Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi and some anecdotes

“Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood.”

- Albert Einstein

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Few men have ever had as much of an effect on our world as Mohandas Gandhi. He was fascinating, thoughtful and analytical. Gandhi was very much a product of his times, yet one of his greatest sources of inspiration was the Bhagavad Gita. He was a politician, a writer, an intellectual and an orator. Without a doubt he was a complex man, believing in simple things.

Gandhi's leadership role was extremely complex. Knowing that violence only begets violence, he began practising passive resistance, Satyagraha. Mahatma Gandhi was a leader who brought one of the world's most powerful nations to its knees... by using peace, love and integrity as his method for change.

How could a meek and fragile person of small physical stature inspire millions to bring about a profound change in a way the mightiest had ever achieved before? His achievements were nothing less than miracles. His life was a message - a message of peace over power, of finding ways to reconcile our differences, and of living in harmony with respect and love even for our enemy. Gandhi can be considered the most modern political thinker India has ever had. Today, in a polity steeped in corruption, perhaps there is a need to rediscover Gandhi.

 

As the pyre was lit and Gandhiji’s bodily frame was consigned in flames, someone from the mourning millions exclaimed: He no longer belongs to us. Now he belongs to the ages.’ There were more than ten lakh mourners gathered on the bank of Jamuna that Saturday evening, the 31^{st of} January 1948, at a place now called Raghat.

As the days passed by, I realized that Gandhi was the most misunderstood man of his time, more misunderstood by, his contemporaries than by others. No contemporary measured up to him. He was much ahead of time. He had much anticipated the challenges of the coming decades not only in India but throughout the world. In the words of Vincent Sheean: “The man had no equal in our time, this one who treated all men as equals.”

Gandhi's greatest legacy was that he made India fearless. He taught Indians not only to live fearlessly but also to die likewise He brought back the vanished pride of India. The essence of his teachings was fearlessness and truth which was more important to him than consistency. In the words of Jawahar Lal Nehru, "We did not grow much more truthful perhaps than we had been, but Gandhi was always there to pull us up and shame us into truth.”

His experiments with truth are mankind's greatest treasure although their author stood for non-possession. Blessed with the wisdom of Socrates, he had the humility of Sudama who returned from Krishna's palace empty-handed but richer in humility. For Gandhi, truth was the goal, truth was the end, and truth was everything. It is this truth which is relevant today and truth can be achieved only through Ahimas and humility which in Gandhian terminology means infinite love and infinite capacity for suffering.

Gandhi dreamed of a world without wars, a society without caste or class, factories without forced labour a non-violent, nun-exploiting social and economic order built on the foundations of universal education, basic morality and the principles of nature, a society marked by piety, plenty and prosperity. As he put it:’ In the new millennium also, there will be enough for everybody's need -but not for everybody's greed.’

Gandhi did not study economics at any university, nor did he go to any school of economics or propounded any economic theory. His economics was based on his personal experiences starting from his days in South Africa where he founded two settlements namely “The Phoenix Ashram Settlement’ and “The Tolstoy Farm.’ It is there that he developed his famous doctrine of trust which can be the solution to the present-day maldistribution of wealth. It is another name for a socialistic society where the nation's wealth is treated as trust.

The Swaraj of my dreams, he said, "was poor man's Swaraj. Political freedom without economic equality was incomplete sounding to the sage of Sabarmati "My theory of trusteeship, he said, is no makeshift, certainly no camouflage. I am confident that it will survive all other theories. It has the sanction of Philosophy and religion behind it.

His economics was economy. Almost all his economic measures were есonomy measures. "In a country, he said, “where people walk for miles and miles to save one paisa, wearing of gold ornaments should be sacrilege.” Accordingly, he asked his wife, Kasturba, to get rid of all her gold ornaments. His sons resented when they were not sent to some good public schools in England. Gandhi's answer was ‘No’ to them as they must study in the same Experimental School where all other children study. They must eat from the common kitchen where all students eat. In various jails where he served various terms, he cooked his food, stitched his clothes, shaved his head, and offered to do the same service to others. He kept accounts in the last penny, washed his utensils, cleaned his latrine, made his chappals, and prepared his own medicine.

Whiteness refused to deliver. Kasturba's child he purchased a book on Midwifery and performed the duties of a nurse. During these experiments, he observed that wastage was the hallmark of the Indian economy. “We must become the real trustees of the dumb millions. We must keep full account of their money.” In 1896, when Gandhi visited India, for the second time, he was given rupees 1000 by the Indian community. He submitted a detailed account of all his expenses. The entries read as, Tram-one anna’ water, 6 paisa etc. He used to say “do not ride if you can walk.”

Spinning, weaving and farming were the most important features of Gandhian economics. His Swadeshi (use of things produced locally) was the bedrock of freedom. His life mission was to make India self-reliant. Before the British rule, Indis used to export hand-woven cloth worth thirty lakh rupees every year. During the British rule, all exports came to a halt and, as in a reverse process, India spent 60 crore rupees every year to buy British exports. The Indian weavers lost their occupation, became tillers of soil and were impoverished. A Viceroy was appalled at this situation and remarked that the bones of cotton weavers were bleaching the plains of India.

He revived the handloom, and the charkha and made cloth known as Khadi. It is my conviction that with every thread I draw, I am spinning the destiny of India. Without the spinning wheel, there is no salvation for this country of ours.

Gandhi's insistence on environment and cleanliness is relevant not only for the 21st century but also in all centuries. He started with scavenging. He scavenged the latrines in South Africa, at Rajkot during the plague, and at the Congress session at Calcutta. During his jail terms, he often worked as a sweeper. Sanitation was his passion. He openly confessed that although he often criticized the West, he had learnt to keep his surroundings clean from his stay in London. At Kumbh Mela, he formed a squad of scavengers with his Phoenix team. During his visit to a school in Ahmedabad, the first item he wanted to inspect was the school latrine. When he saw the terrible condition of the latrine with sinking pits and vermin settled on excreta, he asked for a broom and several buckets of water. In the presence of the headmaster, teachers and students, he cleaned the school latrine. Later, addressing them, he said: Scavenging should be included in the school curriculum.’ He went to the extent of saying that anyone who cleaned his latrine qualified for Swaraj. In 1945, he took a foreigner to his latrine and said, “The privy I use is spotlessly clean without a trance of smell. I clean it myself.” For him, the test of any culture, any civilisation was the condition of its latrines. These are detailed instructions of Gandhi to the Ashramites, how night soil is to be buried and converted into manure, how leftover food was to be dumped in pits, and how vegetable peel was to be packed and buried. Asked by a foreigner as to what he would do if he was made the Viceroy of India for a day, Gandhi replied: 1 shall clean the Augean stables of the scavengers near the Viceroy's house. Cleanliness for him was next to Godliness, his Ashram was a house of God.

Gandhi stood for a clean home, a clean society, a cleaner environment, a cleaner world. If he were alive today he

would have found a stable solution for the vexed problem of modern pollution. He would have put a curb on the indiscriminate manufacture of vehicles and their more indiscriminate use He would have asked people to walk failing which bicycles be used. At present India has the worst traffic accident record in the world, unfriendly environment and pollution. The Gandhian way is the only way to tackle these issues otherwise suffocation, congestion and insanitation will take their toll. It would be a mistake to believe that Gandhi was taking India back to Mathusela. On the contrary, he was trying to create a balance between men and machinery.

Some anecdotes of Bapuji (Gandhiji)

i)                          When Bapu was a youth, he appeared for the London Matriculation Examination. The paper on general knowledge contained the question: “What is more golden than gold?”

Gandhiji wrote in reply: “Truth.”

ii). Gandhi's first glimpse of poverty

This incident relates to Gandhi’s sojourn in Champaran. He was in a tiny hamlet near Bhitiharva, which itself is a small village. The women of that place had put on very dirty clothes. Gandhiji, therefore, asked Kasturba to explain to the women why it was necessary to be clean; and also, to wash their clothes and put on fresh ones.

Kasturba talked to the women. One woman took Kasturba inside her hut and said, "Behold! There is no box or cupboard. I have got only one sari the one I am wearing. How then can 1 wash it? Please tell Mahatma ji to give us some clothes so that I can bathe and change my clothes daily.”

Kasturba communicated this pitiful store to Gandhiji, who thus obtained his first glimpse of the dire poverty of India.

iii). The Secret of the Gita

A friend mend went to Gandhi ji and requested him to explain the secret of the Gita. Bapu said, "Well, look there are some bricks. Please attend to the counting them daily.”

The friend did as he was told and counted the bricks for a few days. Then be felt tired of the monotony of it. He remarked to a colleague of his: “This is the job of a Labourer. This is not my work. I came here to learn the meaning of the Gita, not to waste any time in counting bricks.”

These remarks reach Bapu's ears. He summoned the friend and said, “Well have you not yet understood the secret of the Gita? It is the performance of one’s work in a selfless spirit.”

 

iv). Feelings for the sick

Bapuji went to see the Viceroy with a certain object in view. But he had little chance of succeeding in achieving his aims. They did not arrive at a settlement. During the conversation, the Viceroy asked, “Well Mr. Gandhi when do you propose to return to Sevagram?”

Bapu replied: “If it is not inconvenient to you, I may leave for Seva Gram this evening, as several patients will be awaiting my return.”

v). Bapu's greatest contribution

Once a friend asked Gandhiji “Bapu, what do you consider to be your greatest contribution?”

Bapu sat silent for a moment, and then said "I think Khadi and Harijan work would claim the first place.”

The friend immediately asked, “And what about nonviolence? Is it not your greatest contribution?

Bapu replied, “Yes, it is. But it pervades (saturates) all my activities. If you evaluate, my activities separately, I would mention Khadi and Harijan's work as my finest work. Non-violence is like a thread that passes through each bead of a rosary. It permeates all my work."

 

vi). Prayer and sincerity

A friend once came to see Bapu and asked him "Well, do you feel now any change in your attitude towards non-violence?”

The friend answered: "Bapu, my heart is slowly being converted to your way of thinking. But I do not think that my faith in this belief has yet firmly found root in my heart so that Truth and Non-Violence may be implemented in life. But one thing is certain. My ideas about violence and destructiveness are getting clearer.” Bapu said "Now you are on the right path. Don't forget to pray to God and be sincere to yourself.

vii). Use of public money

Mahatma Gandhi Ji went to London in connection with the Round Table Conference. Bapuji's headquarters were far away in the eastern part of the city, while his office was in the house of a friend in the western part of the city, eight miles. Lunch was taken in the office itself. Therefore, Bapu's noon meal was brought daily from the camp to the office.

Sometimes, Bapu took honey with his food. While going to England, he passed by Egypt. The people there gave him a pot of honey. Bapu ate some of it while he was in England.

Once, Mira Behan forgot to bring honey from the camp. She, therefore, brought a small bottle of honey for four annas from the market and placed it with Bapu's food. When Bapu was ready to eat, his eyes fell on the small bottle. He asked, “Where from this bottle?”

He was told why the bottle of honey was purchased.

Bapu taking Mira Behan to task said, “Why this waste of money? Do we not misuse public money? Could I not have done without honey for one day?”

Many intriguing questions were engaging Bapu's attention at that time. But Bapu brushed aside all these questions and urged the people around him for their attention for half an hour.

[Source: Employment News, 28 September-4 October 1996.]

viii). Non-violence, not a cover for cowardice

This incident took place sometime in 1923. In the Panchmahal district, communal rights had broken out. Some Hindus had come to Bapu with a grievance. He listened patiently to them and then said, “What did you do to stop the riots?”

They replied: What could we do? Your gospel of nonviolence has tied our hands and feet. We, therefore, just suffered.

On hearing this, Bapu said in his stern voice: “But my teachings of nonviolence do not say that you all should run away from there and come here to give me a report of your cowardice. My type of nonviolence asks you to play down your life if need be in such circumstances. If you lack the courage to face death in such a manner, you should have acted according to your own belief. You have misunderstood my teachings. As you have no courage to act according to your beliefs, what is the use of coming to me with your tales of woe?

ix). Bapus blessings

Shri Kamalnayan Bajaj, off that lead seat. Jamnalal Bajaj was going abroad for studies. Papoose sent his blessings as follows.

1. Speak little.

2. Listen to everyone but do only that which is right.

3. Take account of every minute and do each piece of work when it should be done.

4. Live like the poor, never take pride in riches.

5.Keep an account of every pie you spend.

6. Study with concentration.

7. Take regular exercise.

8 Eat sparingly.

9 Maintain a daily diary.

 x). Preference for goat's milk

My intense eagerness to take up the satyagraha fight had created in me a strong desire to live. And so, I contended with myself adhering to the letter of my vow only and sacrificed its spirit. For although I had only the milk of the cow and the buffalo in mind when I took the vow, by natural implication it covered the milk of all animals. Nor could it be right for me to use milk at all, so long as I held that milk is not the natural diet of man. Yet knowing all this, I agree to take goat's milk. The will to live proved stronger than the devotion to truth, and for once the votary of truth compromised his sacred ideal by his eagerness to take up the Satyagraha fight.

The memory of this action even now irks my breast and fills me with remorse, and I am constantly thinking about how to give up goat's milk. But I cannot yet free myself from those subtlest of temptations, the desire to serve, which still holds me.

xi). Gandhi's faith in five articles

I took a vow to have in India only five articles of food dung 24 hours before sunset. Water is not included in the five articles. Cardamom etc. included. Groundnuts and their oils to count as one article. Raojibhai vowed to abstain from milk and milk products.

I gave the fullest thought to the difficulties I might have to face. But I wanted to leave no loophole. I rehearsed to myself what would happen during an illness if I counted medicines among the five articles and made no exception in favour of special articles of diet. I finally decided that there should be no exception on any account whatsoever. I have been under these vows for now 13 years. They have subjected me to a severe test, but I can testify that they have also served as my shield. I think that they have added a few years to my life and saved me from many illnesses.

xi). Ridicule replied by HUMOUR

Mahatma Gandhi was going to London by sea. A European on board harassed him almost daily and also abused him.

One day, he wrote a ridiculous poem about Gandhiji and took it to him and placed it in his hands.

Gandhiji silently took out the pin holding the sheets of paper together, put it in a box and threw the sheets of paper into a wastepaper basket.

The white man said: "Mr. Gandhi, at least read it, for it has some substance."

Bapu replied: "Yes, I have certainly taken out the substance and have placed it in a box."

 

xii). Caution

Bapu was staying in Maganwadi in Wardha. Once, he saw a piece of soap lying in water outside a privy. He took it out and gave a talk on the subject to the executive staff for half an hour: "We have no right to waste the nation's wealth in this way. Our country is poor. We should be cautious and economical to live the life of the poor.

xii). Yearning for service

While Bapu was in South Africa, a Muslim came to him and said: "If only I knew English, I would be earning a good salary. My meagre and I am not able to make both ends meet."

Bapu expressed his readiness to teach him English. The Muslim friend then said: "It is very kind of you to offer to teach me English. But I am busy the whole day with my job and shall not find time to come and take lessons from you in English. What can we do?"

Bapu found a way out of the difficulty.

He walked the distance of four miles daily to reach the friend's place and began to teach him English!

 

xiii). Conceit

Bapu went on a fast while in a Yeravda Jail. A colleague thought in his mind that Bapu undertook the fast probably with the idea that 'I have now grown old and will soon die. Then, why not die while fighting?"

Therefore, the colleague gently pleaded with Gandhiji thus: "Варu, you have served our country well, and your life has been an example to all. Now, when you have to die, you intend to serve the country in death also. Is it not so?"

Quickly came the reply: "To harbour even the least thought of this kind smells of pride. It is only in God's hands to make or mar, to do or undo."

 

xiv). Equal eye on all

Visitors used to call on Bapu in large numbers, no matter where he stayed, and the host would arrange to accommodate all of them.

A co-worker of Bapu's once happened to quarrel with a cook, who was in the service of his host. The cook spoke rudely and insulted him. The co-worker became angry and slapped the cook hard.

The complaint was taken to Gandhiji. Bapu summoned the co-worker and said to him: "If you happened to pick a quarrel with Shethji, you would not slap him. This man is just a poor servant, and you raised your hand against him. It was wrong. Go forthwith and tender your apology to him."

The co-worker was reluctant to do so. Bapu therefore continued: "If you cannot cleanse yourself of the stain on your behaviour, you will have to give up my company."

The co-worker became alarmed at this ultimatum. He went to the cook and offered him an apology.

 

xv). The way of karma Yogi

A friend was talking with Bapu about his Autobiography. He said: "In youth, conflicting ideals pull a man this way and that, and he has to choose between them. He does not find it easy to decide which career will suit him and he feels worried. The struggle that rages in his heart is in no way less than that which is described in the Mahabharata. Opposing ideals seem to be equally attractive. I wanted to read about such mental battles in your Autobiography,"

Bapu said: "I am a one-track man. I do not experience the struggles you mention. Whatever the circumstance that comes up. I only contemplate that which is my duty. Once I see light, I instantly begin to work along those lines. This is my habit.”

References:

a). [Source: C.W.M.G.vol.13 &19]

b). (Source-C.W.M.G. Vol.39)

c). Source Anecdotes from Bapu's Life, by Mukulbhai Kalarthi.

d). Source: Employment News, 28 September-4 October 1996.