India, Oct. 2 -- What is it about Gandhi - born 156 years ago in a world altogether different from ours, killed 78 years ago in a newly-independent India - that still resonates with the Urdu poet/writer of today?

First, a sampling from some recent works, and then a search for answers.

In a long, lyrical ghazal, Nushhur Wahidi speaks of Gandhi as a light that cannot be snuffed out, as a life force that will always show the way, as a treasure that can never be pillaged: Woh hamesha ke liye chup hue magar ik jahan ko zabaan dii/ Woh hamesha ke liye so gaye magar ik jahan ko jaga diya (He was silenced forever but he gave voice to a world/ He went to sleep forever but he awakened a world).

Writing especially on the occasion of Gandhi's birt...