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被尊奉为“印度国父”的圣雄甘地一生为印度的独立事业殚精竭虑，除了随身衣物之外，没有为自己的后代留下任何财产。近来，他的遗物在纽约安蒂古伦拍卖行被拍卖，该消息在印度社会引起了轩然大波。
据悉，本次拍卖的遗物是甘地当年作为礼物送给外国友人的，后来辗转成为美国人詹姆斯·奥蒂斯的个人藏品。由于这些遗物是通过合法途径流传到境外收藏者手中，印度政府不能对这些遗物的归属提出任何异议，印度法院也没有足够的法律依据来制止外国拍卖公司的商业行为。但是，为让甘地遗物回归祖国，印度政府和民众一起进行了不懈的努力。
最终，印度富商维贾伊·马尔雅以180万美元的高价成功拍下了圣雄甘地的5件遗物，并宣布将其捐献给祖国。
Mahatma Gandhi’s 2)meager possessions were to finally return home after a3)flamboyant Indian 4)tycoon paid 1.8 million dollars on March 5 to win a dramatic auction in New York.
Cheers erupted at 5)Antiquorum Auctioneers when the hammer came down on the huge bid by liquor and airline 6)baron Vijay Mallya. “Basically he was bidding for the country,” said Tony Bedi, who acted on behalf of Mallya to 7)secure the revered independence leader’s round glasses, worn leather sandals, pocket watch, plate and bowl.
India had 8)bitterly opposed the auction, insisting that Gandhi’s belongings were part of the country’s national heritage and that their sale was an insult to the 9)memory of a man who rejected material wealth. The owner, California-based 10)pacifist James Otis, insisted the auction would proceed. With less than an hour to go, he astonished journalists outside the auction house by announcing that “11)in light of the controversy” he too wanted the sale stopped.
But he was too late and Antiquorum went ahead. A 12)fanfare of soft music and a 13)slide show of black and white Gandhi photos introduced the bitterly controversial 14)lot to a packed room. Then Indian businessmen—who had seen both their government and Otis himself fail to stop the sale—15)leapt in, bidding frantically to prevent any foreigner from winning. Within seconds, Antiquorum’s opening price of 20,000 to 30,000 dollars for the five items 16)rocketed to half a million dollars, and then kept climbing rapidly. Asked afterward if the possessions of a man who embraced poverty were really worth 1.8 million dollars, white 17)turbaned Bedi laughed: “I think they’re worth six million dollars. ”
There was still one more twist before Gandhi’s passionate followers could 18)breathe easy. Otis had declared the auction to be illegal and his lawyer had warned of 19)legal action if Antiquorum went ahead. Antiquorum declared a two-week delay in delivering the goods to the auction’s highest bidder to 20)address legal questions. Bedi acknowledged the 21)delicate situation, saying: “Obviously there are some restrictions at the moment 22)pending resolution whether this auction was legal.”
Otis explained through his lawyer that his last-minute opposition to the auction had been because he suddenly feared that someone unsuitable, like a foreign dictator, would win. Mallya’s promise to 23)repatriate the items resolved that worry.
“Mahatma Gandhi is the father of the nation, and there could not be anything more important historically or culturally than his belongings,” and their return home, Mr. Mallya said in a telephone interview from France. And he said that he planned to give the items to the government of India.
Mr. Mallya, the chairman of the 24)conglomerate 25)UB Group, seems an unlikely 26)go-between for property belonging to the 27)teetotaling, 28)chastity-preaching spiritual father of independent India. The self-proclaimed “King of Good Times” favors cowboy hats, imported cigars and old 29)Scotch. He has developed the company he inherited from his father with marketing skills and an appetite for bold,30)leveraged deals.
Critics say Gandhi would not be pleased that his belongings were Mr. Mallya’s most recent acquisition. Gandhi would “commit suicide if he were to see this all from the sky,” said Chandra Prasad, a writer who campaigns for more rights for India’s lowest class. “Throughout his life he fought against consumption of liquor and now a liquor baron is buying his stuff.”
Mr. Mallya, whose 31)net worth was estimated at $390 million last year by 32)Forbes magazine, collects artifacts and relics, as well as modern Indian art. In 2003, he bought the sword of 33)Tipu Sultan in a London auction. “I’ve always believed such heritage items should come back to India,” Mr. Mallya said.
Gandhi’s own relatives do not seem to be concerned about the purchase. “Mr. Vijaya Mallya is a very respectable businessman,” said Tushar Gandhi, the Mahatma’s great-grandson, leader of the Gandhi Foundation and a lecturer on nonviolence. “What he is doing is legitimate business,” he said. “He is not selling illicit liquor.”
Mr. Mallya has “saved India’s prestige,” Mr. Gandhi said. If a foreigner had bought the items, it “would have been a 34)slap on India’s face.” Not surprisingly, Mr. Mallya agreed. “I’m still an Indian, right?” he said. “Whatever I am today I owe to my country, and my business is 35)anchored in India.”
“Gandhi was a tolerant man who had room for all kinds of people among his friends,” said Gurcharan Das, an author who writes about changing India. Gandhi may have “found Vijay Mallya’s high-consumption lifestyle not to his taste,” Mr. Das said, “but he would have admired his entrepreneurial energy.”
三月五日，在纽约一场富有戏剧性的拍卖会上，随着一位派头十足的印度企业界大亨以180万美元的出价竞拍成功，圣雄甘地的几件遗物最终将回到印度。
当拍卖锤最终敲定印度酒王和航空巨头维贾伊·马尔雅竞拍成功时，纽约安蒂古伦拍卖行里爆发出一阵阵欢呼。“他根本就是在为印度竞拍。”马尔雅的代理人托尼·贝迪说。他代表马尔雅在拍卖会上竞标，志在竞得备受尊敬的印度独立领袖甘地的遗物——一副圆框眼镜、一双旧的皮凉鞋、一只怀表和一副碗盘。
印度方面曾强烈地反对这次拍卖，并坚称甘地的遗物是该国国家遗产的一部分，这种拍卖行为，对不屑物质财富的甘地的名声是一种侮辱。这些遗物的所有者，来自美国加州的一名和平主义者詹姆斯·奥蒂斯则坚持继续拍卖。但是在距离拍卖开始不到一小时的时刻，奥蒂斯却突然宣布“考虑到拍卖行为引发的争议”，他也想取消这次拍卖，这让等候在拍卖行门外的记者们大吃一惊。
然而他太迟了，纽约安蒂古伦拍卖行如期举行了拍卖。嘹亮的轻音乐奏响，一组有关甘地的黑白照幻灯片在台上播放，那一组激起怨愤争议的拍卖品随之登场，场内挤满了人。印度商人们明白到他们的政府和奥蒂斯本人都无法阻止这次拍卖，于是纷纷迅速行动，疯狂出价，防止任何一个外国人竞拍成功。几秒钟之内，那五件物品的价格就从两到三万美元——安蒂古伦拍卖行开出的底价——飙升至50万美元，并继续迅速攀升。事后当被问及一生甘守清贫的甘地的遗物是否真的值180万美元时，头裹白头巾的贝迪笑着回答说：“我认为它们值600万美元。”
甘地的热心追随者们还不能松一口气，因为这件事情还要经历一番曲折。奥蒂斯曾公开宣称这次拍卖是违法的，他的律师也曾警告，如果安蒂古伦拍卖行不顾奥蒂斯的阻止而如期举行拍卖，他们将提起诉讼。安蒂古伦拍卖行宣布，因为要先处理法律问题，将会推迟两周交货给拍卖会上的最高价竞买者。贝迪确认了这一棘手的情况，他说：“很明显，目前是有一定限制的，一切要看这次拍卖最终被判定是否合法。”
奥蒂斯通过他的律师解释说，他在最后一刻反对拍卖的原因在于，他突然很担心物品会由不合适的人物竞得，如某个外国独裁者。而马尔雅承诺会把那些物品送回印度，这就消除了奥蒂斯的忧虑。
“圣雄甘地是印度之父，不管是从历史角度还是文化角度来看，没有任何东西比他的遗物更重要”，还有就是把这些物品送回印度，身在法国的马尔雅先生在一个电话采访中说道。同时，他表示自己打算将那些遗物交给印度政府。
作为印度大企业联合酿酒集团的主席，马尔雅先生似乎不太像会成为甘地遗物回归印度的中间人，要想想，带领人民争取独立的印度精神之父甘地可是一向持绝对禁酒主义并倡导简朴生活的。而自称是“盛世之王”的马尔雅喜欢戴牛仔帽，抽进口雪茄，喝陈年的苏格兰威士忌酒。通过运用营销技巧，大胆贷款经营，他发展壮大了继承自父亲的公司。
批评家们说，看到自己的遗物成为马尔雅先生的最新“战利品”，甘地是不会高兴的。甘地会“自杀，假如他在天上看到了这一切。”致力于为印度最底层人群争取更多权利的作家钱德拉·普拉萨德说，“甘地一生为禁酒而抗争，而今一个酒业大亨买下了他的遗物。”
依据去年的《福布斯》杂志，马尔雅先生的个人资本净值估计有3.9亿美元。他收集古工艺品、文物以及印度现代艺术品。2003年，他在伦敦一个拍卖会上买下了提普苏丹之剑。“我一直坚信这些物品应当回到印度。”马尔雅先生说。
甘地的亲属对这一买卖似乎并不担忧。“维贾伊·马尔雅先生是一位非常有名望的商人，”图沙尔·甘地说，他是圣雄甘地的曾孙，甘地基金会的负责人，宣扬非暴力主义。“他所做的是合法的生意，”图沙尔说，“他没有非法售酒。”
马尔雅先生“保全了印度的声誉，”甘地先生说。如果是一名外国人买走了那些遗物，那“将是对印度的一种侮辱。”自然，马尔雅先生赞同这一说法。“我依然是一名印度人，对吧？”他说，“不管我现在做什么，我得归功于我的祖国，而且我的生意扎根在印度。”
“甘地是个宽容的人，他的朋友当中有形形色色的各种人，”古尔恰兰·达斯说，他写的书以变化中的印度为题材。甘地可能会“认为维贾伊·马尔雅那高消费的生活方式不合他的理念，”达斯先生说，“但是他会赞赏马尔雅的企业家精神。”
据悉，本次拍卖的遗物是甘地当年作为礼物送给外国友人的，后来辗转成为美国人詹姆斯·奥蒂斯的个人藏品。由于这些遗物是通过合法途径流传到境外收藏者手中，印度政府不能对这些遗物的归属提出任何异议，印度法院也没有足够的法律依据来制止外国拍卖公司的商业行为。但是，为让甘地遗物回归祖国，印度政府和民众一起进行了不懈的努力。
最终，印度富商维贾伊·马尔雅以180万美元的高价成功拍下了圣雄甘地的5件遗物，并宣布将其捐献给祖国。
Mahatma Gandhi’s 2)meager possessions were to finally return home after a3)flamboyant Indian 4)tycoon paid 1.8 million dollars on March 5 to win a dramatic auction in New York.
Cheers erupted at 5)Antiquorum Auctioneers when the hammer came down on the huge bid by liquor and airline 6)baron Vijay Mallya. “Basically he was bidding for the country,” said Tony Bedi, who acted on behalf of Mallya to 7)secure the revered independence leader’s round glasses, worn leather sandals, pocket watch, plate and bowl.
India had 8)bitterly opposed the auction, insisting that Gandhi’s belongings were part of the country’s national heritage and that their sale was an insult to the 9)memory of a man who rejected material wealth. The owner, California-based 10)pacifist James Otis, insisted the auction would proceed. With less than an hour to go, he astonished journalists outside the auction house by announcing that “11)in light of the controversy” he too wanted the sale stopped.
But he was too late and Antiquorum went ahead. A 12)fanfare of soft music and a 13)slide show of black and white Gandhi photos introduced the bitterly controversial 14)lot to a packed room. Then Indian businessmen—who had seen both their government and Otis himself fail to stop the sale—15)leapt in, bidding frantically to prevent any foreigner from winning. Within seconds, Antiquorum’s opening price of 20,000 to 30,000 dollars for the five items 16)rocketed to half a million dollars, and then kept climbing rapidly. Asked afterward if the possessions of a man who embraced poverty were really worth 1.8 million dollars, white 17)turbaned Bedi laughed: “I think they’re worth six million dollars. ”
There was still one more twist before Gandhi’s passionate followers could 18)breathe easy. Otis had declared the auction to be illegal and his lawyer had warned of 19)legal action if Antiquorum went ahead. Antiquorum declared a two-week delay in delivering the goods to the auction’s highest bidder to 20)address legal questions. Bedi acknowledged the 21)delicate situation, saying: “Obviously there are some restrictions at the moment 22)pending resolution whether this auction was legal.”
Otis explained through his lawyer that his last-minute opposition to the auction had been because he suddenly feared that someone unsuitable, like a foreign dictator, would win. Mallya’s promise to 23)repatriate the items resolved that worry.
“Mahatma Gandhi is the father of the nation, and there could not be anything more important historically or culturally than his belongings,” and their return home, Mr. Mallya said in a telephone interview from France. And he said that he planned to give the items to the government of India.
Mr. Mallya, the chairman of the 24)conglomerate 25)UB Group, seems an unlikely 26)go-between for property belonging to the 27)teetotaling, 28)chastity-preaching spiritual father of independent India. The self-proclaimed “King of Good Times” favors cowboy hats, imported cigars and old 29)Scotch. He has developed the company he inherited from his father with marketing skills and an appetite for bold,30)leveraged deals.
Critics say Gandhi would not be pleased that his belongings were Mr. Mallya’s most recent acquisition. Gandhi would “commit suicide if he were to see this all from the sky,” said Chandra Prasad, a writer who campaigns for more rights for India’s lowest class. “Throughout his life he fought against consumption of liquor and now a liquor baron is buying his stuff.”
Mr. Mallya, whose 31)net worth was estimated at $390 million last year by 32)Forbes magazine, collects artifacts and relics, as well as modern Indian art. In 2003, he bought the sword of 33)Tipu Sultan in a London auction. “I’ve always believed such heritage items should come back to India,” Mr. Mallya said.
Gandhi’s own relatives do not seem to be concerned about the purchase. “Mr. Vijaya Mallya is a very respectable businessman,” said Tushar Gandhi, the Mahatma’s great-grandson, leader of the Gandhi Foundation and a lecturer on nonviolence. “What he is doing is legitimate business,” he said. “He is not selling illicit liquor.”
Mr. Mallya has “saved India’s prestige,” Mr. Gandhi said. If a foreigner had bought the items, it “would have been a 34)slap on India’s face.” Not surprisingly, Mr. Mallya agreed. “I’m still an Indian, right?” he said. “Whatever I am today I owe to my country, and my business is 35)anchored in India.”
“Gandhi was a tolerant man who had room for all kinds of people among his friends,” said Gurcharan Das, an author who writes about changing India. Gandhi may have “found Vijay Mallya’s high-consumption lifestyle not to his taste,” Mr. Das said, “but he would have admired his entrepreneurial energy.”
三月五日，在纽约一场富有戏剧性的拍卖会上，随着一位派头十足的印度企业界大亨以180万美元的出价竞拍成功，圣雄甘地的几件遗物最终将回到印度。
当拍卖锤最终敲定印度酒王和航空巨头维贾伊·马尔雅竞拍成功时，纽约安蒂古伦拍卖行里爆发出一阵阵欢呼。“他根本就是在为印度竞拍。”马尔雅的代理人托尼·贝迪说。他代表马尔雅在拍卖会上竞标，志在竞得备受尊敬的印度独立领袖甘地的遗物——一副圆框眼镜、一双旧的皮凉鞋、一只怀表和一副碗盘。
印度方面曾强烈地反对这次拍卖，并坚称甘地的遗物是该国国家遗产的一部分，这种拍卖行为，对不屑物质财富的甘地的名声是一种侮辱。这些遗物的所有者，来自美国加州的一名和平主义者詹姆斯·奥蒂斯则坚持继续拍卖。但是在距离拍卖开始不到一小时的时刻，奥蒂斯却突然宣布“考虑到拍卖行为引发的争议”，他也想取消这次拍卖，这让等候在拍卖行门外的记者们大吃一惊。
然而他太迟了，纽约安蒂古伦拍卖行如期举行了拍卖。嘹亮的轻音乐奏响，一组有关甘地的黑白照幻灯片在台上播放，那一组激起怨愤争议的拍卖品随之登场，场内挤满了人。印度商人们明白到他们的政府和奥蒂斯本人都无法阻止这次拍卖，于是纷纷迅速行动，疯狂出价，防止任何一个外国人竞拍成功。几秒钟之内，那五件物品的价格就从两到三万美元——安蒂古伦拍卖行开出的底价——飙升至50万美元，并继续迅速攀升。事后当被问及一生甘守清贫的甘地的遗物是否真的值180万美元时，头裹白头巾的贝迪笑着回答说：“我认为它们值600万美元。”
甘地的热心追随者们还不能松一口气，因为这件事情还要经历一番曲折。奥蒂斯曾公开宣称这次拍卖是违法的，他的律师也曾警告，如果安蒂古伦拍卖行不顾奥蒂斯的阻止而如期举行拍卖，他们将提起诉讼。安蒂古伦拍卖行宣布，因为要先处理法律问题，将会推迟两周交货给拍卖会上的最高价竞买者。贝迪确认了这一棘手的情况，他说：“很明显，目前是有一定限制的，一切要看这次拍卖最终被判定是否合法。”
奥蒂斯通过他的律师解释说，他在最后一刻反对拍卖的原因在于，他突然很担心物品会由不合适的人物竞得，如某个外国独裁者。而马尔雅承诺会把那些物品送回印度，这就消除了奥蒂斯的忧虑。
“圣雄甘地是印度之父，不管是从历史角度还是文化角度来看，没有任何东西比他的遗物更重要”，还有就是把这些物品送回印度，身在法国的马尔雅先生在一个电话采访中说道。同时，他表示自己打算将那些遗物交给印度政府。
作为印度大企业联合酿酒集团的主席，马尔雅先生似乎不太像会成为甘地遗物回归印度的中间人，要想想，带领人民争取独立的印度精神之父甘地可是一向持绝对禁酒主义并倡导简朴生活的。而自称是“盛世之王”的马尔雅喜欢戴牛仔帽，抽进口雪茄，喝陈年的苏格兰威士忌酒。通过运用营销技巧，大胆贷款经营，他发展壮大了继承自父亲的公司。
批评家们说，看到自己的遗物成为马尔雅先生的最新“战利品”，甘地是不会高兴的。甘地会“自杀，假如他在天上看到了这一切。”致力于为印度最底层人群争取更多权利的作家钱德拉·普拉萨德说，“甘地一生为禁酒而抗争，而今一个酒业大亨买下了他的遗物。”
依据去年的《福布斯》杂志，马尔雅先生的个人资本净值估计有3.9亿美元。他收集古工艺品、文物以及印度现代艺术品。2003年，他在伦敦一个拍卖会上买下了提普苏丹之剑。“我一直坚信这些物品应当回到印度。”马尔雅先生说。
甘地的亲属对这一买卖似乎并不担忧。“维贾伊·马尔雅先生是一位非常有名望的商人，”图沙尔·甘地说，他是圣雄甘地的曾孙，甘地基金会的负责人，宣扬非暴力主义。“他所做的是合法的生意，”图沙尔说，“他没有非法售酒。”
马尔雅先生“保全了印度的声誉，”甘地先生说。如果是一名外国人买走了那些遗物，那“将是对印度的一种侮辱。”自然，马尔雅先生赞同这一说法。“我依然是一名印度人，对吧？”他说，“不管我现在做什么，我得归功于我的祖国，而且我的生意扎根在印度。”
“甘地是个宽容的人，他的朋友当中有形形色色的各种人，”古尔恰兰·达斯说，他写的书以变化中的印度为题材。甘地可能会“认为维贾伊·马尔雅那高消费的生活方式不合他的理念，”达斯先生说，“但是他会赞赏马尔雅的企业家精神。”