KOTDWAR-GARHWAL, SEP 22 (PTI)
At a time when practising the path preached by Gandhi is considered out of vogue, a small village in Uttaranchal still lives by the principles of the Mahatma.
Not a soul in Bakhroti village in Tehri district consumes alcohol or smokes tobacco — the two vices that Gandhi stood against. The Gandhian code of conduct is practised to the book by the 20-odd families of the village, who wear Khadi, do not lie or hurl abuses at one another.
The villagers say this is a feat in itself as Uttaranchal is infested with villages where most men are addicted to alcohol and tobacco, and women have often protested to mend the system. A journalist, Umesh Dobal, who reported about the thriving alcohol mafia here was done to death.
The ideals were instilled in the villagers by Baldev Joshi, a Gandhian and a teacher, who was influenced by the freedom struggle and Gandhi’s dictum of non-violence. [more]
