Remembering the Mahatma

Dr. Vishiesh Verma
October 2 is Gandhi Jayanthi, the birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation who is now universally recognized as the glorious symbol of truth and non-violence. The United Nations General Assembly has declared the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi as the International Day of No-violence in recognition of his role in promoting the message of peace around the world. He preached and practiced non-violence to achieve his goal, campaigned to uplift the down-trodden, to ease the poverty, build religious ethnic amity, end untouchability and more.
In August 2013, US Vice President Joe Biden started his recent India trip, with a visit to Mahatma Gandhi’s Samadhi. While writing in visitors’ book, he called Gandhi “one man who changed the world”. Indeed he did. In 2009, US President Barack Obama while answering a question of a student of Arlington School Virginia said, “Mahatma Gandhi is a real Hero of mine, he is somebody from whom I find a lot of inspiration. Martin Luther king, Jr. said, “if it had not been for the non-violence movement in India, you might not have seen the same non-violence movement for civil rights here in the United States….”. at another occasion he said, “if humanity is to progress Gandhiji is inescapable, we may ignore him at our own risk”. The title “Mahatma” was accorded to Gandhiji in 1915 by Rabindranath Tagore, as stated in his autobiography. Gandhiji never accepted the title because he found himself unworthy of it.
What Gandhiji achieved in his life was a miracle. He was runner up in Time Magazine’s list of 100 most important people of 20th century, narrowly edged out by Albert Einstein who himself has said of Gandhiji, “He was the greatest man of our times and that Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth”. Gandhiji was named TIME’s Man of the Year in 1930. Gandhiji was too great to be honored by ‘Nobel Peace Prize’ by western powers. He never wanted an endorsement from the west for his values.
Gandhiji was not an individual, he was an inspiration, he was not a man but a movement, he was not an episode but a phenomenon, in any area of darkness he is the light. He hit India like an earthquake, his achievements, his death were dramatic, every act he focused the peoples’ attention on – the simple act of spinning, manufacturing salt, even cleaning the latrines became symbolic and somehow invested with grandeur. He made India’s sufferings rock on which he broke an empire.
So much attention has been given on Gandhiji’s moral qualities that his other great accomplishments are forgotten. It is not realized that in the success that he achieved, a great contribution was made by qualities which may or may not be accompanied by truth and non-violence. There are innumerable people in the world who are truthful and non-violent but who have failed to make their mark in any field of activity.
In fact Gandhi ji was a man of great intellectual attainments. Considering the time at his disposal he was a well read man. Even the people who were close to him, never knew that he was also a scholar of Arabic, Urdu and Persian. He read the Quran in Urdu. It was in fact Gandhi ji’s knowledge of Sura-e-Fatiha that actually saved his life while on a peace march in the riot-torn area of Noakhali in Bengal. It so happened that during the communal riots, he was walking through the Babu Bazar, a Muslim area, a fanatic rushed out and attacked him, Gandhiji recited Sura-e-Fatiha the miscreant was dazed. On hearing such fine recitation of Quran he apologized.
To a question posed by a correspondent in 1939 as to the books that impressed Gandhi ji most he replied- the Bible, the Gita, the Quran, unto the last by Ruskin, Edwin Arnold’s the light of Asia, on the Duty of Civil Disobedience by H.D.Thoreau, The Key to Theosophy by Madam Blavatsky, Mazzini’s Duties of Man. Gandhiji had a high regard for the Bible. It was the sermon on Mount that inspired him to follow the path of non-violence. But who so ever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Among the scriptures it was Gita where Gandhiji’s heart dwelt it was because of his mother. The impact of Gita worked wonders on him for he never indulged in frivolities when he was surrounded by doubts and there was no hope, he turned to Gita and always found a verse to suit the situation.
At the age of 35, Gandhjii became the editor of Indian opinion and through this he unified and guided the Indians in Africa. Besides a Gujarati edition of the same was being printed at Phoenix. Gandhiji knew well that newspapers could easily spread ideas. Young India and Navjivan were started at a much later stage. To him to depend on advertisements rather than on subscriptions for revenue was deplorable. In India too for 30 years, he published the journals Navjivan, Young India, Harijan without advertisements. Although it was not easy for a busy person like Gandhiji to edit all these papers but he did manage. Even at the age of 70, he got up at 1.30am and used to complete his work. When he got tired of writing with his right hand, he used his left hand. He could write with both the hands with equal efficiency. In spite of his directions that his birthday should not be observed as holiday, it is a national holiday in our country.
Gandhiji’s urge ‘to write’ made him scribble in running trains and rocking ships. Hind Swaraj, a criticism of modern civilization, was written during his voyage from England to South Africa in 1909. The book was completed within ten days.
Gandhiji was as a great searcher of knowledge as of truth. He was also a great advocate. This can be judged from the correspondence he had with the authorities. Some English Viceroys and officials like Lord Linlithgow, Sir A. V. Alexander and Sir Petic Lawrence admitted that Gandhiji was direct and expressed himself in excellent English with a wonderful play of words. Arnold Martini of Oxford University who assisted drafting some of Gandhiji’s statements, declared at Round Table Conference, “I have never met an Indian who mastered the prepositions as Gandhiji”. His reasoning sometimes gave an impression to his opponents that he was playing some intellectual Trick on them which they could not understand. The white bureaucracy called him a versatile wily artist. His Indian opponents considered him a cunning Bania. Today the historians can see that he was neither.
Above all Gandhiji was a translator par excellence in Urdu, Guajarati, English and Hindi.
Gandhiji never used flowery words while writing. His forceful, inimitable style mirrored his hopes and disappointments and his dreams of a free India. He wrote in a manner that anybody could understand. He was writing for Everyman so that Everyman could understand him easily. He had no literary pretensions but what he wrote was literature. He believed in the power of word and used space in his Newspapers to mobilize public opinion. It was his honesty and transparency which were so refreshing and endearing. Whether it was colonial subjugation or public hygiene, his views resonated with readers across generations.
Little wonder then, after more than a century, the publication of books on and by Gandhiji continues to be a large industry. The popularity of his books is boosted by the numerous and skilled translations they have undergone. His autobiography (The Story of My Experiments with Truth) is one most widely read: 1,70,000 copies were sold by Gandhi Book Depot in Mumbai alone in 2006.
(The writer is a former Reader Coordinator of University of Jammu.)

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