By IANS
New Delhi : Ramachandra Gandhi, the Mahatma Gandhi's grandson, philosopher, educationist and also an ardent cricket lover, was Wednesday found dead in his room at the India International Centre (IIC) here. He will be cremated Thursday.
Ramachandra Gandhi, 70, was living in Bengali Market area of central Delhi but had Sunday checked in at the IIC – where he used to spend most of his time in recent years – after a power failure at his residence.
The cremation will take place at the crematorium ground in Lodhi Road, family sources said.
The Chennai-born philosopher who studied in the capital's Modern School and St. Stephens College had represented his school and college in cricket and closely followed the game.
"He was a quiet person but spoke eloquently on cricket which was his favourite game," said former union minister Jagmohan who knew him personally and frequently had discussions on various subjects at the IIC, the capital's intellectual bastion.
"A distinguished philosopher, Ramachandra Gandhi had been very happy over the recent wins of the Indian cricket team in Bangladesh," Jagmohan told IANS.
"Apart from cricket, he also took deep interest in tennis and these were the two games that were closest to him," his elder brother, journalist-author Rajmohan Gandhi told IANS.
The second son of Devdas Gandhi, Ramachandra was also a grandson of C. Rajagopalachari, independent India's second governor general.
His younger brother Gopalkrishna Gandhi is governor of West Bengal, while elder sister Tara Bhattacharya is chairperson of Gandhi Smriti.
Ramachandra Gandhi held doctoral degrees in linguistics and philosophy from Delhi University and Oxford and had taught philosophy at various universities in Britain, the US and Santiniketan, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Punjab in India.
He had written and edited several books, including "The Availability of Religious Ideas" and "Sita's Kitchen: A Testimony of Faith and Inquiry". A recent book "Svaraj: A Journey with Tyeb Mehta" offers a meditation on selfhood and Indian history.
He had also written and produced several plays and a film on his grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi.