About Gandhiji
Thinking about Gandhiji took me to the Nineteenthirties and forties when Gandhiji was very much the centre of everything that happened. He was the most revered as well as the
most hated human at the same time. Everybody was moved by his actions. There would be very few at that time who would remain aloof or even neutral to his personality.
Gandhiji was perfect to the core in anything and everything that he touched or he came across. He was runing a weekly news paper Harijan comprising of, as I recollect, 8 or 16 pages of say Midday or Afternoon eveninger size in different languages. He made a point to see that the papers come out exactly on the dot of time irrespective of problems or bottlenecks.
Following the civil disobedience movement of the Indian National Congress led by Gandhiji, the British Government decided to hold a Round Table Conferece in 1931 in London
where different political and religious parties as well as fundamentalist bodies were invited for solving the issue ( A politcal game df the British to continue ruling India through ‘divide and rule’.) The Congres decided to depute only one delegate that is Gandhiji.
His participation in the Conference in London would mean his travel by steamer to Southampton involving long absence from India . The critical issue for Gandhiji was as to how he ensures that the Harijan comes out on dot as per practice followed for a long time.
How to organise that his articles reach in time for the Harijan to come out on time. He would write articles on current topics so one cannot write something similar to poems or short
stories from memory. All articles written as comments on the latest happenings would go by surface mail that is by ship as no air services or courier service existed then that
we find in plenty now. Ships would take awfully long time and no body can be sure as to when his dispatches would reach India in time to see tha papers published on dot.
So he had to chalk out with his Secretary, Mahadevbhai Desai, a clear programme. His ship was to halt at Aden, Alexandria, Gibraltor before reaching London. He would start writing as soon as the ship leaves a port of call and Mahadevbhai would mail the article in different languages from the next port of call. His articles were mailed from Aden, Alexandria and Gibraltor as soon as the ship touched these ports.
All his articles were received in time for the Harijan issues in all languages came out on dot.
Gandhiji’s handwritings were very very bad. He was receiving on average 400 letters a day. Address on the envalope ‘Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, India or Mahatma Gandhi,
India was enough to reach him though he was frequently on the move. The postal service will ensure that letters addressed to him reach him. He would personally reply to each and every letter he received mainly by a post card. At my age of 13 (in 1937) I sent him a letter and after a few weeks I received his reply.
Did you, my dear, like this simple story showing the paericular care that he took to do everything perfectly? We must make a habit to do everything small and big we pursue in the
most perfect manner.
We still do not know of his many achievements in every area he touched because we know him as the Father of the Nation whose photograph is printed on the currency notes
of this country. He is the greatest environmentalist that this world has created and ever seen.
He only can say:
‘This earth has enough to feed all but does not have enough
to meet the greed of one.’
From- Kisan Mehta
kisansbc@mtnl.net.in