Price Of Freedom

Although increasinglyreceding from our public commemoration, Independence Day remains an occasion torecall the contributions and sacrifices of the many Indians who wrought forfreedom. Central to the story of our struggle for freedom is the role of Gandhiand the working of a unique, non-violent revolution that changed the face of theworld. Behind this success of Gandhi, lies an entire ecosystem of men and womenof all hues and colours, of varying political predilections, and from diversereligious, class, caste and national groups. This ‘Gandhian ecosystem’, tocoin a phrase, consisted of two broad ‘kingdoms’. The first, and thewell-studied part consists of Gandhi’s political colleagues. The story ofGandhi’s relationship with this diverse group consisting of persons likeNehru, Patel, Rajaji and several other politically prominent leaders is welldocumented. In contrast, the ‘non-political’ section of the Gandhianecosystem has not received the attention that it deserves. Many of theseindividuals were described under the broad rubric of ‘constructive workers’.The work of these individuals was not limited merely to end British rule inIndia. Rather, they were inspired to aim for the lofty ideal of Purna Swarajthat encapsulated Gandhi’s civilisational mission of according autonomy anddignity to every individual.

Whileone may explain this neglect of the non-political part of the Gandhian ecosystemas a consequence of the modern intellectual preference of the political over themoral and social dimensions of life, it nevertheless results in a limitedunderstanding of what Gandhi represented. Although the Mahatma was undoubtedlytheir leader, these colleagues and compatriots were ineffable to Gandhi’s ownpersonal evolution. Perhaps we can gauge the significance of such non-politicalfigures in the Gandhian ecosystem by considering the fact that Gandhi broke hiscustomary weekly silence on only two occasions in his eventful life. The firstwas when his nephew and creator of the khadi programme, Maganlal Gandhi, died in1928. Years later when a compatriot had returned to Sevagram after aheart-attack, a distraught Gandhi broke his vow again. "How are you, Mahadev?" he enquired.

Thosefamiliar with the name often know of Mahadev Desai as Gandhi’s secretary. Somewill in addition recognise him as the translator of the Mahatma’sautobiography into English. However, as he was much more than a secretary toGandhi, Mahadev Desai has on various occasions been described as Gandhi’sBoswell, a Plato to Gandhi’s Socrates, as well as an Ananda to Gandhi’sBuddha. This profusion of analogies point to the fact that Mahadev Desai’srelationship with Gandhi is a taxonomic puzzle. Undoubtedly he belonged to thenon-political kingdom of the Gandhian ecosystem and was primus inter paresamongst the close circle from which Gandhi drew his material, psychological andmoral sustenance. Nevertheless, these analogies are inadequate caricatures. Topersist with our biological metaphor, while he was the tallest Gandhian, hisoriginality, insightfulness, and creativity makes Mahadev Desai a species untohimself.

MahadevHaribhai Desai was born on 1st January 1892 in Saras, a small village in theSurat district of Gujarat. An early fondness and flair for literature marked himout for a career in letters. By the time he earned his degrees in philosophy andlaw in 1913, Mahadev had read widely in both English and Gujarati and waspreparing for a prosaic job. It was during this period that he met that great‘fisher of men’, Mahatma Gandhi. By the end of 1917, after four years oftentative explorations, Mahadev Desai made a dramatic choice and threw in hislot with Gandhi. For someone on the verge of extricating his family from genteelpoverty, this was a bold decision. Life with Gandhi, not yet the Mahatma, wasgoing to be uncertain. But the sacrifice is made doubly magnificent byMahadev’s decision to sublimate his own life to serve the needs of Gandhi. Itwas his way of serving the cause of his people.

Lifewith Gandhi was maddeningly busy for Mahadev. In addition to attending toGandhi’s voluminous correspondence, carefully and faithfully reporting onGandhi’s work, Mahadev also regularly contributed to Gandhi’s variousjournals. The man with a passion for literature now deployed his pen in theservice of his leader’s many causes. However, true to his integrity, Mahadevnever allowed his work as Gandhi’s secretary to come in the way of a dailyregimen of hard physical labour that was the norm at Gandhi’s ashrams. And, asif this was not enough, Mahadev played a decisive role in many a nationalistcampaign, Bardoli being the most memorable. Carrying out all these tasks was notrifling matter and Mahadev pushed himself to the bodily and psychologicallimits of human endurance. However, the effort and strain seldom showed. PerhapsMahadev was aided in handling the burden of his work by his singular traits ofequanimity, refined sensibility and a great capacity of love that tempered hissteely conviction. If being in the midst of major political campaigns and criseswas demanding, Mahadev would also have needed to draw on his inner reserves inthe normal course of things. Being the secretary to the most sought after personin India was no ordinary job and it also meant countless hours spent managingGandhi’s time by attending to his various visitors. Mahadev excelled in allsuch quotidian tasks. It would be no exaggeration to say that as significant ashis contribution to the great events of the day was the simple fact that, asobserved by a friend, Mahadev had "saved ten years of Gandhi’s time bydiverting from him unwanted visitors"!

Thecontribution of Mahadev Desai in the form of reports and articles on Gandhi’swork is significant for they were a vital link between Gandhi and his people.Mahadev’s linguistic felicity meant that he wrote regularly in the English,Gujarati, and Hindi versions of Gandhi’s journals. It is through thesewritings that thousands learnt of the enduring meaning and value of thestruggles and victories that animated Gandhi’s public and private life. But onoccasion we are afforded a glimpse of the literary promise and independence ofmind that Mahadev held in taut abeyance. In 1936, he translated JawaharlalNehru’s Autobiography into Gujarati for which Mahadev was assailed bycriticism. On the one hand, he was castigated for helping promote a book inwhich Gandhi had been severely criticised and was also advocating a contrarianeconomic and social programme. On the other hand, the Socialists within theCongress, who considered Nehru to be their intellectual leading light, weresuspicious that Mahadev would distort their leaders’ message! Mahadev refused to be bogged down by such doctrinaire criticism and wrotea lengthy preface to accompany his translation. In it, he pointed to thephilosophical differences between Gandhi and Nehru and laid out an objectiveassessment of the literary and substantive content of Nehru’s work. Whileappreciative of the ideals that animated Nehru’s life and his unshakeableresolve, Mahadev chided Nehru for his failure to understand the philosophicalbasis of the Indian ethos.

IfNehru lacked a serious appreciation of Indian philosophy, Mahadev’s mostenduring literary contribution lay in this philosophical tradition. In themanner of the seers of the past, he wrote a major commentary on the Bhagvad Gita.Intended as a short preface to his English translation of Gandhi’sinterpretation of the Gita, Anasaktiyoga, this exegesis eventually raninto 125 pages! In this major workof synthesis, Mahadev explores the relationship between the Gita and otherfoundational texts in various Indic traditions. While dwelling at length on suchfundamental concepts in Indian philosophy as prakriti, purushartha,karma, buddhi, and jnana, Mahadev also demonstrated aserious comprehension of Western philosophy. The commentary itself borrows froma long series of letters exchanged with Gandhi during the year that Mahadevspent away from the Mahatma in Bardoli. Today, one wonders how it was possiblefor both to find time for such a sustained philosophical conversation whileengaged in a major Satyagraha campaign that made a major dent in the colonialedifice in India. Above all, Mahadev’s philosophical musings on the Gitaremind us in our troubled times of the possibility of a non-doctrinaire andnon-partisan study of ancient philosophical texts.

Inthe weeks preceding the Quit India Resolution, Mahadev, as usual had wornhimself down and underwent a thorough medical examination. Preserved in anarchival record, a medical report gives us the results of this physical andinternal examination conducted on July 3, 1942 in Bombay. His haemogram wasnearly perfect. He passed the glucose tolerance test without a problem, and hisgastric system was functioning normally. In short, the physician and thepathologist could see no obvious problem with Mahadev’s physical health. Butthis physical well-being belied the intense mental anguish that had gripped him.

Whilethe furies of the 1942 campaign lay ahead, Gandhi had announced that he wouldundertake an indefinite fast in the event of his being arrested by thegovernment. Soon, after the ‘Quit India’ Resolution was adopted, Gandhi andMahadev were arrested and taken to Poona to be lodged at the palace of the AgaKhan. While the debate about Gandhi’s fast raged inside and outside the AgaKhan Palace, Gandhi and his compatriots settled down into a daily routine in thejail expecting to be there for a really long time. By now, Mahadev was fullyconsumed by thoughts about the consequences of Gandhi’s indefinite fast.Gandhi and Mahadev argued incessantly about the fast. Mahadev did not want theMahatma to give up his life through a fast. Unlike previous occasions, bothMahadev and Gandhi understood that the government was not going to relent and anindefinite fast meant a certain death. But none could have foretold the cruelturn of events. On August 15, 1942, hours after he had served Gandhi andcheerfully groomed himself in front of one of the numerous mirrors in thebuilding, Mahadev Desai died of a massive heart-attack.

Intwenty-five years of public life, Mahadev had compressed the work of a lifetime.As Gandhi remarked, he was a living example of "the wise, who live and work asif they were born to immortality and everlasting youth". In faithfullyfollowing the dictum of ‘Do or Die’, Mahadev Desai had paid the ultimateprice in winning India its freedom.

Postscript

In1951, in a Foreword to D. G. Tendulkar’s landmark eight-volume eponymousbiography of the Mahatma, Jawaharlal Nehru remarked that "No man canwrite a real life of Gandhi, unless he is as big as Gandhi". In the normalcourse of events, it would have fallen to Mahadev Desai to execute this task. Inrecent times, as if in carrying out the unfulfilled duties of his father,Mahadev’s son, Narayan Desai has written a four-volume biography of theMahatma. While the release of its English translation is eagerly awaited, one isreminded of the suggestion of the anthropologist Verrier Elwin, that "it wouldbe a very proper token of love for [Mahadev’s] memory if everything he haswritten could be collected and republished". The Collected Works of MahadevDesai will not only represent a nation’s gratitude to one its finest sons,it will also be an invaluable historical record of the events of a quartercentury that has defined modern India.