Every Independence and Republic Days, we find out just how poor our youth’s GK is despite the information explosion.
It usually involves a vox populi where people are wondering if Tryst with Destiny is Beyonce’s band or if wondering Prithviraj Chavan is the President.
Okay the last bit is Alia Bhatt from an old Koffee with Karan show where gossip was Bollywood’s biggest problem, not the NCB or pesky anchors reading their WhatsApp chats.
One myth that persists to this this day is – is Rahul Gandhi related to Mahatma Gandhi?
Well there are numerous myths about the Nehru-Gandhi family.
One believed that Feroze Gandhi’s real name was Feroze Khan which is absolutely not true but has become WhatsApp lore.
Feroze Gandhi was born Feroze Jehangir Ghandy to a Parsi family in Bombay.
He later moved to Gujarat. Inspired by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Feroze later changed the spelling of his surname to Gandhi.
Incidentally, there persisted a rumour that Mahatma Gandhi had adopted Feroze which was also not true.
In fact, Maneka Gandhi – her daughter-in-law – have even claimed in court that Indira wasn’t ‘Hindu’ during a dispute.
An old NYT piece noted: “A lawyer for Maneka Gandhi, the widow of Mrs Gandhi's son Sanjay, told the high court here that Mrs. Gandhi was not entitled to a share of Sanjay's estate because she had married Feroze Gandhi, a member of the minority Parsis, in 1942. A judge ruled last February that Mrs. Gandhi, Maneka Gandhi and Maneka's son, Feroze Varun, were each entitled to a third of stock worth $47,500 that Sanjay owned. The latest arguments emerged at an appeal filed by the 27-year-old Maneka Gandhi against the earlier verdict. Using a photograph of Mrs. Gandhi's 1942 wedding as evidence, the Prime Minister's lawyer told the high court judge the marriage had been performed according to Hindu rituals.”
So, to sum up, no member of the Nehru-Gandhi family including Rahul Gandhi is related to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Nor is Feroze Gandhi Muslim, nor was he adopted by MK Gandhi.
MK Gandhi was married to Kasturba and had six sons.
They were: Harilal Gandhi, Manilal Gandhi, Ramdas Gandhi, Devdas Gandhi, Maganlal Gandhi and Samaldas Gandhi.
