Winter School Shimla: Gyan Marg to attain Gandhi

This is the same place where once British Viceroy was gravely discussing about how to nail down Gandhi. Every wall and each stone of this magnificent building has heard constant talks about how a dhoti clad lean man named Gandhi can be proved dangerous for British Empire. Today it is a paradoxical situation. This edifice office of Viceroy is still the same but a tiny charkha is one of the decorations on it’s table. Those walls and stones now listen to long talks on Gandhi’s spirituality, his greatness. The Vicerigal lodge of the British period is now known as Indian Institute of Advance Study (IIAS). IIAS teaches the making of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi into Mahatma.

   Since last three years IIAS organises a Winter School on life and thought of Gandhi. What made that man? Why the entire Nation was ready to give up anything on his one word? What were the reasons behind whatever happened in his life? Why people who differed with him never left him?  A man who was either fasting or was busy with his Charkha had something in him that he proved to be an eclipse for the shining sun of British Empire, but what was that ‘something’?

   When, some of the best of the teachers talk about these issues surrounding Gandhi in the Winter School they take you closer to solutions of some ever lasting confusions and questions. This adds to romance, pain, force, introspection and hunger to know more and more about the Mahatma.

This is a different kind of Gandhi School, where no body is clad in Khadi clothes that will be more like a rug after one wash. Gandhi’s celibacy, his ambition to lead, his associations with women, troubled relations with his children, stubbornness of not moving an inch from what he thought was correct and many such more questions can be discussed freely and thankfully you are not even judged.

At least in this Winter School you don’t have to be a Gandhian to understand Gandhi. His Khadi, liquor prohibition, politics, spirituality, values all are observed from 360 degree perspective in black and white.

Social scientist and Gandhian Scholar Tridip Suhrud explains Satyagrah in South Africa, evolving of Satyagrah thought, first imprisonment of Bapu and many more facets for hours in his soft voice and no eyes are blinked. At one point the great Dandi March is talked about and there you have questions brimming. Why Bapu never returned to live in Gujarat after that? Are we still failing to find Gandhi? Was he hurt? After prolonged discussions one may find some answers but more questions stand there holding Bapu’s lathi to be responded. You are still attempting to understand Bapu’s strategies and there a question is thrown at you. IIAS Director Peter D’souza makes things complicated when he asks, ‘Can a deep moral thinker be a strategists?’ Even after listening and understanding Gandhi for fifteen days leaves you puzzled at this very point.

While listening about Satyagrah at Dhrasana one comes to know that brutal lathi charge took place for 21 days. Later British demanded a report that had details of fractured bones of Satyargrahis. Mainly shoulders and heads were fractured not fingers as none of the Satyagrahis rose their hands in defence.. By the way the lathi charge started at 6.30 a.m. and continued till 4.30 p.m. While Tridip Suhrud unfolds the painful truth about Dharasana Lathi Charge, the silence in Sidhdharth Vihar, the conference room at IIAS is accompanied by some sobs.

Hind Swaraj was written in eleven days when Gandhi was travelling from London to South Africa. You are taught this text not just in contexts of values and nationalism. Even its epistemic and cognitive nature is explained to you, and you are even told why and  how it led to new dawn of civilization.  While scholar Ananya Bajpai elucidates why Hidn Swaraj was written, senior historian S.R. Mehrotra talks about Gandhi’s ambition and passion for leadership.

Congress accepts partition.  Indians who drove away British through non violence suddenly turns violent. Mahadev Desai and Kasturba are no more. Gandhi suffers political isolation.Gandhi is nothing more than a discarded property for Congress. These days Gandhi consistently speaks about his death. He told his companions, ‘if I die a natural death you must declare that this was one man who could never follow truth.’ To Manu he said that it was her responsibility to shout and tell people,’ This Mahatma was fake.’ Gandhi could not endure the cringing state of his Ahimsa. 

In the Winter School class one comes to know that at one point Gandhi started believing firmly that if his death wouldn’t be blood spattered and violent, the national violence wouldn’t stop ever. These were crucial times. On one side Gandhi was surrendering to depression and socio-political situations were turning bad to worse. It seemed that it was destiny’s order that Gandhi and Godse must face each other. Was Gandhi a Mrityunjay or he achieved his death wish? He always said, ‘My ideal death would be at a time while I am returning from Prathansabha.’ By receiving three bullets in his chest Gandhi stopped all roads to violence. Gandhi, who always wanted to come face to face with God held his own cross.

This makes you to think about Bhishma. A war was fought by Bhishma and Gandhi too had his own battles. Both had very different weapons. But the finale aim for what they both struggled didn’t exist; let it be Kuruvansh or the Akhand Bharat. Neither Bhishma’s armour nor Gandhi’s khadi could resist shower of actual or socio-political arrows. Both failed miserably.

Each learner gets his or her own Gandhi in this Winter School. Professors, students every one desires to visit Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad because ‘Hradaykunj’ beats in their hearts now. Gandhi followed his inner being through out his life. Congress, Hindu Mahasabha or Gandhians none has a solution to this puzzle known as Gandhi. The threads one gets at the Winter School lead to another set of questions. True Gandhism is somewhere in the answers of these questions. There are two ways of attaining God in Purans; Bhakti Marg and Gyan Marg. If Gandhian institutions are Bhakti Marg to attain Gandhi than Winter School is the Gyan Marg.