India, Feb. 16 -- His face is on every Indian currency note, a stamp of trust. He features on postage stamps, and in our road signs. Over and over, in the early years of independence, major cities christened streets or neighbourhoods after him (MG Road; Gandhinagar).
Children dress up as him at fancy-dress events. His words find their way into ad slogans and school assemblies, T-shirts and Instagram posts ("Live as if you were to die tomorrow").
His spectacles alone feature in campaigns, indicators of truth, purpose, dependability. They are the logo of the central government's Swachh Bharat (Clean India) Mission.
His message - of truth, non-violence, simplicity and self-reliance - turns up in conversations, debates, editorials, arguments...