanta, the seed, cradle and harbinger of the mammoth Civil Rights Movement.
The vast memorial site, which was the neighbourhood that Martin Luther King Jr grew up in, is a frozen tale in time. This leading commercial district houses many significant civil rights landmarks including the birth home of Dr King, the oldest fire station in Atlanta, the famous Ebenezer Church, as also many other buildings that represent the life and times of the black American population in a uniquely preserved state of being.
The journey that begins at the two-storied birth home of the leader, unfolds gradually as one embarks upon the freedom parkway and onto the Church that stands sturdy against the more modern backdrop of Atlanta's fierce skyscape. The Ebenezer Church is pivotal to the history of the non-violent movement that Dr King propagated. It was here that he was baptized and ordained. It was here that he served as associate pastor to his father. It was here that he was laid to rest.
It isn't surprising to see many Indians among the people who visit this shrine. Apart from carrying the albatross (or experience) of a shared history of unwarranted slavery and subjugation, this place is reminiscent of our very own credo of non-violence and mass mobilisation as a means of attaining freedom.
While subsequent scholarly reifications have led to contrary opinions regarding the use of non-violence as a means of revolution, few would deny the significance of this type of peaceful resistance as a potent weapon and ultimately successful tactical method of overthrowing segregation based on flawed perception.
In the speeches of Dr King, replayed consistently at the visitor information centre, one can hear reverberations that echoed in India in the years preceding 1947. In the preserved photographs and texts of the Civil Rights Movement, one can see the yarn spun by the charkha. In the videos of peace marches carried out in Alabama, one can see footsteps that led towards Dandi Yatra. In the visiting books that are lain in every nook and corner, there are innumerable scribblings by Indians thankful for the distinction given to India by making it a part of this historic legacy. There are also notes from people from other countries who trace the odyssey of peaceful but firm resistance to India, saying this site reminds them of India and her vast reservoir of nationalistic fervour.
To an Indian, this is a matter of great pride and honour. More than that, it is a tribute to the universality of resistance to inequality and injustice in all forms. When Dr King exclaimed ''Free at last, Free at last, Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last'', he was speaking for and to generations of people who needed to stand up for what is fundamental to our existence - liberty.
For successive generations like ours, who have not known the ignominy of servility or bondage, this could have become an easily forgotten crusade. But when there's the statue of Gandhi in the company of King, we cannot but be reminded of fortitude, of dignity, of courage and most importantly, of freedom.
