28 Nationalism/Self/ Spiritual: Mahatma Gandhi The Story of My Experiments with Truth
Anindita Das
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, called by the Indians as ‘Father of the Nation’, was the greatest influence in India’s struggle for independence. Rabindranath Tagore addressed him as the ‘Mahatma’, meaning “great soul”. He was born on 2nd October, 1869 in Porbandar, Gujrat. Being born into a Hindu family, he received the teachings of non-violence, tolerance and vegetarianism since his childhood. The life of Gandhi as well as his ideas and work were taken as fundamental significance to those who believe in the ideal of humanity. There have been vast changes in the world’s political map since the days of Gandhi, and moreover, though a lot of upheavals have been observed in the social and economic scenario, the path of moral and ethical values he showed is still essential to many in this world. Gandhi’s overwhelming influence over the Indian people made them stand united irrespective of caste, creed, class and religion to work for the cause of freedom.
A prolific writer, Mahatma Gandhi’s corpus of writings is extensively voluminous. The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi is constituted of hundred volumes which include more than fifty thousand pages of text. His autobiographical writing, such as the letters, reveals his mind, his openness and honesty without keeping any secret. However, though his works are not steadfastly political when compared to the writings of the leaders such as Lenin or Mao, his two basic ideas of “Swaraj” and “Satyagraha” permeate throughout his writings. He edited journals in order to keep constant correspondence with his readers and followers. Moreover, he contributed writings to Indian Opinion, the first instance of his work which appeared in print, a journal that he edited in South Africa. In India, the three journals, Young India, Navajivan and Harijan were edited by him. His writings also include a number of books, interviews, numerous letters and huge collection of articles published in the journals. All throughout his life, while he was engaged in thinking and acting, he was simultaneously writing also. His works mostly directed towards expressing his thoughts and beliefs, sharing his ideas and corresponding with the people. Letters also make up a considerable chunk of his writings. He wrote many books in Gujrati, his mother tongue, with the view that it is an effective way to reach out to one’s own people. His editor, K Swaminathan, while talking about his style of writing said:
Another important piece of work by Mahatma Gandhi published in the year 1909 is Hind Swaraj (Indian Home Rule), which is a critique of the colonialism and western civilisation. The speeches Gandhi delivered had and still have great impact in the mind of the readers.
The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi is his autobiography which was originally written in Gujrati. It was published weekly in the journal Navjivan from 1925-1929 and was translated in English by his manager Mahadev Desai. The period of Gandhi’s life till the year 1920 is recorded in it. The translated version was published in the same year in another journal Young India. Both the journals were published by him. To situate Gandhi’s autobiography at the time it was written, it should be mentioned that the genre had its origin in the west. The autobiographies were written with the view to express the self. But Gandhi in his autobiography makes its moral purpose overt, as in it rather than merely being self-indulgent, he tells about his moral and spiritual journey all throughout till the time when he was actually associated with the freedom struggle of India. It also reflects his inner struggle to emerge as the person who had been largely instrumental in India’s struggle for freedom, subsequently leading to the independence of the country. But he had to face the issue whether he was influenced by the western mode of writing an autobiography even before he began writing it. Once while replying to his friend’s query “What has set you on this adventure?….Writing an autobiography is a practice peculiar to the West”, Gandhi did rationalize it by saying:
The idea of a “real” autobiography thus seems not to be suitable to describe his mode of writing his life story, as it does not exhibit much of his public life, but rather deals with self- introspection. It seems he attempted to make use of the western autobiographical framework to blend scientific study and religion as principles which enabled him to seek truth through myriad ways. That is what gives his autobiography the Indian touch, with all the trials and tribulations while experimenting with truth, leading to self- realisation. Furthermore, he chose the form autobiography as he strived to render “practical applications” of the principles rather than confining only to “academic principles”.
The autobiography can roughly be divided into a few parts corresponding to the different periods of his life which held particular significance in terms of his trying-out with the principle of truth. His childhood, the time he spent in London, the period he began his activism in South Africa, the transformation from Mohandas to Mahatma and finally the rest of his life that he dedicated for the freedom struggle in India. All throughout the phases, his trials associated with the pursuit of truth and deep faith in God remained consistent. He attributed all his success to God. However, in the initial period of Gandhi’s life, particularly at his childhood and young age, Gandhi did not show any kind of extraordinary traits in character. He calls himself a mediocre student, who did not possess much inclination towards studies. He was a shy and introvert child who could not get along with his friends for the fear of being laughed at. He knew about his own nature. It was since that time onwards that Gandhi followed a few practises. A very thoughtful child, who would always question himself about right and wrong, had the tendency to falter time to time, but somehow, would succeed in following the right path. For instance, once during his childhood, he took to smoking, and to buy cigarettes stole money from a servant. Later when he realised his mistake, as an act of repentance wrote a confession note to his father and sought punishment from him. He expected his father to react angrily, but to his astonishment he wept after reading the note. Gandhi thus notes:
The seed of non-violence sowed in him by his father in his young age changed Gandhi’s way of life altogether. Regarding religion, Gandhi narrates that he was not been exposed to it by his teachers till the age of sixteen, and it was his nurse Rambha who taught him to repeat Ramanama whenever he had any fear in his mind. He remembers reading two plays during that period, which left an indelible mark on his young heart. The plays were about Shravana and Harichandra. The character of Shravana enhanced his keenness to serve his parents and Harichandra made him wonder why everyone cannot practise the virtue of truthfulness.
Moreover, many other issues have been raised in the autobiography through Gandhi’s personal experiences. In some places he does not even resist himself to suggest things which might have appeared appropriate for him to point out for the future generations. Gandhi in the autobiography talks about his child marriage at the age of thirteen- the aspect which he thinks necessary to present himself in terms of his experiments with truth. However, as a child Gandhi was attracted by the childish plays, as he said that he enjoyed his marriage ceremony not because of anything else, but due to its festivities. In the chapter ‘Playing the husband’, Gandhi confesses about the restriction he had imposed on his wife Kasturbai. He further says that those were his foolish ways of behaving out of jealousy. It was imprinted in his mind that he had to be faithful to his wife all throughout his life and in return he too expected the same. He regrets the fact that he was not able to teach his illiterate wife, initially due to his preoccupation with lust, and later for his work. While unfolding his school days Gandhi says that he realised a few facts about education which he could not comprehend at that time. When Dorabji Edulji Gimi was the headmaster, he attached much value to physical education. Gandhi did not indulge in any kind of sport, apart from walking as a regular habit. Gandhi recommends that it is very imperative for children to pay attention to handwriting and physical training.
There are many other facets of his life which Gandhi’s autobiography reflects in the course of his journey to become the Mahatma. The second phase of his life spent in London marks his resistance towards avoiding non-vegetarian food, alcohol and company of other women, the things that he promised to his mother before he left for England. He starved most of the time as he did not get proper vegetarian food. He joined the vegetarian society in London and contributed several articles in the weekly journal The Vegetarian. The editor of the journal Dr. Joshia Oldfield tried to influence Gandhi towards Anglican faith. It was a period when he had to adjust himself with the strange atmosphere of the foreign land. He could not adapt himself to the manners of the British society and being shy and introvert made him homesick. For a short span time though, he tried to fit himself in the elite society of the British. He even made a quite a lot of effort to do so as he spent a good amount of money tailoring his clothes, took lessons in violin, dance and elocution. Gradually he realised that there are other serious aspects of English life to know, as he mentions:
He began reading extensively from that period onwards. His reading interest comprised of literature on vegetarianism, religious books such as the English translation of Gita, The Bible, and Key to Theosophy by Blavatsky and The Light of Asia by Edwin Arnold. He also read a lot about Laws and politics of Europe. One essential facade of Gandhi’s character which is revealed from this change in him is that every time he tends to falter in his life, his own realisation brings him back to his original course. His self-realisation played a remarkably elemental role in the growth of his character.
Mahatma Gandhi’s visit to South Africa marks a defining juncture of his life. As he could not do well in his legal career in India, he agreed to an offer by a Muslim firm which sought his services in South Africa. Thus, Gandhi sailed for South Africa in 1893. Reaching there he became upset by the colour prejudice prevailing in the place. The incident of throwing him out of the train as he refused to get out of his first class coach, together with a couple of similar such incidences of discrimination prompted him to fight against the injustice meted out towards the coloured people. Gandhi stayed in South Africa for twenty one years. During those years, he got involved with various agitation campaigns to help the Indian population residing there, working as indentured labours, specifically in Natal and Transvaal. The first big fight of Gandhi’s life thus began. He addressed meetings and conducted campaigns to appeal to the legislative assembly to eradicate a proposed tax. After a severe encounter with the authorities, Gandhi and his followers succeeded in their attempt. Consequently, The Natal Indian Congress was formed to carry on with persistent protest against all sorts of injustice imposed upon the Indians. Gandhi carried on his legal practise simultaneously with his activism and soon established himself as a successful lawyer. Once when he had visited India for a while in the year 1886, he and his family was attacked on their return to South Africa by the Whites. They had been furious by the rumour spread in South Africa that Gandhi had condemned the Whites in India and also that he was bringing a lot of Indians with him to inundate Natal. Gandhi had to secretly enter the town but somehow he became victim of the attack by the mob. He recounts the incident as:
Perhaps Gandhi never expected such a reaction, as he was unaware of the rumours being spread. However, Gandhi’s principle of non- violence had a great influence in this case too, as he forgave the assaulters, which made them realise their mistake. On the other hand, during his brief visit to India, he had been busy meeting the prominent leaders of the country and widely publicised the struggle in Natal.
In spite of the fact that Gandhi was doing well in his profession, his mind was agitated to be of some help to his fellowmen. In the Boer War, Gandhi decided to offer his services of taking care of the ailing and the injured soldiers. He made a group consisting of Indians who would carry the victims in stretchers. The effort of the Indians involved in the mission was recognised, as they worked with ardent zeal, which brought them praise and award. Returning to India once again in the year 1901 Gandhi travelled extensively throughout the country and carried out work in association with his mentor Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Getting back to South Africa, he had to totally devote himself to public work, as the situation of the Indians deteriorated further. His life took a different turn when once on his journey to Durban from Johannesburg he read John Ruskin’s book Unto This Lost, which he believed to be “an instantaneous and practical transformation of my life”. He later translated it into his native language Gujrati with the title Sarvodaya, meaning welfare of all.
The Phoenix Settlement in 1904 is another landmark in Gandhi’s political movement. It was a measure taken to settle the publication workers of Indian Opinion. The ashram reflected the ideals of equality, as all people lived and worked together irrespective of caste, creed, ethnicity, and work too was divided indiscriminately. The women were encouraged to work equally with men for the community, without confining themselves to domestic duties. The men on the other hand were asked to share the domestic work with the women. In India’s freedom struggle also, women played a very significant role. In the morning and evening prayers of the ashram Gandhi would make them proclaim the vows of non-violence, non- possession, truth, tolerance, brahmacharya etc. Gandhi himself began to practise celibacy, which entailed a lot of control over mind and body. He wanted to abandon the urges and desires such as emotional, sexual and dietary for a greater cause in life. He began to sustain with the bare minimum of everything, as he considered “sacrifice” as the “law of life”. He thus wrote after resolving his Satyagraha movement in South Africa:
During the Zulu rebellion, Gandhi and his group nursed the Zulus who were inhumanly tortured by the Whites. The condition of the Zulus had been a stimulating experience for him. From then onwards he decided to live like a poor man. The diet he followed was simple and healthy and consisted of the quantity only required to sustain the body, without paying much attention to the taste. The fasts he observed for purification and penance sometimes turned out to be fatal, but nothing could make him compromise with his principles.
The first Satyagraha movement under the leadership of Gandhi began in the year 1906. It was directed against an ordinance by white government in the state of Transvaal which required the Indians to register themselves, a strategy to weaken the civil rights of the Asian community. Realising the gravity of the matter, Gandhi held out to oppose the bill. A meeting was called in Johannesburg. Huge number of people gathered to join him. They were prepared to take out violent protest, but Gandhi motivated them to act in accordance with his non- violent resistance, leading to the birth of Satyagraha, the term used by William James. The Indian community stood united to keep their dignity intact. The first imprisonment of Gandhi was held at that period. The fight continued in spite of the repressive measures of the government. The Tolstoy farm was established for the Satyagrahis after Gandhi discontinued with his professional practise. The Indian National Congress supported Gandhi in the movement. It can be said that South Africa prepared Gandhi for the massive battle he had to combat in India. He grew as a professional, leader and most importantly as a human being in South Africa.
In January 1915 Gandhi returned to India. He was already a hero for the Indians. He soon got himself totally involved with the social and political life of the country after establishing the first Ashram in Gujrat. The inclusion of an untouchable family to the Ashram was a radical break away with the tradition. It throws light to the fact that Gandhi’s ideals were not merely thoughts, they needed to be practically followed and experimented. Gandhi was called to Champaran in Bihar to address the cause of the peasants who were exploited by the Indigo planters. The first campaign in India was a successful one as Gandhi made the peasants overcome their fear and public opinion was formed throughout the country. An inquiry committee was formed in June 1917 with Gandhi as a member and the outcome was in favour of the peasants. The conflict was between the textile mill owners and the labours as the labours sought 50% hike in payment due to the abrupt price rise and the owner agreed only to 20%, which according to Gandhi should reasonably be of 35%. The workers called off their work and resorted to non-violent protest. Gandhi joined the workers in their fast unto death to offer his moral support. Finally the owners gave up to the non-violent resistance of Gandhi and his followers and through arbitration a rise of 35 % was announced to the satisfaction of the workers. The coercive land revenue imposed upon the peasants of Kheda during a famine in the year in 1917 called another Satyagraha, it did not become much effective to Gandhi’s contentment. Yet, it succeeded in spreading political awareness among the peasants.
The incorporation of harsh rules in Rowlatt Act (1919) agitated the entire country, as it was against the basic human rights. Gandhi began the Civil Disobedience Movement at that period. He advised to break the Salt Law by preparing salt at home from seawater. Another act of disobedience was to sell the banned books. The whole nation came together as a unified force against the British on 30th March 1919. Many were killed. It was the time when the nation witnessed the strong unity between Hindus and Muslims like never before. Gandhi mentions that the movement was a huge success in Bombay. The Jalianwala Bagh Massacre was the most brutal act of inhumanity on the British’s part. The peaceful and unarmed people were fired on the command of General Dyer. Gandhi went to Punjab for the annual session of Indian National Congress in December 1919. During that session Gandhi came close to Motilal Nehru. Many resolutions were taken in the session. Gandhi was made the Chairman of the committee appointed for the reconsideration of the constitution of Congress. It marks the real entrance of Gandhi to Congress politics. In the concluding chapters of the autobiography Gandhi talks about the journals Navajivan and Young India through which he endeavoured to disseminate the ideal of Satyagraha. He also mentions about the non- cooperation movement and the development of Khadi as the Indian symbol.
Hence, reading of Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography cannot be merely taken as a life story of an extraordinary leader. It is he who brought the country independence with his non-violent principle and his belief in the strength of truth. Huge number of people would follow him in the protest campaigns of civil disobedience with a view to bring change by the means of non- violence. The path towards independence was a long one which had led Gandhi to hardships and imprisonment for several times. His life, which had been a truly testing one, was of his own choice. Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography thus becomes a testimony of his journey from an ordinary man to a “mahatma’. He had been too harsh to himself at times, which took toll on his health. To control the senses to such an extent undoubtedly needs rare courage and conviction, as in the concluding part of the autobiography he declares… “But the path of self- purification is hard and steep. To attain to perfect purity one has to become absolutely passion-free in thought, speech and action…”. He was as an anchor to the faith and expectations of many. The life he led was undoubtedly an ideal one, setting example by the tremendous change it was capable of bringing forth.
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Reference
- Kamath, M.V., Gandhi: A Spiritual Journey, Mumbai: Indus Source Books, 2007
- Lelyveld. Joseph., Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and his Struggle with India, U.S: Library of Congress, 2011
- Parekh, Bhikhu.C., Gandhi: A Brief Insight, U. K: Sterling Publishing Co, 2010
- Storti, Craig., Speaking of India: Bridging the Communication Gap when Working with
- Indians, USA: Intercultural Press, 2007
- Wolpert, Satnley., Gandhi’s Passion: The Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, New York: Oxford University Press, 2001
- http://www.gandhi-manibhavan.org/kasturba/kasturba_lifesketch.htm
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