How Gandhi built a brand of himself, way better than Apple’s Steve Jobs and yes it’s still relevant

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi just turned 147 today. As we celebrate his birth anniversary, he remains the key to unlock all doors that lead to management of life and the world. A great communicator and marketing guru that he was, it’s a fact to ponder what he would have done if he had got a Twitter handle or a Facebook page at that time.

A few years back, a controversy involving him and Mont Blanc, a German luxury writing instruments-company broke out. The company had introduced Mahatma Gandhi Limited Edition pen, claiming the "top of the cap and cone are inspired by the spindle with which Gandhi used to spin cotton. The colour white is a reference to truth and peace, while the Mandarin garnet represents the orange colour that is part of the Indian flag". The pen costed Rs 11 lakh.

It ran into controversy as various quarters claimed it negated Gandhi's motto of simple living and high thinking”. "Why endorse the culture of consumerism and greed when Bapu was himself against it?" was the question that echoed around.

However his grandson Tushar Gandhi was quick to defend the move. "He (Bapu) would sell his autograph for Rs 5 which he gave to the khadi fund," he pointed out. Gandhi sold his autographs to ensure financial viability of his endeavours. Lutz Bethge, the CEO of Mont Blanc handed over a cheque for 101,000 euros (over Rs 70 lakh) to the Tushar Gandhi-run Mahatma Gandhi Foundation that has a home and school in Kolhapur for rescued child labourers. In addition, Entrack, Mont Blanc's local partner committed to give Rs 10,000 from each sale of the Memorial Edition pen and Rs 50,000 from each Retail Edition.