Mohandas

Rajmohan Gandhi

Description

A more heroic tale has yet to be told . . . [Mohandas] is meticulously researched, written in felicitous prose and is a delight to read Khushwant Singh, Outlook A candid recreation of one of the most influential lives of recent times, Mohandas finally answers questions long asked about the timid youth from PBI - India s west coast who became a century s conscience and led his nation to liberty: What was Gandhi like in his daily life and in his closest relationships? In his face-offs with an Empire, with his own bitterly divided people, with his adversaries, his family and his greatest confrontation with himself? Answering these and other questions, and releasing the true Gandhi from his shroud of fame and myth, Mohandas, authored by a practised biographer who is also Gandhi s grandson, does more than tell a story. Praise for the Book Rajmohan strikes a fine balance in this comprehensive work, lacing the painstakingly detailed chronological account with just the right amount of interpretation. [His] approach goes a long way in painting a portrait of Gandhiji that is very human, plausible, and easy to identify with Mukund Padmanabhan, The Hindu An impeccable exercise in objectivity . . . A remarkable performance. This biography ought to be read over and over again . . . The bareness of Rajmohan s recital of moods and events heightens the poignancy . . . Mahatma Gandhi was a votary of restraint; this book exemplifies, magnificently, such restraint. The grandfather would have approved of Rajmohan s Mohandas Ashok Mitra, Telegraph A story of epic proportions . . . Gandhi s luminous compassion, courage and humanity shine through these pages and bring light into our lives Sonia Gandhi The only word to describe this work is fabulous . Literally scores of people have written on Mahatma Gandhi . . . But . . . Mohandas will henceforth be remembered as the last word on the subject M.V. Kamath, Organizer

Sujets

• Lettres et linguistique
• History of Asia
• India

Informations

• Publié par: Penguin Books Ltd
• Date de parution: 09 octobre 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9788184753172
• Langue: English

Extrait

RAJMOHAN GANDHI
Mohandas
A True Story of a Man, his People and an Empire
PENGUIN BOOKS
Contents
About the Author
Dedication
PREFACE
Chapter 1 BOYHOOD
Chapter 2 LONDON AND IDENTITY
Chapter 3 SOUTH AFRICA AND A PURPOSE
Chapter 4 SATYAGRAHA
Chapter 5 HIND SWARAJ
Chapter 6 A GREAT MARCH
Chapter 7 ENGAGING INDIA
Chapter 8 THE EMPIRE CHALLENGED
Chapter 9 BUILDING ANEW
Chapter 10 ASSAULT-WITH SALT
Chapter 11 NEGOTIATING REPRESSION
Chapter 12 DREAM UNDER FIRE
Chapter 13 QUIT INDIA !
Chapter 14 REJECTED
Chapter 15 WALK ALONE
Chapter 16 TO RAMA
Footnotes
Chapter 7: Engaging India
Chapter 8: The Empire Challenged
Chapter 9: Building Anew
Chapter 10: Assault-with Salt
POSTSCRIPT
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Copyright Page
PENGUIN BOOKS
MOHANDAS
A former parliamentarian in India, Rajmohan Gandhi currently teaches in the USA at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Apart from several biographies, his works include Understanding the Muslim Mind and Revenge and Reconciliation: Understanding South Asian History , both published by Penguin India.
To U., who (a bit like a key character in this story) is fearless by nature, independent and always giving
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
Recently, I have been going through Rajmohan Gandhi s perceptive biography of Mahatma Gandhi. What always strikes one about Gandhiji was his ability to be both practical and idealistic at the same time Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most modern minds of our times. He offered us a liberal framework to view the complexities of our social and political existence and take humanity forward -Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Rajmohan Gandhi has a well-deserved reputation as a scholar of contemporary India and his book enhances that reputation. -Lloyd Rudolph, Outlook
Rajmohan strikes a fine balance in this comprehensive work, lacing the painstakingly detailed chronological account with just the right amount of interpretation Rajmohan adopts the position of a detached observer But the approach goes a long way in painting a portrait of Gandhiji that is very human, plausible, and easy to identify with -Mukund Padmanabhan, The Hindu
Rajmohan Gandhi is a scholar with access, empathy and a startling detachment for a man writing about his grandfather The result is Mohandas , which draws threads through the various Gandhis to form a consistent pattern -Suresh Menon, Deccan Herald
Rajmohan Gandhi s Mohandas is the final testimony to the maturing of the biography form in Indian literature The Mahatma s grandson has now written an account of his grandfather that resembles a finely executed miniature painting without compromising on the vast canvas that Gandhi s life represented. Three significant features mark the excellence of this volume. It is written in the manner of a racy thriller without recourse to any gimmickry. [Two,] the author s admiration for his subject does not slip into meaningless gushing, nor does the imperative of so-called objectivity lead him to lose affection for an incredible man and an equally incredible life. [Three, while] in most accounts of the Mahatma s life, other individuals get dwarfed and overshadowed by his awesome personality and achievement, Rajmohan Gandhi has allowed every single individual who had anything to do with the Mahatma to breathe in a space of his or her own. The subtitle of the book, therefore, justifies itself in the full sense of its meaning. Rajmohan Gandhi s book unravels all aspects of a unique life and makes us believe, contrary to what Einstein said, that Gandhi was a man who indeed walked on this earth -Jyotirmaya Sharma, DNA
A more heroic tale has yet to be told. His grandson has told it Rajmohan Gandhi has filled many gaps in our knowledge of the Mahatma, tapped new source material, explained decisions [Mohandas] is meticulously researched, written in felicitous prose and is a delight to read -Khushwant Singh, Outlook
A thoroughly gripping narrative that interweaves the personal and public personae of the Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi s story is a smacking good read and one that still inspires - The Hub
Illuminating, and likely to remain definitive for a long time -Ramaswami R. Iyer, Economic and Political Weekly
Preface
Started as an exercise to delineate the true Gandhi, this project turned naturally and swiftly into a retelling of a modern-day epic involving an unusual hero, a complex people, and a powerful empire.
With its sweep, its oscillations between glory and tragedy, the profusion of its characters, the richness (in infirmity and strength) of its (several) principal characters, and the valiant persistence of the chief among them, the story I have sought to relate is without doubt a classic. I only hope my retelling does not hopelessly undersell it.
In some ways it is an unbelievable story. Einstein thought that generations to come will scarce believe that Gandhi actually did what he did. Hence the reminder in the subtitle that this is a true story.
But it is also an attempt to identify the true Gandhi-to convey the truth about him. Though a popular metaphor, sixty years after his death, for innocence, ingenuity or courage, he is not clearly known as a person.
The Good Boatman, an earlier study I did of Gandhi (also published by Viking/Penguin), attempted to answer some important questions, including why the subcontinent saw so much violence despite Gandhi s nonviolence, and why Partition occurred despite his opposition. But it was not a biography. This one is.
The metaphor has shrouded the man. A courageous, selfless, and nonviolent foe of oppression anywhere may be dubbed a Gandhi, even in places far from India, while a tormentor of the innocent may be called Gandhi s new assailant, as happened in India during carnages in 1984, 1992 and 2002.
But what was Gandhi like as a human being? Despite his fame, or perhaps because of it, Mohandas Gandhi the individual is not sufficiently felt, or seen, or understood.
In India we think we know him. No face is more familiar. He looks at us from currency notes, postage stamps and billboards. We feel we can sketch the spectacles, the bald head, the loincloth, the pocket-watch. But familiarity is not knowledge.
We think we also know what he stood for. Yet the obvious and predictable Gandhi may be very misleading, and the beliefs of the real man may have been quite different from what we think.
Who was he, this timid lad who became a century s conscience and led India to liberty? This discoverer of satyagraha, the one wanting to remove every tear from every eye, this pioneer of religious pluralism and dissenter from modernity, what was he like in his daily life, in his close relationships?
What was he like in his confrontations, his face-offs with an Empire, with his own bitterly divided people, with his adversaries-and, perhaps his greatest confrontation, with himself?
What was he like in his relationships with parents, wife and sons, with women in general and with his young female associates, and with political and non-political colleagues?
Was he a politician or a saint? If both, how did these two Gandhis combine, and in what proportions? Or was he, as critics have alleged, someone who broke a pledge that he would rather die than accept Partition? Was he not an unfeeling husband and father? A man who did strange things in the name of chastity? Or emasculated India in the name of nonviolence? Or patronized Dalits without empowering them?
This study is a bid to free Gandhi the person from his image or images, and to present his life fully and honestly.
Many have presented their versions of Gandhi, often powerfully. Assisted by his sister Sushila Nayar, Gandhi s faithful secretary Pyarelal provided a remarkable multi-volume biography that began with Gandhi s last phase, turned to his childhood and boyhood, and then covered the middle decades. Earlier, D.G. Tendulkar had produced his eight-volume biography. B.R. Nanda, Louis Fischer and Geoffrey Ashe have each given us a memorable and popular volume, and they are not the only ones to have done so.
Erik Erikson s Gandhi s Truth analyzed his subject s tension-filled psychology and his oft-peculiar practices, and Martin Green has presented Gandhi as a New Age revolutionary. In 1909 Joseph Doke wrote the first Gandhi biography, in the 1920s Gandhi wrote his own account in My Experiments with Truth, dozens of other biographies followed, and more will be written.
In the 1990s, Yogesh Chadha wrote a widely welcomed life of Gandhi. Recently, Narayan Desai, the son of Mahadev Desai, Gandhi s secretary from 1917 to 1942, has published a significant four-volume Gandhi biography in Gujarati. An English translation is to follow. The numerous diaries into which Mahadev Desai entered many an enlightening detail were published earlier.
Yet there seemed a need for the chronological, complete and candid portrayal attempted here. Studies written shortly after his assassination naturally stressed Gandhi s final decade and some aspects of his personality, inevitably excluding other areas. Moreover, the early biographers produced their works without access to the vast amount of illuminating material now available to scholars.
Perhaps time was needed before the whole of his life could be looked at as one piece, and a touchable, seeable, comprehensible Gandhi brought out.
It was a tall order. I went for it in fear and trembling, praying that I might do some justice to the man and also to truth. God only knows how far I have succeeded or failed.
This is the story of someone who was neither simple to understand, nor easy to live with, nor a stranger to error or to defeat, but who continues to inspire many and interest many more. It seeks to unravel Gandhi s complexity, looks at his quirks, failures and weaknesses, and looks too for the secret behind the power of a frail man who renounced wealth, ease and rank.
This metaphor for innocence was an excee