TIRUVALLUR: In a classic example of how age is no bar for pursuing one’s passion, a 91-year-old man dressed up and covered himself in silver paint to look like the statue of Mahatma Gandhi and create awareness about the principles of the Father of the Nation in Tiruvallur.

It was interesting to note the patriot Syed Babu hailing from Katpadi also fought alongside Gandhi during the freedom struggle. Despite his advanced old age, Syed disguises himself like Gandhi’s statue and stands at the corner of the highway at Oil Mill Road in Manavalan Nagar and grabs the attention of passersby with his walking stick and books in hand. If people spare a few minutes to speak to him, Syed enlightens them about the teachings of the Mahatma and emphasis on ahimsa, the way of non-violence.

He has been continuing to create awareness by dressing up like Gandhi and has travelled to places like Gujarat, Nepal, Haryana, Orissa, Maharashtra, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh over the past 46 years. He picks up areas that are thickly populated with people so his teachings can reach a lot of them and claims that he plans on spreading the word of Gandhi till his last breath.

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