Rajmohan Gandhi: A Life of Leadership and Legacy

Jacqueline Coté, President of the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation, shares a personal reflection on her first meeting with Rajmohan Gandhi and the inspiration behind the 2025 edition of "Thoughts for Change".

"Caux Initiatives of Change is a Swiss foundation which promotes peace and democracy through dialogue. For decades, we have witnessed stories of trust and reconciliation, thus helping bridge the world’s divides.

Snippets of these stories can be found on the foundation’s website and books have paid tribute to many of the speakers at our Caux Forums. But never have we made whole addresses accessible.

It is to honour one of our special guests, Rajmohan Gandhi, that the idea of this publication arose.

I met Rajmohan in Panchgani, the seat of Initiatives of Change India, in January 2024. Rajmohan is a tall and impressive-looking man who carries the weight of his name and the wisdom of his age. I was at first very intimidated: what could I share about Caux that Rajmohan had not already heard? After all, Rajmohan first came to Caux the year I was born!

But Rajmohan quickly put me at ease by first inquiring about my children and my jet lag. When he had won me over, we got on to the topics dear to his heart, the social and political movements in India and the USA, and how Caux and Panchgani could bring about changes in people’s lives.

This first encounter had a profound effect on me, and I invited Rajmohan and his wife Usha to join us at our Caux Forums in July that year. Throughout the month Rajmohan graced us with his presence and shared the incisive and profound reflections which you will read below."

In 2025, we are featuring Rajmohan Gandhi’s "Thoughts for Change", drawn from his speeches at the Caux Forum 2024. This publication seeks to humbly share the rich exchange of ideas from the Caux Forum.

 

How is solidarity or teamwork or partnership built?
Above all by listening.
Even when you or I have a wonderful thought inside our minds,
it may be better to leave that thought unuttered
and to listen to the very ordinary thought of your friend, and to reflect on that thought.
The world will not be the loser for a brief embargo on my thought or your thought.

👉Click here to download the publication.