Obama to be gifted Mahatma's autobiography

US President Barack Obama, who will arrive in Mumbai on November 6 for a four-day official visit to the country, would be presented a copy of Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography when he visits the Mani Bhavan in Mumbai.

"Mani Bhavan president Vasant Pradhan will present a copy of The Story of My Experiments with Truth to President Obama," Mani Bhavan Gandhi Museum executive secretary, Meghshyam Ajgaonkar told PTI.

On arrival at the Bhavan, Obama will pay respects at the statue of the Mahatma on the ground floor and proceed to spend some time in the room on the second floor where the Mahatma stayed, Ajgaonkar said.

The US President would then undertake a visit around the museum. Normally, the visit takes around 20 minutes, he said.

Mani Bhavan, where Gandhi lived during the freedom struggle when he visited the city, will be shut to the public on November 5 and 6, in view of the US President's visit.

Normally, even on Sundays and almost all festivals, the building remains open to the public. This old-styled two-storied building on Laburnum Road is where Gandhiji stayed, whenever he was in Mumbai between 1917 and 1934.

It was then converted into a museum and research centre. Visitors come to see the room that Gandhiji occupied, its picture gallery, the library hall and terrace, where he was arrested on January 4, 1932.

"Obama is a follower of Gandhian philosophy. He believes in truth, love and non-violence. That is why he has chosen to visit Mani Bhavan on his first day in India," he said.