Viewfinder: Celebration of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

BELLEVUE -- With song and dance and a vigil by candlelight, local residents celebrated the lives of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. earlier this week.

The event also included the unveiling of a donor plaque thanking the major donors of the statue of Gandhi that sits in the Bellevue library. Donors thanked included the city of Bellevue, Microsoft Corp., the Federation of Indian American Associations of Washington and the Mehta family of Bellevue.

Uday Mehta, a doctor in the Newcastle area, said his family felt honored to contribute to the statue of Gandhi at the library.

"Mahatma Gandhi is a hero for all Indians, especially us, because we come from the same state," Mehta said. "We're happy to have our names associated with him."

The multicultural event was held Sunday at the Bellevue library, and was organized by the Federation of Indian American Associations of Washington. It included Indian classical dance performances, a choir performance by the Swaranjali Music School, and musical performances by singer Patronella Wright, singer Steve Thoreson and guitarist Andre Feriante.

Rev. Samuel McKinney, Pastor Emeritus of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Seattle and a civil rights activist who brought his classmate Martin Luther King, Jr., to Seattle for a speaking engagement in 1961, was the keynote speaker

Gandhi, who was born Mohandas Gandhi in 1869 -- Mahatma is a honorific -- was a political activist whose writings and practices helped India gain independence from Britain. He was noted for his non-violent resistance. He was asssassinated on Jan. 30, 1948.

The U.S. Census estimates that about 6,800 Bellevue residents were of Indian origin in 2008. That is about 5.6 percent of the city's population. (Updated numbers are expected with the release of the 2010 Census data.)

Sudip Gorakshakar, chairman of the FIAWA, said the organization also commemorates Gandhi's birth date with another celebration in October.

Mehta said that he hopes that Bellevue residents are inspired to learn more about Gandhi by the statue at the library.

"We come to the library and we see people looking at it, enjoying it, and our son plays all over it," Mehta said. "We hope that people learn about Gandhi for many more generations to come."

Viewfinder is a new weekly feature on Bellevue Patch. We will feature recent events or photos of Bellevue in a gallery each week. If you know of an event that might be a good fit for View Finder -- or if you have a gallery of photos that you'd like to feature on Bellevue Patch -- write to me at venice.buhain@patch.com.