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Gandhi Watch

By LIFS November 5, 2009 at 6:45 AM

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Mahatma Gandhi’s 140th birth anniversary on Oct. 2 sparked a revival in all things Gandhian.

• His historic house in Johannesburg, South Africa, almost a century ago was snapped up by a French tourism company for almost $750,000, which is twice its asking price. Voyageurs du Monde plans to turn the house in which Gandhi lived from 1908 to 1910 into a Gandhi museum.

The previous owners of the house, Nancy and Jarrod Ball, who bought the house for Rand 65,000 in 1981 ($8,700) had difficulty unloading their home until international media picked up the story of its historic ties to Gandhi.

• The Swiss pen maker Montblanc has launched a limited edition $23,000 pen with a solid gold rhodium plated nib and a saffron-colored mandarin garnet clip to commemorate Gandhi’s birthday.

Montblanc is issuing just 241 pens to mark Gandhi’s iconic 241-mile long Dandi march against the British salt tax. Mindful of the potential backlash for trading on Gandhi’s name, the company is donating $145,666 plus $1,000 for each pen sold, to the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation.

• Finally, Google paid a tribute to Gandhi on Oct 2 by replacing the “G” in its logo with his face.