The Hindu : New Delhi News : The Mahatma that Munnabhai did not meet

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Friday, Mar 16, 2007
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The Mahatma that Munnabhai did not meet

Mandira Nayar

Susanne and Lloyd Rudolph bring out aspects of the Mahatma that don't always get highlighted

NEW DELHI: Rajkumar Hirani's "Lage Raho Munnabhai'' might have sparked off a revival of Mahatma Gandhi in popular culture, but he probably never expected that his movie would get an academic response from Susanne and Lloyd Rudolph -- stalwarts in the world of social sciences.

Speaking on "The Gandhi that Munnabhai did not meet'' at the Institute of Social Sciences here on Wednesday, the couple brought out aspects of the Mahatma that don't always get highlighted.

While Ms. Rudolph spoke about his modernisation of Indian politics by moving it in a professional and democratic direction, Mr. Rudolph challenged the commonly held belief that the Mahatma was a traditionalist.

Talking about the "practical Gandhi" who had "this-worldly" asceticism, Ms. Rudolph said: "It is very difficult to discover Gandhi, the man behind the formulaic public image, which we see everywhere displayed. We see him stride into the distance, his shawl over the shoulder, his staff in his hand. But he seems ephemeral, trans-human."

She pointed out that his more mundane contributions to political modernisation included introducing, in the conduct of politics, a work ethics and economising behaviour with respect to time and resources. He also made India's political structures more rational, democratic and professional.

"A man with Gandhi's spiritual concerns might be supposed to show little interest in the more routine tasks of modern politics. Yet far from being incapacitated for mundane political entrepreneurship by his religious heritage, Gandhi drew from it a this-worldly asceticism, an asceticism that would express itself in everyday life."

Stating that the disposition to work, save and rationally allocate time and resources in order to realise given goals is not necessarily modern, she observed: "It appears among religious orders, both East and West, where self-control and asceticism in the service of spiritual ends find expression, as they did for Gandhi, in the strict observance of schedules, hard work at physical, intellectual or spiritual tasks." Asserting that it was no accident that a large watch was among the few effects Gandhi valued in his lifetime and left behind at his death, she said Gandhi was extremely meticulous about time.

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