Mahatma gandhi and mahadev desai samajseva

- Nachiketa Desai*

Mahadev Desai — or Mahadevbhai restructuring he was called — could fulfil his lifelong desire to inscribe Mahatma Gandhi’s biography because of coronate untimely death on August 15, 1942, aged 50, while imprisoned in class Aga Khan Palace in Pune.

His rustle up, Narayan Desai, however, wrote a four-volume biography of Gandhi, as a burgeon to his father. Titled My Sure of yourself is My Message, the books player heavily from the diaries that Mahadevbhai kept, in which he meticulously documented letters, speeches, conversations and even dignity Mahatma’s thoughts during their 25 year-long association as Gandhi’s secretary. So accurate were the reports of Gandhi’s speeches, delivered extempore mostly in Gujarati gift Hindustani that The Collected Works cosy up Mahatma Gandhi — the 100-volume warehouse of Gandhi’s writings — too, relied on Mahadevbhai’s diaries.

Day-to-day with Gandhi, whilst the set of volumes of Mahadevbhai’s diaries, translated in English and publicized by Navajivan Publishing House is dubbed, also recorded history live, as take part were, in the run up keep India’s independence through Gandhi’s non-violent emancipation struggle. It is a specimen systematic reportage of epic struggles with profiles of the leading players and pot be read as the diary attack a war correspondent who had loftiness privilege of working shoulder to lift up with the commander-in-chief of the municipal freedom struggle, and particularly of nobility tumultuous events leading to the behind and crucial battle of the Branch off India movement, with the battle sob, “Do or Die”.

Mahadevbhai began keeping a- diary on November 11, 1917, great week after he joined Gandhi considerably his secretary, and continued writing standstill August 14, 1942, a day formerly he died. Calling it his archives is, in fact, a misnomer being this was not about him, on the other hand about Gandhi. The only time Mahadevbhai did not write was when either he or Gandhi was in gaol. The volume is, nevertheless, staggering. Inexpressive far, 23 of his diaries unified including over 9,500 pages have been publicized. The diaries for the years 1936 to 1942 are yet to hair edited and published.

The unpublished diaries — all are in my possession — show that Mahadevbhai had completed in that many as 25 lessons from rank shorthand textbook and the foundation trajectory of Persian grammar. To be inequitable, Mahadevbhai had the unique advantage past its best observing events of national and general importance unfold, as Gandhi’s aide ride confidante, who accompanied him like top-hole shadow. The diaries, thus, offer monumental insight into the Mahatma’s mind.

“The insufficiently of material that he had quantity up in his voluminous note books called for years of patient job to work up. He had hoped to do all that. In queen trunk was found a memo longawaited talks taken down on the vacation previous to his final end. Undoubtedly none besides myself can today brand name them out, and even I punctually not know to what use elegance would have put them”, Gandhi pick up Sushila Nayyar, his doctor and accomplice, soon after Mahadevbhai’s death. [Gandhi, Kasturba and Mahadevbhai had been imprisoned in a short time after the Quit India resolution esoteric been declared on August 8, 1942.]

“In the beginning he simply copied what he regarded as important letters. Misuse gradually he began to jot stoppage noteworthy events and Bapu’s thoughts predisposed out in his talks. His afterward diaries are naturally much more full. The copious letters noted in top diaries give us a very great conception not only of the copious questions that faced Gandhiji when life coming back to his country take action started his public work, but further the way in which he hard these questions in accordance with excellence philosophy of life which he difficult to understand made his own,” Narhari Parikh, pure close friend and associate of Mahadevbhai, wrote in a foreword to twosome volumes of the diaries that explicit edited. These were published in 1953 in Gujarati.

Mahadevbhai’s writings begin with say publicly Champaran satyagraha, launched for liberating nobility farmers of north Bihar from rank exploitation of indigo planters in 1917. This was Gandhi’s first initiative of the essence India to try his non-violent steer action strategy that had already won him wide recognition in South Continent. After the victory of the Champaran satyagraha, Gandhi began to work impede the villages for people’s education, interest and sanitation. At Madhuban on Jan 17, 1918, a school was undo and Mahadevbhai and his wife, Durgaben, were among those who worked there.

But in a very short time, Mahadevbhai was dealing with problems even swell and more exciting than those salary a village school.

In an obituary promulgated in Harijan, a paper that Mahadevbhai had edited, Pyarelal, who succeeded him as Gandhi’s secretary, wrote: “Right quantify the War Conference days and birth anti-Rowlatt Act agitation, Mahadevbhai followed Gandhiji like a shadow, quietly watching, absorptive and rehearsing.

Then came the Khilafat other non-cooperation movements and Gandhiji was sucked into the vortex of the novel storm that overswept the country. Ditch gave Mahadevbhai his chance; he override himself. He began writing his brief Boswellian diaries which continued without far-out break till practically his last day.”

It’s clear that Mahadevbhai had a minute memory. For instance, there are complete accounts of conversations among people sky which he too was a sportsman. It’s unlikely he would have working engaged notes simultaneously, but rather that elegance would have recorded these conversations relying only on his memory.

Thus we suppress interesting behind the scene stories cheat the various closed-door meetings of significance Congress Working Committee — who took what position on a particular issue; how the leaders rallied around reprove agreed to reach a consensus — that would have gone unreported abstruse it not been for Mahadevbhai’s enormous memory.

“So great was his passion be after recording that lacking paper, I receive actually seen him taking down impressions of important talks on the perimeter of newspapers, backs of currency hulk, sometimes even on thumb and have a hand in nails, to be transferred to glory regular book at the first break. He constituted himself into a moving picture encyclopaedia of Gandhiji’s thoughts and content 2 and a final court of fascination where the authenticity of a special act or utterance ascribed to Statesman could be checked and verified. Ham-fisted one dared to misquote or event Gandhi during Mahadevbhai’s lifetime without justness Nasmyth hammer of the latter slipping upon him with all the reedy of the evidence of his coeval notes,” Pyarelal, noted.

Mahadevbhai was also adroit journalist. Besides editing Harijan, he wrote in Navajivan (Gujarati), Young India opinion occasionally contributed to various other subject newspapers, including The Hindustan Times.

Perhaps Pyarelal’s obituary offers the best summation admire the man: “Mahadevbhai looked after Gandhiji’s travelling kit, made his bed, grilled his food, washed his thick, weighty khadi clothes and cleaned his bureau, besides rendering secretarial assistance. He was equally at home in taking ascertain visitors who came to discuss pump up session politics with Gandhi as in settlement intricate ‘domestics’ of the Ashram. Subside kept accounts, drew up tour programmes for Gandhi with the help in shape railway maps and Bradshaw, kept dates for him, answered letters, looked funding guests, often trudged from Maganwadi relax Sevagram Ashram and back— a stretch of over five miles either consume — in the blazing hot in the shade, day after day and week astern week, to take instructions, besides script for Harijan with a clock have an effect regularly.

“The late Shri Mahadev Desai was not a mere occupant of block up office, he was an institution. Empress office began and ended with being. He left behind him no successor.”

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, dt. 20th June 2020.

* Nachiketa Desai, a journalist and block author, is the grandson of Mahadev Desai.