On Artists, Charlatans, Radio - Such a long (train) journey!

I'm writing this while on a moving train - as a result, this will be another  "stream of consciousness" style missive given that my thoughts are  interrupted by countless distractions - the food cart, people asking "is this seat taken", kids crying; you get the idea. Still, I enjoy train journeys  (must have something to do with the fact that even as a child growing up in  India, travelling by train was always exciting) and will use this one to share my thoughts on today's subject: Artists (pictured left) vs. Charlatans (no pictures). 

char·la·tan

noun \ˈshär-lə-tən\

Definition of CHARLATAN
1: quack
2: one making usually showy pretenses to knowledge or ability :fraud, faker

Glenn Gould and Mahatma Gandhi (a celebration of two inspirational Librans)

I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man. - Mahatma Gandhi

 Today, October 2nd  is Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday. I never forget this date, because it was always a school holiday - "Gandhi Jayanti" as it is called in India. Gandhi's colourful life and extraordinary impact on the Indian freedom struggle formed a part of every history book in school, back when I was a child and teenager, though this old black and white photo of Mohandas  Gandhi as a young boy never made it into any of those books. The Gandhi that I know is the Gandhi that the rest of the world remembers today, the Gandhi portrayed so brilliantly by Sir Ben Kingsley in the 1982 film which also featured Rohini Hattangadi as Kasturba Gandhi (who studied in Pune as well). It was only when I saw the play Mahatma vs Gandhi written by Dinkar Joshi, when I was about 16 years old that I began to question the "Gandhi" that I had looked up to for so long. I guess that was also one of the moments when Gandhi became less of a God-like figure, more of a flawed human being with an inspiring mind and vision.