Two Gandhis, One Nation: The Story of Borrowed Heritage

Paromita Das

New Delhi, 24th October: History, at its core, is full of ironies — and in Bharat, one of the most striking ironies revolves around the name “Gandhi.” In the collective consciousness, the word “Gandhi” evokes a saint-like image of Mahatma Gandhi — the frail man in a dhoti who led a nation to freedom through non-violence. Yet, the “Gandhi” name that continues to dominate Bharatiya politics for over half a century belongs to a family with no blood relation to Mahatma Gandhi. While his true descendants live quietly in anonymity, the political dynasty that borrowed his surname continues to shape Bharatiya democracy.

The Forgotten Heirs of the Mahatma

Mahatma Gandhi’s real descendants never found privilege in their lineage. They neither used his name for political leverage nor sought power under his moral shadow. The irony reached its peak in 1989 when Rajmohan Gandhi — Mahatma Gandhi’s real grandson — contested elections against Rajiv Gandhi in Amethi. The symbolic battle was striking: the genuine heir of the Mahatma versus the political heir of Nehru, cloaked in a borrowed surname. The results reflected modern Bharat’s paradox. Rajmohan Gandhi lost, while Rajiv Gandhi won — a verdict that revealed how public fascination with the name “Gandhi” had outgrown its origin.

Today, the Mahatma’s family lives away from political limelight, dispersed across Bharat and even abroad. They engage in education, research, and social work, maintaining a low profile. Few citizens can name a living descendant of Mahatma Gandhi — a testament to how completely the political “Gandhis” have eclipsed the original line.

From Ghandy to Gandhi: The Making of a Brand

Tracing the roots of this name’s political transformation, one must step into the life of Feroze Gandhi — a man of Parsi descent, originally named Feroze Jehangir Ghandy. His father, Jehangir Fardoon Ghandy, was a Mumbai-based Parsi, and the family name was spelled “G-H-A-N-D-Y.” During Feroze’s participation in Bharat’s freedom struggle, several Hindi newspapers began mistakenly referring to him as “Gandhi,” a surname associated with Mahatma Gandhi’s moral aura.

According to renowned Swedish historian Bertil Falk, author of “Feroze Gandhi: The Forgotten Gandhi,” the misprint wasn’t corrected. The reason was simple — the Gandhi name carried immense revolutionary prestige. Over time, Feroze himself adopted this altered spelling, consciously or not, recognizing the influence it conjured. In that single linguistic shift — from “Ghandy” to “Gandhi” — history was rewritten. The surname acquired political sanctity, and future generations of this family would thrive under its inherited legacy.

The Rise of Bharat’s Political ‘Gandhis’

When Feroze Gandhi married Indira Nehru, the transformation was complete. The Nehru-Gandhi family emerged as a dominant political dynasty, their name echoing not only power but also moral legitimacy — a symbolic continuity between the nation’s Father of the Nation and modern Bharatiya politics. Over the decades, the Gandhi name became synonymous with leadership, emotion, and sacrifice, as much a political brand as a surname.

However, this blending of identity also blurred lines of authenticity. Most voters, especially in post-independence generations, came to associate “Gandhi” with natural leadership — a form of emotional inheritance that overshadowed fact. Rahul Gandhi, for instance, is not a descendant of Mahatma Gandhi but carries the name through Feroze Gandhi, whose own surname transformation was a historical accident. Yet, in public consciousness, the two Gandhis still intersect.

The Invisible Legacy of the True Gandhis

Contrast that with Mahatma Gandhi’s real lineage, and the disparity is stark. His descendants have consciously avoided publicity. Unlike the Nehru-Gandhi family, they have never contested for power in the name of their ancestry. Their absence from politics reflects both moral restraint and societal neglect. It raises a fundamental question: why did Bharat, a nation built on Gandhian ideals, forget Gandhi’s own family?

Perhaps because moral authority and political success follow different laws. The Mahatma’s ideals of simplicity don’t align with political grandeur, while the borrowed Gandhi surname has become a symbol of dynastic continuity and public identification.

The Price of a Borrowed Name

In truth, Bharat’s fixation with names and symbols often overshadows its attention to substance. The political Gandhis — for all their prominence — thrive on a historical coincidence that has perpetuated confusion. The real Gandhis, in contrast, remain true to their ancestor’s spirit — refusing to commercialize a surname that was never meant for power but for moral revolution.

This raises a pressing moral and psychological question for modern Bharat: Are we drawn more to legacy than to legitimacy? The veneration of a surname without its lineage illustrates how deeply public memory can be conditioned by narrative rather than fact. It’s not deception that sustains this myth — it’s our collective willingness to believe comfortingly simple stories about heritage and power.

Legacy vs. Lineage

In the end, the tale of the two Gandhi families is not just about mistaken identity. It’s a commentary on how Bharat, over decades, has conflated ideals with icons. Mahatma Gandhi’s true heirs chose silence over symbolism, while another family turned the same name into a political dynasty. Both paths hold lessons — one about integrity, the other about influence.

The borrowed surname might win elections, but the genuine legacy of Gandhi survives quietly — not in parliament, but in the conscience of those who still believe in his simplicity, honesty, and truth. The world may have forgotten who the real Gandhis are, but history remembers the man who never needed power to define his name.