Nov 30, 2024 07:51 PM IST
Her diary preserved what Gandhi said were his “deepest thoughts”. What we have received from her, belatedly, is an invaluable gift, a testament to the trauma and triumph of the Great Soul
Among all Gandhians or associates of Mahatma Gandhi, Mridula Gandhi (1927-1969) stands out. Manu, as she was known, was with Gandhi when he faced his most acute inner crisis. She was with him when it resolved to give him a “clear glimpse of truth and purity”. She was a partner, on equal terms, in his final yajna (sacrifice), and she was with him when he breathed his last. Yet, Manu had remained something of an enigma.
The mystery around her was partly due to a set of diaries she maintained during the two periods of her stay with Gandhi. Much of its content had not been in the public domain but they came to be lodged in the National Archives of India about a decade ago. They have been published in two volumes, the first in 2019 and the second recently. This may be the most awaited event in the world of Gandhian scholarship in our times. The Diary of Manu Gandhi (NAI and Oxford University Press), edited and translated from Gujarati by Tridip Suhrud, enhances our understanding of Gandhi’s sadhana, and also helps us appreciate Manu’s contribution to it, as a witness and a collaborator.
When Gandhi rushed to Noakhali in East Bengal in late 1946 to restore peace there, he found himself in utter despair. His decades-long observance of truth and non-violence, he believed, should have imparted to him a purity that should have dispelled the evil of communal hatred. As the editor-translator explains in his introduction, Gandhi reasoned that his ekadash vrat — the 11 vows — could be working together as a whole, and his imperfection in one could be “choking” their action against the orgy of violence. He needed to look within and examine his observance of one vow in particular — Brahmacharya. For him, it was more than celibacy; it was a whole-hearted, ceaseless striving to dwell in the ultimate reality. In the process, he also aimed to “enlarge and revise the current definition of Brahmacharya”. What Gandhi intended to undergo was not a test of celibacy, but what he called a yajna to dispel any remnants of impurities within. It needed a partner, and he chose Manu, the granddaughter of a cousin, to be with him in this ordeal. The 19-year-old had been so devoted to her “mother” (he had been like her mother after the demise of her mother as well as of Kasturba) that she never had second thoughts about sharing a bed with him. Her diaries reveal the extraordinary discipline and sensitivity she brought to this responsibility. Gandhi advised his colleagues to write a diary, a spiritual exercise in ancient Western philosophical traditions, to cultivate the practice of self-examination. Manu had started writing a diary in April 1943, when she stayed with Gandhi in Aga Khan Palace, Poona. He then taught her how to write a diary and what to write in it, and the output was what could be expected from a 14-year-old.
In Noakhali, as she resumed diary writing, she wrote surprisingly eloquent entries. Even after starting the day at nearly 3am, spending hours ministering to Gandhi and visiting Muslim families, and agonising over jealousies and intrigues of fellow workers, she found time and energy to write. Then she read it out to Gandhi, who put his signature on every entry and often wrote a short comment too.
What she captured in it for posterity is much more than the testimony of the yajna itself. Gandhi often explained to her the deep significance of their joint endeavour. His talks then expanded to cover a vast range of topics — the importance of service, compassion, discipline of desire and prayer. He would start by talking in detail about, for example, girls’ clothing, its effects on physical and moral health, and the talk would expand to the future of India and culminate in spiritual matters. As Gandhi told her, “The lessons that I give you are the essence of my heart.” Manu jotted it all down.
Gandhi told Manu to emulate Mahadev Desai, his personal secretary, who in his diaries recorded not only the innermost thoughts of the Mahatma, but also what is rarely found elsewhere — the movement of these thoughts as they were taking shape. The two diarists differed in their linguistic abilities but not in their devotion to Bapu. Her diary preserved what Gandhi said were his “deepest thoughts”. What we have received from her, belatedly, is an invaluable gift, a testament to the trauma and triumph of the Great Soul. The Diary of Manu Gandhi is both a matchless historical document and a masterpiece of spiritual literature.
Gandhi’s great yajna was going to culminate in Delhi. Manu, the partner, was to bear witness now to its culmination, as he had often told her. “[I]f it occurs to me to utter the name Rama with my last breath, it should be taken as proof of the success of my attempt. And as you are a witness to this yajna of mine, I do wish that you should be my witness in this…”
That she was there to bear witness can be taken as proof of her attempt too.
Ashish Mehta is a Delhi-based Gandhi scholar. The views expressed are personal
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