204 TWENTY-ONE Return ofthe Native Gandhi arrived back in India on 9 January I9I5.His reputation no doubt preceded him,for his novel Satyagraha campaign had aroused the keenest interest and admiration in India,and he was already marked out as one of the political leaders of the future.Gokhale,his political mentor,had sent him a message saying he should spend a year touring India as an observer and a student.After all,he had been out of the country so long that he could not safely form any definite conclusion about matters essentially Indian. Gandhi promised to obey,but found it impossible to keep his promise. On arrival in Bombay,he was accorded the privilege of landing at the Apollo Bunder-an honour shared with royalty by the viceroys and the most distinguished of India's sons.A deputation consisting of several prominent people met him on board and there was a large gathering at the quay to greet him. Several receptions were arranged in his honour.On I2 January he was welcomed by the Imperial Citizenship Association of India at Mount Petit, the sumptuous residence of Jehangir Petit,who had been a sympathizer with the South African Indians'cause and had contributed liberally towards it.Over six hundred of the élite of Bombay,representing all com- munities in the city,had accepted an invitation.In those surroundings of dazzling splendour,Gandhi was conspicuous by his simple attire.Jehangir Petit's cousin,Raihana,then in her teens,recalls: I caught a glimpse ofhim in the midst ofsilks and brocades,frills and sparkling jewels.He was dressed in a coarse khadi dhoti and looked like a small-town tailor who had wandered in by mistake.I lost my heart to him.He became my father,my mother,my girlfriend,my boyfriend,my daughter,my son,my teacher,my guru. Sir Pherozeshah Mehta spoke of Gandhi's courage and his great moral qualities,his incessant hard work and his sufferings in the cause of the Indians in South Africa.Gandhi,in his reply,said he had felt that he would be more at home in his own motherland than he used to be in South Africa 205 RETURN OF THE NATIVE among his countrymen.But during the past few days that they had spent in Bombay,they had felt-and he thought he was voicing the feelings of his wife too-that they had been much more at home among those indentured Indians,who were the truest heroes of India.They felt that they were indeed in strange company in the city of Bombay. The Gujarati community,to which Gandhi belonged,received him at a garden party,and the chairman of its association,M.A.Jinnah,delivered the welcome speech in English.Jinnah praised Gandhi's struggle in South Africa and frankly added that the Indians in South Africa were not at the end of their difficulties.Most of the other speeches were also in English. Gandhi expressed his thanks in Gujarati and registered‘a humble protest against the use of English at a Gujarati gathering'. He was invited to an audience with Lord Willingdon,the governor of the Bombay Presidency,who said:'I would like you to come and see me when- ever you propose to take any steps concerning government.'Gandhi replied that he could easily give the promise,inasmuch as it was his rule,as a Satyagrahi,to understand the viewpoint of the party he proposed to deal with.Lord Willingdon was pleased.'You may come to me whenever you like,'he said,'and you will see that my Government do not wilfully do any- thing wrong.''It is that faith that sustains me,'answered Gandhi,implying his faith in the goodness of British rule. From Bombay he journeyed to Kathiawar to see his relatives.At Wadhwan train station,Motilal,a noted worker and a tailor by vocation, met him and complained about the customs cordon at Viramgam (between Kathiawar and British Indian territory)and the hardships the railway pas- sengers had to suffer on account of it.'Are you prepared to go to jail?' Gandhi asked rather abruptly.'We will certainly go to jail,provided you lead us,'Motilal replied.'You will be delighted to see the work and spirit of our youths,and you may trust us to respond as soon as you summon us.' Wherever he went about in Kathiawar,Gandhi heard complaints about the Viramgam customs cordon.He collected and read the literature available on the subject and was convinced about the genuineness of the complaints. He opened a correspondence with the Bombay government and called on the private secretary to the governor.He also waited on His Excellency to discuss the matter.'If it had been in our hands,we would have removed the cordon long ago,'replied the governor,and advised Gandhi to approach the government of India. The private secretary to the governor strongly objected to Gandhi's ref- erence in a speech which he had delivered at Bagasra,in Kathiawar,to the launching of Satyagraha. 'Is not this a threat?'the private secretary asked.'And do you think a 206 GANDHI powerful government will yield to threats?" ‘This was no threat,'Gandhi replied.'It was educating the people...A nation that wants to come into its own ought to know all the ways and means to freedom.Usually they include violence as the last remedy. Satyagraha,on the other hand,is an absolutely non-violent weapon.I regard it as my duty to explain its practice and its limitations.I have no doubt that the British Government is a powerful government,but I have no doubt also that Satyagraha is a sovereign remedy. Gandhi communicated with the government of India,but got no reply beyond an acknowledgement.It was only when he had the occasion to meet Lord Chelmsford,the Viceroy,later in I9I7,that redress could be had. Within a few days of the interview the customs cordon between Kathiawar and British Indian territory was removed.Gandhi regarded this episode as the advent of Satyagraha in India. Meanwhile there were more speeches,presents and testimonials.He was now getting anxious to go to Poona to pay his homage to Gokhale.Despite ill-health,Gokhale summoned all members ofthe Servants of India Society to meet Gandhi.The society,founded in I905,was dedicated to nation- building in India,within the British Empire,in a true missionary spirit aimed at spiritualizing public life.The objectives of the society were to Gandhi the message by which he wished to be guided in life.He had been looking forward to joining it on his arrival in India.But it soon became apparent that not all members of the society shared Gokhale's judgement of Gandhi.They in fact feared that if they accepted him as a member he would before long be laying down new laws,announcing new goals and taking full control.Gokhale strongly vouched for him,but at the last moment Gandhi withdrew his candidacy. Whether he was admitted to the Servants of India Society or not, Gandhi was very keen to have an ashram where he could settle down with a small community around him.He informed Gokhale of his intention. Gokhale liked the idea and asked a colleague to open an account for Gandhi in the society's books,and to give him whatever he might require for the ashram and for public expenses.Several of the young Indians who had earlier been at Phoenix Farm were now in Bengal as guests ofthe school founded by Rabindranath Tagore at Santiniketan.Since Gandhi wanted to establish them elsewhere in an ashram ofhis own,the offer of financial help was most welcome. On the eve of Gandhi's departure for Santiniketan,Gokhale gave a farewell party for him.Refreshments consisting of fruit,groundnuts and dates were served.Gokhale was too ill to leave his bed,but he was deter- mined to pay his tribute to Gandhi.Soon he was seen staggering about the 207 RETURN OF THE NATIVE gathering but the effort proved too much.He fainted and had to be carried back to his sickbed.As he recovered he sent word that the party must go on. When Gandhi reached Santiniketan,Tagore was away on tour.Gandhi was welcomed by the teachers and students,and the former inmates of Phoenix Farm were delighted to see him.Tagore had written to Charles Andrews,who along with Willy Pearson was once more teaching at the school,that the Mahatma should be accorded a fitting welcome.But he had hardly been two days at Santiniketan when a telegram from Poona arrived. Gokhale was dead. Gandhi hurriedly left for Poona to pay homage to his dead mentor.He did his travelling third class,and as he now wore only a shirt,a dhoti,and a cheap Kashmiri cap,having dispensed with Western dress during the Satyagraha campaign,he could mingle with third-class passengers and experience their difficulties without attracting attention.He was not yet as widely known in India as he soon was to be.The journey to Poona proved to be quite an ordeal. With the death of Gokhale,there was a deep void in Gandhi's life. 'Launching on the stormy sea of Indian public life,I was in need of a sure pilot,'he wrote years later.'I had one in Gokhale and had felt secure in his keeping.Now that he was gone,I was thrown on my own resources.' He once again sought membership of the Servants of India Society.But when he left Poona a few days later after attending the memorial meeting in the company of Lord Willingdon,it was obvious that most members of the society did not want to admit him into the fold.His track record had certainly caused some fear in them. When Gandhi returned to Santiniketan,Rabindranath Tagore was wait- ing for him.Tagore,India's great novelist and poet laureate,had won the Nobel Prize for literature two years earlier.It was Andrews who introduced the two men.Tagore,with his tall,stately figure,silver hair,white beard and rich gown,stood magnificently against the lean Gandhi,dressed in simple shirt and dhoti.One was in love with poetry and youth,the other was a man of action.Although their paths and temperaments were different, they were spiritually inheritors of India's ancient culture and traditions. Despite their strongly divergent views on certain matters,they had much affection and admiration for each other. Two days after their meeting Tagore left for Calcutta.Gandhi,during his remaining stay at Santiniketan,persuaded the entire community of students and teachers to accept from the point of view of their physical and moral health the concept of self-help. About this time the great fair called the Kumbh Mela,held every twelve GANDHI 208 years at Hardwar,a city in the United Provinces in the foothills of the Himalayas,was about to open.Gandhi was by no means eager to attend the fair,but he was anxious to meet Mahatma Munshi Ram,later known as Swami Shraddhanand,who had opened a school called the Gurukul in nearby Kangri.Mahatma Munshi Ram,a huge,heavily built man,was a prominent nationalist leader and a man of great sanctity.He asked Gandhi to consider founding his ashram around this area situated in the foothills of the Himalayas.Gandhi was so enchanted by the beauty of the place that he sometimes spoke of remaining there.While the Phoenix boys,led by Maganlal,were doing voluntary work at the Kumbh Mela,Gandhi divided his time between the Gurukul and the sacred city of Hardwar.Since he was not so well-known at the time,it was possible for him to move about with- out creating much fuss.At Hardwar he came to observe more of the pil- grims'hypocrisy and slovenliness than of their piety.Even the so-called sadhus were not any different,and 'seemed to have been born to enjoy the good things of life'.Spectacles such as the five-footed cow,meant to per- suade the ignorant into handing over their money,revolted him.He was so disturbed by the prevailing licence at the fair that he took a vow that he would henceforth eat only five articles of food every day,and no food after sunset.The vow was a new addition to his regimen of austerity.Only a few weeks before,when Gokhale had died,he made a vow that he would walk barefoot for a year. Leaving his Phoenix family at the Gurukul,he took a train for Delhi. Dressed like a poor peasant,he was once again travelling in crowded third- class railroad carriages,indistinguishable from all the other poor passen- gers on the train.When he reached Madras in April I9I5,the welcoming committee searched through the first-and second-class sections,and finally found him emerging in a dishevelled condition from a third-class carriage.Looking thin and emaciated,he was wearing a loose shirt and trousers,soiled by four days of continuous travelling across the country. There were cries of 'Long live Mr and Mrs Gandhi!'and 'Long live the hero!'The students who had been waiting with a horse and carriage were persuaded by his appearance to unyoke the horse and themselves pull the carriage in triumph through the streets.When Gandhi and Kasturbai were shown their sparsely furnished apartment-with two cots,a chair,table and desk-Gandhi asked for the removal of these emblems of luxury.He pre- ferred the bare,unfurnished rooms. The Madrasis welcomed him with open arms,for the majority of the indentured labourers in South Africa had come from southern India. Several functions were arranged in his honour where he was feted,gar- landed and eulogized.Replying to the address at the Victoria Hall he spoke 209 RETURN OF THE NATIVE movingly of the heroism of the Indian labourers.He did not accept the proposition that he had inspired those men and women.'It was they,the simple-minded folk who worked away in faith,never expecting the slight- est reward,who inspired me...to do the work that I was able to do.' At the annual dinner of the Madras Bar Association,an exalted cer- emony among the local members of his old profession,he was seated next to the Advocate-General,and was asked to propose a toast to the British Empire.His admiration for the empire had not yet begun to dampen,and he declared: I know that a passive resister has to make good his claim to passive resistance, no matter under what circumstances he finds himself,and I discovered that the British Empire had certain ideals with which I have fallen in love,(Hear,hear.') and one of those ideals is that every subject of the British Empire has the freest scope possible for his energies and efforts and whatever he thinks is due to his conscience.I think that this is true of the British Empire as it is not true of any other Government that we see...I feel as you have perhaps known that I am no lover of any Government and I have more than once said that Government is best which governs least,and I have found that it is possible for me to be gov- erned least under the British Empire. It was after much travelling and much soul-searching that Gandhi decided to settle on the outskirts of Ahmedabad,where he,his family,friends and nearest co-workers would live in an atmosphere of renunciation and service.His friend Jivanlal Desai,a barrister,offered him the use of a bun- galow in the neighbouring village of Kochrab where on 25 May I9I5,an ashram was founded.Two more properties were soon acquired to house all the ashramites,now consisting of twenty-five men and women. Ahmedabad's textile merchants provided funds to keep the ashram going. Handweaving was the principal industry,and there was some carpentry. No outside help was provided;everyone worked.The running of the ashram was largely in the hands ofMaganlal,who had done yeoman service at the Phoenix settlement.The name selected for it,Satyagraha Ashram, reflected Gandhi's desire 'to acquaint India with the method I had tried in South Africa and ...to test in India the extent to which its application might be possible’. He lost no time in drawing up a draft constitution incorporating the rules and observances which the ashramites were obliged to adhere to.It was a formidable list,for all had to make the vows of truth-telling,ahimsa, celibacy,control of the palate,nonstealing,nonpossession,use of handspun and handwoven khadi and refusal to use foreign cloth,acceptance of GANDHI 2 IO Untouchables,fearlessness.Each vow was explained in its various aspects. Fearlessness to Gandhi was 'freedom from the fear of kings,people,caste, families,thieves,robbers,ferocious animals,such as tigers,and even death'.Those who took the vow of fearlessness promised that they would never resort to force,but would defend themselves always with soul-force -the weapon of a person who is trained to practise Satyagraha,which is the force of truth and love. A few months after the Satyagraha Ashram was founded,its peace was suddenly disturbed when a teacher named Dudabhai,his wife Danibehn and baby daughter Lakshmi,belonging to the Untouchable class of Dheds, were admitted to the community.There was much resentment,and some ashramites,however much they thought to follow Gandhi's precepts, found the family's presence humiliating and defiling,and shunned their company.They gave up their evening meal as a protest against the admis- sion.It was a traumatic experience for Kasturbai,who threatened to leave the ashram.Gandhi insisted she must observe the rules or leave,and added that they would part as good friends.His diary of 8 October reads:'Got excited again and lost temper with Ba.I must find a medicine for this grave defect.'Notwithstanding this regret,another shock was in store for Kasturbai.Gandhi announced that he had adopted Lakshmi as his own daughter.Kasturbai became the mother of an Untouchable! These developments caused quite a commotion in Ahmedabad,and the textile merchants who had helped to finance the ashram now began to with- draw their support,until the time came when the ashram had been depleted of all its funds.Along with the stoppage of all financial assistance, a rumour had gained currency that the ‘polluted'ashram would be socially boycotted.Gandhi was unperturbed and told the ashramites that if the sit- uation warranted they would all move to the Untouchable quarter of Ahmedabad and live on whatever they could earn by manual labour. One morning a rich man drove up to the ashram and placed into Gandhi's hands an envelope containing thirteen thousand rupees in bank- notes.The social boycott of the ashram never materialized,and the pres- ence in it of an Untouchable family ‘proclaimed to the world that the ashram would not countenance untouchability'.