64 THE WEEK • JUNE 30, 2019
F
or me, the 150th birth anniversary of Bapu does not mean
anything, unless we have practical demonstration of Gandhian
philosophy. I go to Gandhi fairs, where I know I have become a
mascot. My presence makes them feel proud about the fact that I have
come. The people who organise it lack marketing skills.
I feel guilty that I should be doing much more. If Bapu is considered a
superman, they feel that others and I inherit the same genes. These are
expectations. I know there are expectations. But I have limitations.
Bapu was an ordinary person who realised he was ordinary. He was
able to identify his ordinariness, and also had the courage to work
to change and overcome it. Bapu knew the pulse of people. He knew
which section of the masses mattered.
When I undertook a Dandi march to commemorate the 75th year of
the Salt Satyagraha, I realised not much had changed. I saw prosperous
villages having dis-
tilled water plants, but
once you cross a lane
or a water body, things
would be horrible and
dirty, with no facilities
for the Harijans who
stayed there.
There was an inci-
dent that shook me. I
had gone looking for
a sarpanch in a village
called Derol, near Bharuch, Gujarat. The homes of Patels were in sharp
contrast to the homes of Harijans. By rotation, the village had a sar-
panch belonging to the scheduled caste. The sarpanch told me that he
would take me to the people who can organise things for the yatra.
We went to an upper caste person’s house. The sarpanch was no-
where to be seen even as we were served snacks. On repeated inquiry, I
was reassured that the sarpanch would be served.
After a while, I saw a woman of the family taking the snacks in a paper
plate and tea in an earthen cup. She went outside the room. I saw a
hand coming up to pick up the plate and the cup. It was the sarpanch’s
hand. I stepped out of the room and asked the sarpanch to come in. He
refused. He told me that he had listened to our conversation and would
do the needful for the yatra. He was not allowed inside the home as he
was from a scheduled caste.
—AS TOLD TO NANDINI OZABut the dalit-bahujan movements
have an agenda of abolishing caste,
untouchability and varna system.
They try to remain indifferent to this
celebration as they do every October.
In contrast, April 14 (Ambedkar’s
birthday) has become a household
festival day among the dalits across
the country, whereas Gandhi Jayanti
celebration is a governmental affair.
The BSP never celebrates Gan-
dhi Jayanti. There are many shudra
regional political formations like the
Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal,
Nationalist Congress Party, Telugu
Desam Party and Telangana Rashtra
Samithi, which essentially approve
Gandhian agenda of nationalism,
while accepting Ambedkar as a vote-
mobilisation force. They, too, celebrate
Ambedkar Jayanti more visibly than
Gandhi Jayanti. There is no specific
vote bank around Gandhi now.
By his 150th birthday, semi-naked
Gandhi is a companion of the rich and
ruling elite, but the suited and booted
Ambedkar is a prophet of the poorest
of the poor. The inspirational Indian
dalit-bahujan youth see Gandhi as a
figure of the past and Ambedkar as the
figure of the future.
Yet Gandhi remains relevant, in my
view, because ‘his experiments with
his truth’ need to be examined for how
untruths can be passed off as truths.
He made, if not the whole nation,
at least his followers, believe that if
one eats the goat meat a goat cries in
one’s stomach. But if one drinks the
goat milk it does not cry. It gives good
health. Millions before his experiment
ate goat meat and millions ate after
his death. In all their stomachs it just
digested and became part of their flesh
and blood. That is another truth.
There are many things to learn and
unlearn from Gandhi. I see strength in
his theory of nonviolence. I hope the
ruling party learns from that theory
and practises real nonviolence not
vegetarianism, which is not an indica-
tion of nonviolence.THEIR
EXPECTATIONS,
MY LIMITATIONS
TUSHAR GANDHI
Writer and
great-grandson of
the Mahatma