The Hindu Lit Fest 2024 | Gopalkrishna Gandhi remembers his grandfather, an ordinary man who did extraordinary things

The Hindu Lit Fest 2024 | In his new book Gopalkrishna Gandhi remembers his grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi and calls him “an ordinary man” who did extraordinary things

In our present times, said Gopalkrishna Gandhi, when, in history we want to be the first or the oldest; when in economic development we want to be the fastest, and when it comes to statues we want the tallest, it is refreshing to find, a man of some status, who referred to himself as ordinary.

Mr. Gandhi, who is former West Bengal Governor, was referring to his grandfather, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, in a talk at The Hindu Lit Fest 2024, on January 26, 2024, sharing insights from a book he has edited, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi I Am An Ordinary Man: India’s Struggle for Freedom (1914-148).

Gandhiji was a fearful boy: he was scared of the dark as a child, and a housekeeper, Rambha, had then told him that if said the name of Rama, he would not be afraid anymore. This, Mr. Gandhi said, resonated throughout Gandhiji’s life. Eventually, there were two things he came not to fear — defeat and death — all through his experiences in South Africa where he was beaten almost to death, and through his experiences during the years just before and after Independence, when he faced physical threats.

Throughout all of his days despite the support of thousands — both in South Africa during his struggle to secure the rights of Indians there, and in India, Gandhiji had no illusions about his stature, about his ability to sway the masses. Illustrating this, Mr. Gandhi said, when the Mahatma was in London, after the Indian struggle in South Africa, Sarojini Naidu had organised a meeting. Speaking there, Gandhiji had said that the real heroes and heroines of the struggle were not him or his wife, but the ordinary men and women, many of whom had died. He called these people “the salt of the earth” on whom the future of India would be built. At a time when supremacy and self-glorification claim our attention, Mr. Gandhi said, it may be remembered that the Mahatma recognised the extraordinary in ordinary people.

Gandhiji never accepted Partition — he believed Jinnah was wrong, and he wanted to keep the country united on the basis of shared faith. “Is it too late for this subcontinent of India, for South Asia. I believe it is not,” said Mr. Gandhi. Whenever there has been violence in the name of religion, there has also been, he said, extraordinary, redemptive action by people who do not subscribe to violence.

Though Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose had described him as the Father of the Indian nation, it was a never a description Gandhiji accepted or liked being used, Mr. Gandhi said. There was never anyone between Gandhiji and the people, even if those people were violent. Even at his death, there was no one between the man who assassinated and the man himself, except perhaps, as Rambha had taught him and, as Gandhiji said, in his last words, Rama.

Today, Mr. Gandhi said, when the highest, fastest and tallest call for attention, Gandhiji, the ordinary man does not call for either attention or acceptance: just for a gentle recollection of being ordinary and yet doing extraordinary things — this, was what he had shown to be the secret of the success, the strength, the sheer genius, of our unhappy, yet absolutely extraordinary and unique land.