Gandhi and cricket do not go well together. In fact, in his entire life, Gandhi is said to have watched only two cricket matches. So when you have an author who is well-known for both, what do you do? Throw yorkers and short-pitched deliveries – well, questions – at him on the subject of Gandhi in the hope that he’ll ‘stumped’ by at least one of them.
At least, that’s what host A K Venkatachalapathy, professor and historian, tried to do at the Chennai launch of writer Ramachandra Guha’s latest book Gandhi Before India at the Landmark bookstore in Nungambakkam. Guha came through for the Chennai audience though. There were comparisons to Sir Vivian Richards made. Guha smiled, “The only connect I have with him is that I am probably the one person in the room to have watched his first test century in Delhi in person.” On requests for his favourite book on Gandhi, he responded, “I don’t have favourites, but I can list out some of the best thematic studies of his life.”
But most of all, the audience, who were a mix of the young, the old and in one case, one really old gentleman — got to discuss the Father of the Nation with the man who is possibly one of the biggest authorities on the subject – Ram Guha himself.
Excerpts from the evening’s discussion:
Why one more biography on Gandhi?
I have always felt that Gandhi had shadowed me through all my professional life. When I was writing Unquiet Woods, the leaders of the Chipko Movement were all influenced by Gandhi. It was the same with Savaging the Civilized. Verrier Elwin had a close association with Gandhi. Even in a sports book, he followed me, because when I was compiling the index for A Corner of a Foreign Field, I found nearly 30 references to Gandhi. So, in a sense, this book is like a personal settling of accounts.
But you’ve also said that you have found new material...
Yes. There was material outside the collected works that I found, material pertaining to his stay in South Africa. I’ve always been very hesitant to write a biography of a man, about whom so much had already been written. Professor K Swaminathan used to tell me, ‘Don’t write Gandhi’s biography until you turn 40’. I waited an extra 10 years (laughs). So the joy of discovering all the new material finally persuaded me to write something meaningful about Gandhi’s life.
In this book, you talk about Gandhi’s Baniya heritage. If this was 10 years ago, would you have touched upon his caste identity?
There’s an outswinger that beat me outside the offstump! (laughs) But that is a very good question, yes. In South Africa, caste was not central to Gandhi’s political campaign. In the second volume of the book, maybe. But in the first (this book) it’s not about caste, it’s about colonialism. Also, since I was a student of Sociology, I was very intrigued by the caste system. I wanted to explore what it meant to be a Baniya growing up for Gandhi.
How have you dealt with the question of ‘black identity’ in the book in relation to Gandhi?
The book deals with nearly two decades of slow and gradual evolution of Gandhi’s views of the Africans. The politics of South Africa was community oriented – everybody organised themselves into groups, but the Africans were left unorganised. In the beginning, Gandhi treats Africans as totally uncivilised, a common view taken by most of the English educated Indians back then. He too calls them Kafirs. But the more he stays in South Africa, the more his views change. And after 1914, when he heads back to India, his views evolve further.
You talk about several ‘what ifs’ in the book. Can you tell us about some of them?
I find these ‘what ifs’ intriguing and tantalising. Like, if Gandhi’s brother Lakshmidas was less unscrupulous, if he hadn’t aided the prince of Porbandar in staging a theft, Gandhi might have ended up becoming the Diwan of Rajkot at one point.
There’s also the question of his and Jinnah’s correspondence, way back in 1897. At that point, Gandhi was looking for a partner for his legal firm. So what if the correspondence was about that – what if they had become partners? But all this is just speculation, just me having some fun.
Aside from the point of view of an academician or an author, what is it that fascinates you about Gandhi personally?
Gandhi has lived in three continents, and as a biographer you want someone like him rather than writing about someone who has never left his village. He was not just a political activist. He was also a social reformer. He had multiple callings. His global influence makes him one of the most special people of the 20th century. And if you’ve ever been on Twitter, you would notice the amount of ring-wing Hindutva hatred that Gandhi rouses. Here is a man who rouses so much hatred and adoration in equal parts, even long after his death. For a biographer, that’s all that’s needed.