$23,000 commemorative pen for Mahatma Gandhi's 140th birthday

In New Delhi, Gandhi, the father of modern India and an icon of asceticism and nonviolence, "latest incarnation may be the most ironic: Gandhi, in his signature loincloth, hawking a $23,000 fountain pen named in his honor. [This] limited-edition Montblanc fountain pen in 18-carat solid gold is engraved with Gandhi's image and tricked out with a saffron-colored mandarin garent on the clip and a rhodium-plated nib." This pen has been created to help celebrate Gandhi's 140th Birthday. With the price of this pen "Gandhi would say it should be tossed in the trash or, better, sold off to pay for water and power for the poor". And Amit Modi, secretary of Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram says "Gandhi would have been ashamed". Aware of the possible problems that would come with selling this pen, "Montblanc made a $145,666 donation to the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation even before selling a single pen" said Tushar Gandhi. "Montblanc is issuing 241 of the commemorative Gandhi pens, a number that highlights the amount of miles Gandhi walked in his famous 1930 'salt march' to the Arabian Sea , a successful act of civil disobedience against salt taxes levied by the British."

I believe that although the pen was created for a great cause, and is donating money to help others, the money used to create and buy the pen would be better used for food, water, and other needs for people, not only in India, but possibly in other countries.