HYDERABAD: During my recent visit to Durban, South Africa, I was keen on meeting Ela Gandhi, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, who lives there. When she came to know of my interest, she graciously invited me for breakfast. As is well known, the Gandhis have played significant roles in the freedom movements of India as well as their adopted country South Africa.
As Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi the lawyer, he spent two decades in Durban –it is where Gandhi became the Mahatma. South Africa holds a special place in my heart as the land that contributed in preparing our dear Bapuji for major and nobler tasks that lay ahead. When Gandhiji returned to India, of all his sons, Manilal, his second son had made the biggest sacrifice to be away from his parents and brothers to carry on his father’s mission in South Africa.
Later Ela Gandhi (Manilal’s youngest child) continued the fight for peace and justice in the country: she had even lost one of her sons during the struggle against apartheid. She was awarded for her lifetime contribution to the freedom struggle in South Africa. After being as a Member of Parliament (1994-2004), she presently chairs various committees and runs a range of community projects.
Clad in a salwar kameez, Ela Gandhi welcomes me into her spacious, elegant apartment in the upmarket Glenwood neighbourhood that still glows in the colonial aura left behind by the British. “Inverness”, the name of the property further asserts the Britishness of the area. The lavish breakfast she has laid for us has an interesting diversity besides a fine blend and adaptability of Indian food to the western table. The ‘patrel in a pastry’ steals my heart - she willingly shares the recipe. Patrel, the typical Gujarati dish made from Colocasia leaf is interestingly tweaked here: by just shallow frying and baking it in a pastry. The pastry is absolutely perfect- flaky and light.
The alu stuffed parathas simply melt in the mouth. Upma has just the right consistency. Muffins, toast, butter, fruit spread and coffee, everything reflects her pragmatic personality. Her energy, her physical strength keeps her going fabulously at 77, she humbly attributes it to “blessings”: she venerates her grandfather with the kind of deep respect observed by both Indians and Africans towards their elders. To her ‘Blessings’ I add “Genes too”, and she smilingly agrees to that. We all read in our textbooks that Bapuji himself was physically a robust man, who strongly recommended eating raw peanuts and drinking fresh goat’s milk.
She opens the conversation with her pet subject and the centre of her mission - the Phoenix Settlement. “It is a pity that we don’t have even at this point of time, a national status for the Phoenix Settlement, though they have put together a team which is conducting research now so that it can be cleared as a world heritage centre.
I can’t believe the kind of energy they are putting into it which only shows that there is still a great interest in Gandhiji. Locally people say that Gandhi was a great man but his contribution to South Africa, and to the world is underplayed.
Otherwise, how would you explain a huge event like INDABA happens here in Durban and they don’t even plan a visit for the delegates to the Phoenix Settlement? That could be because of the books that were written about him which might have influenced others: that he was a racist, that he was a friend of the rich etc. These are all allegations that were made against him. When you go to Phoenix, you will see a complete picture because he had a beautiful house in Durban, he was living a comfortable life, but he left all that, went and suffered living in phoenix in the midst of African community at a time when no Indians were living there.
Why would he do it? He chose to live among the poorest of the poor, I think that itself shows his ideals…” I listen to her anguish with a silent nod. What does she think of Richard Attenborough’s film “Gandhi”? She says, “The film was very good though Attenborough himself agreed that he didn’t concentrate on the South African part of Gandhiji’s life, which played a great role in bringing about a massive change in Bapuji’s personality. The importance of the South African period is very crucial in understanding Bapu.”
She further elucidates, “He wasn’t born a Mahatma. He came here with many prejudices; he never appreciated women until he interacted with a number of women in South Africa, like for example, his secretary (Sonja Schlesin, a Jewish woman), a strong feminist who used to chide him for his attitude towards women. People deify him but he was a human like anybody. The beginning of his transition took place here. He came wearing suit and tie and left wearing ordinary clothes.” I want to know her earliest memories of her famous grandfather. Her face lights up as she goes back many decades.
To be continued...