Kicking off the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi, hundreds of people gathered in cities across the US to celebrate the birthday of the apostle of peace, with speakers describing his preaching of non-violence as more than ever relevant in today's world.
Gandhi's favourite bhajan titled "Vaishnav Jan To Tene Re Kahiye" along with others were rendered at all these functions.
Indian Ambassador to the US, Navtej Singh Sarna paying floral tributes to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi located outside the Indian Embassy premises in Washington.
India's Consul General in New York, Sandeep Chakravorty, paid floral tributes to the Gandhi statue at Union Square.
Hundreds of Gandhi's admirers gathered at his statue in the town of Davie, Florida to hear the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Rajmohan Gandhi. The event was also attended by the Indian Consul General in Atlanta, Swati Vijay Kulkarni.
Rajmohan in addition to his scholarly discourse added a few remembrances of his childhood in the company of 'Bapu' and 'Ba' (Kasturba), as recalled when he was about seven years old, he got a new pair of eyeglasses and Gandhiji teased him about the new glasses.
Gandhi's birth anniversary was also celebrated in Bellevue, Washington state, at Gandhi Memorial Center in Bethesda, Maryland and by Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan in New York.
(PTI)