Who or what are the Filhos de Gandhy anyway?

by CelebrateBrazil.com

So, I was listening to Clara Nunes singing Ijexá (Filhos De Ghandi), which I've done off and on for many years, and my cabeça has been filled with so much I couldn't quite remember who who Children of Gandhi (Filhos de Gandy) were, so I had to refresh myself.

Filhos de Gandhy is a street procession (afoxé, or Candomblé of the street) that comes out during Carnvial. The hallmark of the Filhos de Gandhy is that these men (for it is made up only of men) are dedicated to and inspired by the spirit of peace and non-violence embodied by Mahatma Gandhi. The group was founded in 1949, just over a year after Mahatma Gandhi was tragically assassinated. The inspiration came to a group of longshoremen in Salvador, in the state of Bahia in Brazil. A deep and nuanced history to this group evolved with countless cultural aspects including the men not drinking alcohol so as to not go against the ideals they were trying to uphold, and the fact that women could watch the parades and make the costumes.

The music, though, is much of an ambassador these days. Gilberto Gil also has the song Patuscada de Gandhi (Afoxé Filhos de Gandhi) as well as this exuberant Filhos De Gandhi you can listen to accompanied by images of Brazil and picture's of his album covers.

If you are interested, here are a few more links to delve into:

Wikipedia entry for Filhos de Gandy (in Portuguese).

Filhos de Gandhy official site (in Portuguese).

The lyrics (in Portuguese) to Clara Nunes song Ijexá (Filhos De Ghandi)