By Urmila Das
For Gandhiji, spinning their own cloth – khadhi – at home was employment for entire villages. This was not only a political decision, but also an economical one. He wanted people to be self-sufficient and to take pride in recreating the industry that was once a cottage industry. “Before the British advent, India spun and wove in millions of homes, but this industry was ruined by industrialization.” He was not against machinery, but against the use of machinery at the expense of millions of people. As we all know, industrialization is wealth concentrated in the hands of a few at the expense of the many. Beside the political and economic power, the wearing of khadi according to Gandhiji had a “transformative power” and that “through wearing it people could actually become more worthy.” We may ask ourselves how can this be applicable to today’s society? Most things today are done by mass production and by advanced technology. We live in the age of very sophisticated technology. Of course, this is good. But what has happened to us? We have lost certain skills and, instead, allowed technology to take charge of our lives. Gandhiji not only wanted us to be self-sufficient, but to take pride of our achievements.
Gandhiji’s simple attire of loincloth, wooden sandals, a bowl and a walking stick were the possessions of this politician cum saint. Once again I am reminded of another aspect of yoga – aparigraha (non-possession of material wealth) that inspired Gandjiji immensely. He kindled a re-awakening of the deeply rooted thoughts and ideas found in the ancient Indian system. By his actions one cannot deny the fact that he was a Karma Yogi. Gandhi was a very practical person and deeply religious, hence there was no place for superstitious beliefs. Instead, he wanted people to walk in his footsteps, rather than kiss his feet. At the end of a day his feet were full of scratches, because people would grab his feet as he walked. For them it was paying respects to him, to the point of seeing him as God. But Gandhiji said, “I have expressed my horror and strongest disapproval of this type of idolatry.” The illiterate behaved like this because they saw in Gandhiji the strength that will sustain them from the poverty of the world. But there is one instance when a lawyer traveling in the same train with Gandhiji fell out, head first. When he was picked up he was unhurt, and said that because he was in the train with Gandhiji he did not get hurt. Laughingly Gandhiji said, “Then you shouldn’t have fallen out at all.”
Though people are more technologically advanced today, superstitions still play a part in their lives. Our contribution to Gandhiji is to reject superstitious beliefs and look at the practicality of life. This will enrich our lives.
We have seen the strength of the frail Gandjiji in many different ways. Just to mention a few – the Salt March, Champara village. After the Jallianwalla Bagh incident in Panjab and the deposing of the Turkish Sultan (Khilafat Movement), he returned the medals which he had received in South Africa, to the British Viceroy and said: “I can retain neither respect nor affection for a government which has been moving from wrong to wrong in order to defend its immortality.” Fasting for Gandhiji was his way of going inward for solutions to solve the Indian problem. How many of our leaders today would respond in this way to violence. Instead, we meet in the battlefield to settle our differences. Of course, he was accused of using fasting as a political blackmail. But for him he saw it as introspection to problem solving and gaining spiritual strength. Those of us who were born prior to 30th January 1948, can say that we lived on the same earth where Gandhiji walked and also breathed the same air. As Albert Einstein said, “Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth”.
I know we are remembering his birth, but birth and death are on both sides of the spectrum of life, therefore I would like to quote what the British Delegate at the UN Security Meeting said, “Gandhi was the friend of the poorest, the loneliest, and the lost.” Furthermore he stated that Gandhi’s “greatest achievements are still to come.”
The life of Mahatma Gandhi should serve as a beacon of light to guide humanity to a better world. He taught a lesson to all political leaders on how to work great social and political changes for the betterment of humanity in every walk of life. He said, “An India awakened and free has a message of peace and goodwill to give to a groaning world.” We can see his greatness expressed in his own words: “I have known no distinction between relatives and strangers, countrymen and foreigners, white and coloured, Hindus and Indians of other faiths, whether Musalmans, Parsis, Christians or Jews. I may say that my heart has been incapable of making any such distinctions.”
On this occasion of his jayanti, let us reminisce on the greatness of Gandhiji, the half naked fakir according to Winston Churchill. This fearless half naked fakir had the audacity to meet the king who commented on his attire, and Gandhiji told him that His Majesty had enough clothes on for both of them.
Urmila Das, like her husband Dr. Jagessar Das, is a member of the Kabir Association of Canada
