MB#38 𝙂𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙝𝙞 𝙃𝙞𝙡𝙡: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙥 𝙈𝙮 𝙁𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙉𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙊𝙗𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙏𝙤.
- www.suryanarayana.com
- Nov 19
- 3 min read
[MemoirBlogthon #38] Vijayawada's Gandhi Hill was my preferred Sunday activity. This memoir explores the central mystery: why my father, who restricted other outings, silently approved every visit to the hill. This is India's first hill memorial to Gandhi, inaugurated in 1968. I connect his silence to the hill's historical significance and his personal ethics, rooted in Gandhi’s saying: "If you think right, you speak right, and you do the right." This memoir post contrasts my youthful trips with the hill's modern transformation, confirming its enduring status as a site of moral education.
The journey itself was a highlight: cycling to the foot of the hill, pushing the cycle up the steep ghat road, and then enjoying the real fun of rolling effortlessly down the slope road without pedaling.
The Core Event & Stakes: The Unspoken Permission
In the late 1960s, I made a trip to Gandhi Hill in Vijayawada (then mistakenly called Orr Hill) as a favorite Sunday ritual during my school and college days. The journey itself was a highlight: cycling to the foot of the hill, pushing the cycle up the steep ghat road, and then enjoying the real fun of rolling effortlessly down the slope road without pedaling.
What made these trips significant was my father's complete lack of objection. While I often faced resistance when asking to go to a movie, the market, or friendly sports matches, trips to Gandhi Hill were always met with tacit approval. My constant question was, "Why did my father never object?"
The Historical and Ethical Context
My father's support was rooted in his deep respect for the monument's historical and philosophical significance. The Gandhi Hill Memorial was inaugurated in 1968, the centenary year of Mahatma Gandhi's birth (1869). Furthermore, my father, as an officer of the Roads and Building Department, had a personal attachment, having participated in the inaugural function when the vice president, Dr. Zakir Hussain, unveiled the 52-foot-tall stupa.
Crucially, Vijayawada itself held a special place in Gandhi's legacy, as it hosted the 1921 All India Congress Committee (AICC) meeting where Pingali Venkayya presented his design for the Indian national flag to Gandhi.
For my father, a visit to Gandhi Hill was not mere recreation; it was an act of civic and moral education. He constantly advocated for me to remember the all-time saying of Mahatma Gandhi, which he believed provided the blueprint for an ethical life:
"If you think right, you speak right, and you do the right."In his opinion, this principle emphasized that a foundation of correct moral thinking leads naturally to truthful communication and ethical behavior, fostering a congruent life of integrity. By visiting the monument, I was implicitly soaking up the lessons of the man whose principles he admired.
The Legacy: A Monument of Enduring Principle
I realized the importance of my father’s "unspoken permission" only after decades, especially when I read about the hill's recent history in a 2025 article in The Hindu daily. Though the site fell into neglect over the years, it is now undergoing a massive transformation, with a ₹90-crore master plan to restore its past glory.
The premises, once the simple backdrop for our cycle rides, now feature enhanced amenities, including a 40-foot lift, ashram replicas, and a dedicated foundation working to transform it into a global hub of Gandhian thought. The 52-foot stupa remains, etched with Gandhi's inspiring messages.
My father knew that by allowing me to spend time there, he was reinforcing the importance of ideals—that the principles of a man like Gandhi were more important than any movie or market trip. His guidance, "If you think right, you speak right, and you do the right," remains the lasting legacy of those Sunday cycle trips to the hill, a lesson that requires no physical structure to be followed but whose foundation was appropriately laid atop a hill dedicated to integrity.
MB#38: Quiz
MB38-Question: What was the "real fun" of the trip, which involved rolling effortlessly without pedaling?
A. Riding a scooter down the slope.
B. Rolling down the slope road.
C. Taking a chairlift down the slope.
D. Sliding down the steep rock face.
MB#38: Quote