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Young World
Looking at Gandhiji – through a diary
S. THEODORE BASKARAN
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On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi (October 2) we try to understand the Mahatma’s philosophy and nature. His secretary Mahadev Desai kept a diary of him and through this we get another glimpse of the man.
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To know about Gandhiji this diary is an important source of information. We understand the ideas of Gandhiji through his diary.
Photo: The Hindu Photo Library
Understanding Gandhiji: Another facet.
What did Gandhiji mean to those who were close to him, to those who lived with him? Mahadev Desai worked as his secretary from 1917 for 25 years. This was an important period in Indian History. Gandhiji was very active in the Independence movement. Desai kept a diary in which he recorded important happenings and conversations. The jo
kes for which Gandhiji was well known and even what he said when he was delirious during fasts, were written down by him. Gandhiji dictated his letters and articles and Desai kept copies of them. Desai jokingly described Gandhiji as ‘a slave hunter’ because he made him work so hard. Gandhiji shared with him his innermost thoughts. When Gandhiji decided to go on the historic salt march, he kept the proposed route a secret but told Mahadev Desai. One day after a meeting at the Gujarat Club in Ahmedabad, Gandhiji and Desai walked all the way to the Sabarmati ashram, a distance of six km. Desai has written about what they discussed during the walk.
His ideas
This diary is an important source of informationIf you want to know about Gandhiji. It has been published as a book titled Day-to-Day with Gandhi. We understand the ideas of Gandhiji through this diary. We read about the people who came to meet Bapu and what he told them. When Gandhiji led the mill-workers’ strike, the Collector of Ahmedabad expressed his admiration of the way in which the strike was held. He says, “This is the first time in my life when I see a fight between the employers and workers carried on with so much love and regard for each other.”
When Gandhiji was in Calcutta in 1917, he saw Tagore’s play “The Post Office” and liked it. He said he was moved by Bengali music and wanted to listen to more of it.
In 1942 Gandhiji and Mahadev Desai together were imprisoned in the Aghakhan Palace in Pune. One morning Desai suddenly took ill and died, on Gandhiji’s lap.
(The book Day-to-Day with Gandhi — A Secretary’s Diary was published by Sarva Seva Sangh Prakashan, Varanasi. 1968. Rs.40
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Learning from the trees
Photo: The Hindu Photo Library
Gandhiji: With his secretary Mahadev Desai.
Gandhiji has not written much about nature, music or drama. But in this diary we read a letter he wrote to Kallenbach, his close friend in South Africa in which Gandhiji talked about trees. “As I was whizzing through the air yesterday and looking at the trees, I saw that beneath all the change that these mighty trees daily underwent, there was a little something that persisted. Every leaf has its own separate life. It drops and withers. But the tree lives on.”
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