THE GANDHI LEGEND
IN INDO-ANGLIAN FICTION
A. V.
Research
Scholar,
Raja
Rao is the first Indo-Anglian novelist who has effectively exploited the
Gandhian Myth–translating reality into the poetry of his novel Kanthapura. The
spirit of Gandhi pervades the whole story. The hero, Moorthy, is called a
“Gandhi Man”. How Moorthy was first impressed by Gandhi, forms an interesting
anecdote of the novel. When still young,
“...One
day he had seen a vision, a vision of the Mahatma, mighty and God-beaming;
stealing between volunteers, Moorthy had got on to the platform, and he stood
by the Mahatma, and the very skin of the Mahatma seemed to send
out a mellowed force and love, and he stood by one of the fanners and
whispered, ‘Brother, the next is me’.”
Soon he gets his
chance to fan, but being unable to endure the atmosphere, suffused with high
seriousness, he falls at the feet of the Mahatma, crying aloud, “Mahatma Gandhi
ki Jai”.
“The
Mahatma lifted him up and, before them all, he said, ‘What can I do for you, my
son?’ and Moorthy said, like Hanuman to Rama, ‘Any command’ and the Mahatma
said, ‘I give no commands save to seek the truth’ and Moorthy said, ‘I am
ignorant, how can I seek the Truth?’ and the people around him were trying to
hush him and to take him away, but the Mahatma said, ‘You wear foreign cloth,
my son’–‘It will go Mahatmaji’–You perhaps go to foreign universities.’–‘It
will go Mahatmaji’–‘You can help your country by going
and working among the dumb millions of the villages. ‘So be it, Mahatmaji, and
the Mahatma patted him on the back, and through that touch was revealed to him,
as the day is revealed to the night, the sheath-less being of the soul...”
Moorthy
immediately chucks up his studies to become a “Gandhi’s Man”. This episode
reminds us of the Narendra encounter with Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, in its
spiritual awakening. No wonder then, Moorthy, as regularly as he can, arranges
Harikathas at the, temple–the story generally being “Gandhi Purana”. Raja Rao vividly
describes the actual recital of a Harikatha in which Gandhi is represented as
the holy Avatar of Siva. Even the ideal of Swaraj assumes a divine
significance:
“Siva
is the three-eyed, and Swaraj too is three-eyed: Self-purification,
Hindu-Muslim Unity, Khaddar.”
The
Mahatma is compared to Krishna: “men followed him, more and more men followed,
as they did
Though
the Mahatma is not directly presented as one of the characters in action, the
entire action is sustained by the spirit of Gandhi; Moorthy invokes the
blessings of Gandhi in every one of his actions; he exactly puts in practice
whatever is said by the Mahatma. He undertakes, for instance, a
self-purificatory fast–just as Gandhi would have done in a similar
position–after the violent scenes at the Coffee Estate. Naturally, therefore,
the people of Kanthapura regard him as the Mahatma himself! Range Gowda says to
Moorthy, “You are our Gandhi “, and proceeds to explain to others in his own
simple way:
“….He
is our Gandhi. The State of Mysore has a Maharajah, but that Maharaja has
another Maharaja who is in
“There’s
one Government, Sister,
There’s
one Government, Sister,
And
that’s the Government of Mahatma.”
Finally,
when Gandhi goes to the Round Table Conference prior to the Gandhi-Irvin Pact,
Sri Rama’s exile, and his invasion of Lanka to bring back Sita, killing Ravana,
is invoked in comparison:
“He
will bring us Swaraj, the Mahatma…And Rama will come back from exile, and Sita
will be with him, for Ravana will be slain and Sita freed, and he will come
back with Sita on his right in a chariot of the air, and brother
Bharata will go to meet them with the worshipped sandals of the
Master on his head. And as they enter Ayodhya, there will be a rain of flowers”..Like Bharata we worship the sandals of the Brother Saint.”
Thus,
Mahatma Gandhi is the invisible hero of Kanthapura; the Gandhian Image
is convincingly integrated with the main action.
In
Nagarajan’s Chronicles of Kedaram, Gandhi is represented,
not as an Avatar, but as a benign and tactful national leader and a successful
peace-maker (and probably vote-catcher too, to judge from what that
arch-politician Vanchi does).
“Kedaram
in the later half of 1934, bore no resemblance
to the Kedaram of a generation; before.”
So
says the narrator, Koni. Congress decides to enter the legislatures; but they
have to wage the toughest fight with the Justice Party. The local
Congress candidate, Vanchinatha Sastry, realizes the value of even a single
visit of Gandhi, and persuades him to visit Kedaram
once. Pleased with Vanchi’s Work, Gandhi includes Kedaram also in his itinerary. His tour ends successfully, as he could make the most vivid and lasting impression on the minds of the people. His tour results, firstly, in the routing of the Justice Party in Kedaram and, secondly, in the settlement of a long-standing dispute between two sections of Aiyangars. The priests, however, feel happy:
“It
was worth having a quarrel to have it settled by Mahatmaji.”
There
are two contrasting points in the Gandhian Image of Raja Rao’s Kanthapura and
Nagarajan’s Chronicles of Kedaram. Firstly, unlike in Kanthapura, Gandhiji
is regarded as a Mahatma but, the aura of an Avatar as in Kanthapura,
is not to be found in the Chronicles. Secondly, Gandhiji, takes a part, however minor, directly, in the action
of the Chronicles of Kedaram. But Nagarajan
and Raja Rao, both deal with the National Movement
during the 1930s. The former presents the Congress organisation in action,
while the latter stresses the greatness of the Moving Spirit of the Congress.
But, after all, the Image of Gandhi is but the political variant of
nationalism.
Perhaps
a closer parallel of the Gandhian Image of Raja Rao,
appears in Mulkraj Anand’s Untouchable. The novel narrates the
experiences of a young untouchable, on one of the ordinary routine days. Having
suffered the most miserable treatment, Bakha, the untouchable young man of
eighteen, bitterly complains to his father,
“…They
think we are mere dirt because we clean their dirt. That Pundit in the temple
tried to molest Sohini (sister) and then came shouting ‘Polluted, Polluted’...
I won’t go down to the town again.”
In
the evening he rambles along in a thoughtful mood when he hears the
enthusiastic cheers of the followers of Gandhi; and, amidst the deafening cries
of “Mahatma Gandhi ki Jai”, he suddenly hears the shouting, “Mahatma has come,”
“Mahatma has come”. The word Mahatma has a magnetic effect on him; and, all the
excitement and commotion “portended one thought and one thought alone in the
surging crowd–Gandhi.”
Bakha
stands staring at the flowing humanity. He recalls all that he heard of this
man:
“People
said, he was a saint, that he was an Avatar (incarnation) of the gods Vishnu
and
To
a peasant, “Gandhi was a legend, a tradition, an oracle. He had heard from time
to time, during the last fourteen years, how a saint had arisen as great as
Guru Nanak, the incarnation of Krishnaji Maharaj, of whom the ‘ferunghi sarkar’
(English Government) was very much afraid.” At last Gandhi addresses the
meeting; Bakha is thrilled to hear the Mahatma.
This
Image seems to be the closest to that of Raja Rao.
Even
so detached a novelist as R. K. Narayan seems to have been awakened into a
consciousness of the new national upsurge during and after Gandhi’s Salt
Satyagraha of 1930. His Waiting for the Mahatma is based more on history
than on legend. Even the popular imagination seems to be so well-disciplined
under the guidance of Narayan. His Waiting for the Mahatma offers an
interesting study in contrast with Raja Rao’s Kanthapura.
Waiting
for the Mahatama has only a heroine, and no hero; and Kanthapura
has only a hero, and no heroine. True, of course, Sriram in Waiting for
the Mahatma and Ratna in Kanthapura may act the
respective roles; but their personalities are either constantly constrained or
simply dwarfed by the more vigorous and dynamic Bharati and Moorthy
respectively. Idealistic and strong-willed, Bharati responds to the call of
Bapuji and dedicates herself completely to the national cause. Sriram is
fascinated by her charming personality and is, in fact, smitten with love at
first sight. And in order to get her friendship and love, he joins the
Volunteer Corps; his whole romantic affair takes place against the
multi-coloured background of Gandhian politics. On every Occasion; it is
Bharati who masters the situation, and not Sriram. Bapuji merely smiles on the
childish pranks of Sriram, and entrusts him to the care of Bharati. She is his
“guru”. This is how Gandhi is first introduced to us:
“Who
is She?” Sriram asked…..
The
jaggery merchant threw a swift look at him which seemed slightly sneering, and
said, “She has something to do with Mahatma Gandhi and is collecting a fund.
You know the Mahatma is coming.”
Sriram
suddenly remembers that “Malgudi was about to have the honour of receiving
Mahatma Gandhi”.
But
it is actually in the evening that Gandhi appears before the people:
“In
the evening, on the banks of the Sarayu, the people anxiously await the arrival
of Gandhi. Then there was a sudden lull when Gandhi arrived on the platform and
took his seat…”
Gandhi’s
southern tour commences, almost immediately; his message of love, non-violence
and Swarajya is carried to every nook by his vigilant and energetic and
dedicated volunteers. Sriram also wants to join them.
Sriram’s
first interview with Gandhi is in sharp contrast with the vision-meeting of
Moorthy and Mahatma. Doubtless, Sriram’s interview is more
touching, on the human level –quite appropriate to
its romantic theme; and it has none of the mystical and awesome qualities of
Moorthy’s vision. Sriram’s mistaken zeal surely lands him in troubles; he is
converted into a terrorist–doing exactly the opposite of Gandhi’s teachings.
Perhaps,
the most vital difference between Kanthapura and Waiting for the
Mahatma is in the maintenance of the Gandhian Image
in the same undisturbed focus throughout. Narayan’s attempt is the most
ambitious–beginning in the Thirties, it ends with the
assassination of Gandhi in 1948. The Image, as it is sought out, is too titanic
to be presented in undimmed light within the chosen compass. On the other hand,
the action in Kanthapura concludes with the departure of Gandhi to
attend the Round Table Conference in
Secondly,
in Kanthapura the impact of Gandhi is indirect, though not
imperceptible, while Bapuji in Waiting for the Mahatma is almost one of
the most active characters, directing the action; and, after all,
everyone–including the assassin–waits for the Mahatma. Thus, it appears, in
Anand’s Untouchable, it is incidental; and, in Nagarajan’s Chronicles
of Kedaram, it is all part of a political plan or strategy carefully
conceived and efficiently executed by the scheming Vanchinatha Sastry.
Narayan’s novel has it more realistically, without any mystical mist. But, in
Raja Rao’s Kanthapura, however, it is the archetypal Image.
It
is also a masterly exposition of the Gandhian phase of the Indian National
Movement. However, Kanthapura is primarily a Sthala Purana, but not a
mere panegyric or “Gandhi Purana”. Of course, Gandhi is the living Image that
sustains it, the myth-making, hero-worshipping tradition of