(Including inputs & liberal quotations from Anu Bandhopadhyay's 1994 book- 'M. K. Gandhi- Author, Journalist, Printer, Publisher')
Gandhi's Memory does not seem to fade away after prayers were offered on Shahid Divas, January 30th. I found his images haunting;thankfully for Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka, many more Indians have come distinguish them from our Mohandas Karamchand and to that extent the trio can take a sigh of relief that peoples' expectations from them are presumably lowered. Mahatma Gandhi refuses to fade away into oblivion; therefore I gathered a few more random snap shots in the following text.
A memory recall of his encounter with Bhim Rao Ambedkar during the Round Table Conference has aroused images of Gandhi indulging in proverbial 'Vishpan' by Bhagwan Shankar during the 'Sagar Manthan'. Today as the Indian Devs and Asurs are once again engaged in a Sagar Manthan of sorts, a role model exists for every Indian to indulge in his own fair share of 'swallowing poison instead of spreading communal or reservation poison'.
Gandhi claimed that a thoughtless word never escaped his lips or pen. He could write with both hands. His common writings were with use of right hand though his hand writing with left hand is found to be clearer and more readable. Why he chose to use his right hand more often is not known to me.
He read widely and digested what he read. His first (though naive) attempt as a writer was a booklet 'London Guide' written for Indian students. Next came two pamphlets- 'An Appeal to Every Briton' and 'The Indian Franchise'; then came 'Green Pamphlet' which was written on a voyage home in 1896. Similarly, 'Hind Swaraj' was written during his voyage from England to South Africa in 1909. When Tolstoy read it he said, "The question of passive resistance was of great importance not only for India but for the whole world". His manuscripts had a few marks of correction and seldom needed any change. And that, he often said, was due to "the spiritual discipline of votary of truth".
Gandhi was master words man. He did not go for literal meaning when doing translation. When Ruskin's essay ‘Unto This Last’ touched his deepest beliefs, he adapted it into Gujarati and titled it ‘Sarvodaya’. Similarly his 'Story of a Satyagrahi' is a paraphrase of the 'Defense and Death of Socrates' by Plato. And by writing his autobiography in Gujarati using simple yet forceful language, he turned Gujarati into people's language. And ‘The Story of my Experiments with Truth’ easily beats most modern thrillers in its ability to 'grip' a reader for complete attention.
When it came to writing letters, he could write even 50 letters in a day, all by himself. According to an estimate, he had written a total of one hundred thousand letters in his life time. Compare it with work of an Urdu Poet, Meer Taki Meer, who has reportedly written an equivalent of two hundred thousand poems in his entire life span. And in all his written matters he was a picture of perfection to the extent of never missing a comma or an apostrophe. If you come across a date written by him you can be sure of clear dots separating day and month and while writing 1930 in short he did not miss write it along with an appropriate apostrophe as '30.
He was asked to write biography of Raichandbhai (considered to be his friend, philosopher and guide by many). He is reported to have responded, "If I want to write his life story, I shall have to study carefully his home, his playground, mix with his friends, school mates, relatives and followers." This reflects his quest for truth in every sphere of his life. Here you might like to say- So, what's new?
Lord Curzon once stated, "The ideal of truth is to a large extent a western conception". With more than 9000 years of traceable history of Indian civilization in the backdrop, Gandhi retorted and provided a 'host of evidences' of Indians indulging in worship of truth earlier than West.
Gandhi's romance with journalism began early, when he was only 19. His earliest writings show his capacity for expressing any idea in simple direct language. Then, at a relatively young age of 35 years he took charge of an English Language Weekly, Indian Opinion, in South Africa. Later he would bring out its Gujarati Language Version too. Gandhi worked hard for 10 years for this weekly. He would pour out his soul and published detailed account of satyagraha struggle in South Africa. Some of his distinguished readers were Gokhale in India, Dadabhai Naoroji in England and Tolstoy in Russia.
He considered bad printing an act of 'hinsa'. In printing, he was not for cutting corners. Once the Navajivan Press decided to publish a Gujarati translation of Gokhale's writings and speeches.The translation was done by an educationalist. When the book was printed, Gandhi was requested to write a foreword. He found the translation poor and stiff and asked it to be destroyed. When he was told that seven hundred rupees had been spent on it, he said: "Do you think it is desirable to place this rubbish before the public after spending more on binding and cover? I do not want to ruin people's taste by distributing bad literature." The whole lot was burnt and was not allowed to be sold even as waste paper.
Gandhi always defended liberty of the press. He stopped printing his journals when any Government order restricted him from publishing his views. Having acquired editor's expertise and a reputation as editor, he warned, "Newspapers are fast becoming the people's Bible, Koran and Gita rolled in one. A journalist's duty is to teach people to be brave, not to instill fear into them. " In his opinion the aim of journalism was service: "Journalism should never be prostituted for selfish ends."
Gandhi's Memory does not seem to fade away after prayers were offered on Shahid Divas, January 30th. I found his images haunting;thankfully for Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka, many more Indians have come distinguish them from our Mohandas Karamchand and to that extent the trio can take a sigh of relief that peoples' expectations from them are presumably lowered. Mahatma Gandhi refuses to fade away into oblivion; therefore I gathered a few more random snap shots in the following text.
A memory recall of his encounter with Bhim Rao Ambedkar during the Round Table Conference has aroused images of Gandhi indulging in proverbial 'Vishpan' by Bhagwan Shankar during the 'Sagar Manthan'. Today as the Indian Devs and Asurs are once again engaged in a Sagar Manthan of sorts, a role model exists for every Indian to indulge in his own fair share of 'swallowing poison instead of spreading communal or reservation poison'.
Gandhi claimed that a thoughtless word never escaped his lips or pen. He could write with both hands. His common writings were with use of right hand though his hand writing with left hand is found to be clearer and more readable. Why he chose to use his right hand more often is not known to me.
He read widely and digested what he read. His first (though naive) attempt as a writer was a booklet 'London Guide' written for Indian students. Next came two pamphlets- 'An Appeal to Every Briton' and 'The Indian Franchise'; then came 'Green Pamphlet' which was written on a voyage home in 1896. Similarly, 'Hind Swaraj' was written during his voyage from England to South Africa in 1909. When Tolstoy read it he said, "The question of passive resistance was of great importance not only for India but for the whole world". His manuscripts had a few marks of correction and seldom needed any change. And that, he often said, was due to "the spiritual discipline of votary of truth".
Gandhi was master words man. He did not go for literal meaning when doing translation. When Ruskin's essay ‘Unto This Last’ touched his deepest beliefs, he adapted it into Gujarati and titled it ‘Sarvodaya’. Similarly his 'Story of a Satyagrahi' is a paraphrase of the 'Defense and Death of Socrates' by Plato. And by writing his autobiography in Gujarati using simple yet forceful language, he turned Gujarati into people's language. And ‘The Story of my Experiments with Truth’ easily beats most modern thrillers in its ability to 'grip' a reader for complete attention.
When it came to writing letters, he could write even 50 letters in a day, all by himself. According to an estimate, he had written a total of one hundred thousand letters in his life time. Compare it with work of an Urdu Poet, Meer Taki Meer, who has reportedly written an equivalent of two hundred thousand poems in his entire life span. And in all his written matters he was a picture of perfection to the extent of never missing a comma or an apostrophe. If you come across a date written by him you can be sure of clear dots separating day and month and while writing 1930 in short he did not miss write it along with an appropriate apostrophe as '30.
He was asked to write biography of Raichandbhai (considered to be his friend, philosopher and guide by many). He is reported to have responded, "If I want to write his life story, I shall have to study carefully his home, his playground, mix with his friends, school mates, relatives and followers." This reflects his quest for truth in every sphere of his life. Here you might like to say- So, what's new?
Lord Curzon once stated, "The ideal of truth is to a large extent a western conception". With more than 9000 years of traceable history of Indian civilization in the backdrop, Gandhi retorted and provided a 'host of evidences' of Indians indulging in worship of truth earlier than West.
Gandhi's romance with journalism began early, when he was only 19. His earliest writings show his capacity for expressing any idea in simple direct language. Then, at a relatively young age of 35 years he took charge of an English Language Weekly, Indian Opinion, in South Africa. Later he would bring out its Gujarati Language Version too. Gandhi worked hard for 10 years for this weekly. He would pour out his soul and published detailed account of satyagraha struggle in South Africa. Some of his distinguished readers were Gokhale in India, Dadabhai Naoroji in England and Tolstoy in Russia.
He considered bad printing an act of 'hinsa'. In printing, he was not for cutting corners. Once the Navajivan Press decided to publish a Gujarati translation of Gokhale's writings and speeches.The translation was done by an educationalist. When the book was printed, Gandhi was requested to write a foreword. He found the translation poor and stiff and asked it to be destroyed. When he was told that seven hundred rupees had been spent on it, he said: "Do you think it is desirable to place this rubbish before the public after spending more on binding and cover? I do not want to ruin people's taste by distributing bad literature." The whole lot was burnt and was not allowed to be sold even as waste paper.
Gandhi always defended liberty of the press. He stopped printing his journals when any Government order restricted him from publishing his views. Having acquired editor's expertise and a reputation as editor, he warned, "Newspapers are fast becoming the people's Bible, Koran and Gita rolled in one. A journalist's duty is to teach people to be brave, not to instill fear into them. " In his opinion the aim of journalism was service: "Journalism should never be prostituted for selfish ends."
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