On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, this cartoon series imagines a playful but pointed question: If Mahatma Gandhi were alive in 2026, what would he be doing in today’s India? October 2 marks Gandhi Jayanti, commemorating Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary. In 2026, the country is observing his 157th birth anniversary, with official programmes once again highlighting his ideas of truth, non-violence, simplicity and public service.
The cartoons bring Gandhi into the world of smartphones, social media, political protests and contemporary public life. Instead of simply presenting him as a historical figure frozen in textbooks and portraits, the series asks what his methods of protest and communication might look like in the digital age.
In one cartoon, Gandhi is imagined sitting at the charkha while someone holds up a smartphone and asks him to look at a photograph in a WhatsApp group. The familiar symbol of self-reliance is humorously placed alongside modern digital communication.
Another cartoon imagines Gandhi taking part in a protest, walking with a placard while a journalist asks whether he is “breaking the rules.” The contrast between his traditional non-violent protest methods and the language of contemporary public demonstrations forms the central joke.
A third cartoon plays with the modern political and religious landscape, with Gandhi responding when someone asks whether he has taken the name of Ram and whether he has visited Ayodhya. The reference connects Gandhi’s well-known association with “Ram” to contemporary debates surrounding Ayodhya and religion.
The final cartoon returns to Gandhi’s historic use of fasting as a form of protest. Here, he is shown sitting on a hunger strike while someone suggests that he join their political party and become a minister.
Together, the cartoons ask how Gandhi’s familiar tools — the charkha, non-violence, protest, fasting and moral persuasion — might translate into the realities of 2026. The humour comes from placing an iconic figure of India’s freedom movement inside the very different political, social and technological environment of today.
Cartoons by - Kirtish Bhatt
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