Auction of Gandhi's belongings - My Take

India is making last-minute efforts to try to stop the New York auction of personal items belonging to the Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi on Thursday.

The foreign ministry says it has ordered its diplomats in New York to do whatever they can to obtain the items, possibly even bidding on them at the auction.

Antiquorum Auctioneers, the auction house, says it will start bidding at between $20,000 and $30,000, but expects the final price to be much higher.

Officials from the consulate have been talking to the New York auction house that plans to sell the collection, and also with the California man, James Otis, who owns some of the objects. The collection includes Gandhi's trademark wire-rimmed eyeglasses, a pocket watch, worn leather sandals and a brass bowl and plate. Antiquorum Auctioneers says it intends to put them on the auction block as a single item.

Mahatma Gandhi's iconic wire-rimmed spectacles

The Mahatma's worn-out leather sandals

Mahatma's watch

India's government has been under intense domestic pressure to get the objects returned to India. Gandhi's relatives, including his great-grandson Tushar Gandhi, and many other Indians object to the sale, and consider Gandhi's belongings part of their national heritage.

An Indian court Tuesday issued an injunction against the sale, but the ruling is not believed to be binding in the United States. Some Indians living in the United States have said they may try to buy the objects to ensure they are returned home.

But actually, in my point, there's been much furore regarding this 'national heritage'. The base price is somewhere around $20,000 to $30,000 and they are believed to gross much much more than this. Lets say they are auctioned for a $100,000 to $150,000 (which is more than 5 million INR - Indian Rupees). Now that's a whopping sum.

James Otis, the owner of most of the belongings up for auction, has said that he would 'give away' the items if Indian government spends more amount towards education and healthcare of the poor. That's a nice condition.

The foreign ministry of India has directed its consulate to do 'WHATEVER' it can, possibly bidding too. Now if they want it that desperately, they'll have to bid the highest amount, which may be more than $100,000 (according to our assumption).

All I want to say is that, India has got so many people living below poverty line. Why not the government tries to spend the same amount (or even 50 per cent of it) towards the betterment of their lives rather than bidding on these articles. I don't say that they are unimportant to India, but I think working towards a better future is much much more important than bidding for the past.

These are my personal views.... Yours can be different....