I do not believe in the doctrine of the greatest number. It means in its nakedness that in order to achieve the supposed good of 51 per cent the interests of 49 per cent may be, or rather, should be sacrificed. It is a heartless doctrine and has done harm to humanity. - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Happy New Year, 2020!
A good way to start off the year would be to remember one of the most influential figures of modern history from the last century. Mohandas Gandhi may have indeed been one of the most popular figures of his time and even in the decades after him, not just in India but in many other places around the globe as well. But, in twenty-first century India, he is a polarizing figure. There is still much reverence for him, to the effect that too much criticism of Gandhi and 'Gandhigiri' is still deemed politically incorrect. Be that as it may, there are many people who believe that he was motivated more by political will than divine providence; or that he was partial to Jawaharlal Nehru against Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel; or that his methods of non-violence, while they achieved their result, would be less preferable to the present generation of Indians than, say, the more reactionary methods of Subhash Chandra Bose or the revolutionary methods of Bhagat Singh.
Nevertheless, Gandhi remains firmly entrenched in the Indian psyche. His toothless smile adorns the multi-colored Indian currency notes; his spectacles adorn the logo of the Swachh Bharat Mission; movies continue to be made on his life, his philosophy and his politics; many roads and streets in several towns and cities across the country are named after him, and many more statues, some carefully preserved and some, perches for crows, pigeons and such remain erected in his memory. His birth anniversary on October 2nd remains a 'dry day' (except his home state of Gujarat which is permanently 'dry') in the country, when the sale of alcohol is prohibited; this leads to wine and liquor stores reaping rich dividends on October 1st as people horde up or make up in advance for this rather inconvenient celebration. And finally, television anchors, politicians and anybody who is anybody pitches in on the patriotism of the people who conspired to kill him, and maybe some others who might have wished him dead. For the record, this writer believes that while it was a criminal offence and a morally misplaced action to kill a man who indeed deserves to be called the Father of India, those who did commit those crimes may yet have been patriots. After all, being a patriot and being a criminal are not mutually exclusive. On the other end of the spectrum from Gandhi, Hitler was a great patriot who believed in his actions for the sake of his country; that does not exonerate him from the crimes that were committed by him and in his name.
While we remember Gandhi on this day, the 1st of January happens to be the birth anniversary of Mahadev Desai, an Indian Independence activist and writer, more importantly, Gandhi's personal secretary.
Mahadev Desai was born on 1st January, 1892 to Haribhai Desai, a school teacher and his wife, Jamnaben. At this time, Gandhi, thirty two years elder, was already in South Africa establishing a practice in law. Like Gandhi, Desai was married at the age of thirteen. The bride was twelve year old, Durgaben. Desai studied at Surat High School and later Elphinstone College in Bombay (now Mumbai), from where he graduated as a Bachelor of Arts. He gained his L.L.B in 1913, and when Gandhi came back from South Africa in the January of 1915, Desai was a twenty-three year old, working as an inspector in the Central Co-operative Bank of Bombay. Desai and his friend, Naraharai Parikh wrote to Gandhi when he called for suggestions and inputs on his new ashram at Kocharab that he established in May 1915. Later, the duo met Gandhi at a public meeting in Premabhai Hall in Ahmedabad. The attraction between Gandhi and Desai was instant and mutual. Desai quickly became a follower of Gandhi, meeting him often and Gandhi too, found the young man to be someone he could trust.
Desai joined Gandhi for good in November 1917, while the Champaran agitation was going on. He started to maintain a journal soon after, on 13 November, 1917. He meticulously recorded his daily life with Gandhi from that day to 14 August, 1942, the day before he died. Few people know today, that Desai's collaboration with Gandhi lasted for twenty-five years.
In 1918, he took part in the Mill Workers' strike. He was called upon by Motilal Nehru to run his paper, the Independent in 1921. For his efforts and his writing questioning British Rule, he was jailed by the British for a year between 1922 and 23. On his release, he became the editor of Navjivan in Ahmedabad, continuing his association with Gandhi. He took part in the Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928, accompanied Gandhi to Burma in 1929 and took part in the Salt Satyagraha in 1930 for which he was jailed. Out of jail, he accompanied Gandhi for the Round Table Conference in Britain, and was Gandhi's only companion during the famed meeting with King George V. He was incarcerated at the Yeravada Prison in Pune with Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel, released and jailed again in Belgaum. In 1939, he played an important part in agitations at Mysore and Rajkot; he worked in Bengal and Punjab in 1940, and in Ahmedabad in 1941. On August 9, 1942, he was incarcerated with Gandhi again, this time at the Aga Khan Palace. Sarojini Naidu, Mirabehn and Kasturba were also incarcerated with them. On 15th August, 1942, Mahadev Desai died of a heart attack. He was cremated at the Aga Khan Palace in the presence of Gandhi. His ashes were interred at the Palace, and later, in 1944, when Kasturba passed away, her ashes would be interred next to Desai's by Gandhi.
Desai was an excellent writer, proficient in Hindi, English and Bengali. Apart from the journal that he maintained, he was a biographer and translator. He wrote Sant Francis, a biography of Saint Francis, Vir Vallabhbhai, on Vallabhbhai Patel and Be Khudai Khitmatgar on the Ghaffar Khan brothers. Most importantly, Desai was the translated Gandhi's autobiography, the famed The Story of My Experiments with Truth, from Gujarati to English. He also translated several Bengali works by Sharadchandra Chattopadhyaya and Rabindranath Tagore from Bengali to Gujarati.
While Gandhi's close associations with Gopalkrishna Gokhale earlier on, and later with Vallabhbhai Patel, Nehru, Rajagopalachari and Bose (for a short time) have often been portrayed in popular culture, this very close associate and friend of Gandhi is usually behind the scenes. Even, in that masterpiece of film that is Richard Attenborough's 'Gandhi', Desai appears as an almost anonymous extra, silently flitting in and out of scenes, or working in the background. It seems close to his role in real life, for he was Gandhi's support behind the scenes. Mahadev Desai is known as the Boswell to Gandhi's Johnson, the Plato to Gandhi's Socrates and the Ananda to Gandhi's Buddha.
Desai's son, Narayan Desai, also a Gandhian, a writer and an activist himself, wrote Mahadev Desai's biography called 'The Fire and the Rose'. Mahadev Desai's journal is also available online at the link below.
This article is in remembrance of this great behind the scenes personality and the silent role he played in the Independence Movement.
Mahadev Desai's Journal
https://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/fundamental-workdetail/the-diary-of-mahadev-desai-vol-I#page/1/mode/2up
Sources:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahadev_Desai
https://www.mkgandhi.org/associates/Mahadev.htm
A good way to start off the year would be to remember one of the most influential figures of modern history from the last century. Mohandas Gandhi may have indeed been one of the most popular figures of his time and even in the decades after him, not just in India but in many other places around the globe as well. But, in twenty-first century India, he is a polarizing figure. There is still much reverence for him, to the effect that too much criticism of Gandhi and 'Gandhigiri' is still deemed politically incorrect. Be that as it may, there are many people who believe that he was motivated more by political will than divine providence; or that he was partial to Jawaharlal Nehru against Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel; or that his methods of non-violence, while they achieved their result, would be less preferable to the present generation of Indians than, say, the more reactionary methods of Subhash Chandra Bose or the revolutionary methods of Bhagat Singh.
Nevertheless, Gandhi remains firmly entrenched in the Indian psyche. His toothless smile adorns the multi-colored Indian currency notes; his spectacles adorn the logo of the Swachh Bharat Mission; movies continue to be made on his life, his philosophy and his politics; many roads and streets in several towns and cities across the country are named after him, and many more statues, some carefully preserved and some, perches for crows, pigeons and such remain erected in his memory. His birth anniversary on October 2nd remains a 'dry day' (except his home state of Gujarat which is permanently 'dry') in the country, when the sale of alcohol is prohibited; this leads to wine and liquor stores reaping rich dividends on October 1st as people horde up or make up in advance for this rather inconvenient celebration. And finally, television anchors, politicians and anybody who is anybody pitches in on the patriotism of the people who conspired to kill him, and maybe some others who might have wished him dead. For the record, this writer believes that while it was a criminal offence and a morally misplaced action to kill a man who indeed deserves to be called the Father of India, those who did commit those crimes may yet have been patriots. After all, being a patriot and being a criminal are not mutually exclusive. On the other end of the spectrum from Gandhi, Hitler was a great patriot who believed in his actions for the sake of his country; that does not exonerate him from the crimes that were committed by him and in his name.
While we remember Gandhi on this day, the 1st of January happens to be the birth anniversary of Mahadev Desai, an Indian Independence activist and writer, more importantly, Gandhi's personal secretary.
Mahadev Desai was born on 1st January, 1892 to Haribhai Desai, a school teacher and his wife, Jamnaben. At this time, Gandhi, thirty two years elder, was already in South Africa establishing a practice in law. Like Gandhi, Desai was married at the age of thirteen. The bride was twelve year old, Durgaben. Desai studied at Surat High School and later Elphinstone College in Bombay (now Mumbai), from where he graduated as a Bachelor of Arts. He gained his L.L.B in 1913, and when Gandhi came back from South Africa in the January of 1915, Desai was a twenty-three year old, working as an inspector in the Central Co-operative Bank of Bombay. Desai and his friend, Naraharai Parikh wrote to Gandhi when he called for suggestions and inputs on his new ashram at Kocharab that he established in May 1915. Later, the duo met Gandhi at a public meeting in Premabhai Hall in Ahmedabad. The attraction between Gandhi and Desai was instant and mutual. Desai quickly became a follower of Gandhi, meeting him often and Gandhi too, found the young man to be someone he could trust.
Desai joined Gandhi for good in November 1917, while the Champaran agitation was going on. He started to maintain a journal soon after, on 13 November, 1917. He meticulously recorded his daily life with Gandhi from that day to 14 August, 1942, the day before he died. Few people know today, that Desai's collaboration with Gandhi lasted for twenty-five years.
In 1918, he took part in the Mill Workers' strike. He was called upon by Motilal Nehru to run his paper, the Independent in 1921. For his efforts and his writing questioning British Rule, he was jailed by the British for a year between 1922 and 23. On his release, he became the editor of Navjivan in Ahmedabad, continuing his association with Gandhi. He took part in the Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928, accompanied Gandhi to Burma in 1929 and took part in the Salt Satyagraha in 1930 for which he was jailed. Out of jail, he accompanied Gandhi for the Round Table Conference in Britain, and was Gandhi's only companion during the famed meeting with King George V. He was incarcerated at the Yeravada Prison in Pune with Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel, released and jailed again in Belgaum. In 1939, he played an important part in agitations at Mysore and Rajkot; he worked in Bengal and Punjab in 1940, and in Ahmedabad in 1941. On August 9, 1942, he was incarcerated with Gandhi again, this time at the Aga Khan Palace. Sarojini Naidu, Mirabehn and Kasturba were also incarcerated with them. On 15th August, 1942, Mahadev Desai died of a heart attack. He was cremated at the Aga Khan Palace in the presence of Gandhi. His ashes were interred at the Palace, and later, in 1944, when Kasturba passed away, her ashes would be interred next to Desai's by Gandhi.
Desai was an excellent writer, proficient in Hindi, English and Bengali. Apart from the journal that he maintained, he was a biographer and translator. He wrote Sant Francis, a biography of Saint Francis, Vir Vallabhbhai, on Vallabhbhai Patel and Be Khudai Khitmatgar on the Ghaffar Khan brothers. Most importantly, Desai was the translated Gandhi's autobiography, the famed The Story of My Experiments with Truth, from Gujarati to English. He also translated several Bengali works by Sharadchandra Chattopadhyaya and Rabindranath Tagore from Bengali to Gujarati.
While Gandhi's close associations with Gopalkrishna Gokhale earlier on, and later with Vallabhbhai Patel, Nehru, Rajagopalachari and Bose (for a short time) have often been portrayed in popular culture, this very close associate and friend of Gandhi is usually behind the scenes. Even, in that masterpiece of film that is Richard Attenborough's 'Gandhi', Desai appears as an almost anonymous extra, silently flitting in and out of scenes, or working in the background. It seems close to his role in real life, for he was Gandhi's support behind the scenes. Mahadev Desai is known as the Boswell to Gandhi's Johnson, the Plato to Gandhi's Socrates and the Ananda to Gandhi's Buddha.
Desai's son, Narayan Desai, also a Gandhian, a writer and an activist himself, wrote Mahadev Desai's biography called 'The Fire and the Rose'. Mahadev Desai's journal is also available online at the link below.
This article is in remembrance of this great behind the scenes personality and the silent role he played in the Independence Movement.
Mahadev Desai's Journal
https://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/fundamental-workdetail/the-diary-of-mahadev-desai-vol-I#page/1/mode/2up
Sources:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahadev_Desai
https://www.mkgandhi.org/associates/Mahadev.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment