168 - Gandhi: The Person And The Film

Gandhi: The Person And The Film
By Susanna Oommen Younger

DURING his South African years someone suggested to Gandhi that the name of his experimental farm in Natal be changed from "Phoenix"¹ to "Gandhi Settlement." With characteristic modesty and insight, he brushed the suggestion aside, saying his work would endure only if his name was forgotten. His work has endured. His name and what it stands for, thanks to the persistent and unrelenting efforts of Richard Attenborough, are on the lips and in the hearts of millions of movie-goers all around the world.

A modest acquaintance with his early years and the influences which shaped his spiritual life might aid us in understanding the prophet, the seer, the patriot, and above all the man of action the film accurately portrays Gandhi to be.

I

The youngest child of his parents, Gandhi was greatly attached to his mother, Putlibai, a pleasant and intensely religious woman, given to much fasting. She belonged to the little known Pranami sect of Hinduism. In the Prandmi temples there were no images, but passages from the Hindu Scriptures and the Koran were read side by side. His father, Karam Chand Gandhi,² was the Prime Minister of the small princely state of Porbander in Kathiawar. Rooted in traditionalism, he was incorruptible, proper, and authoritarian with his children. Gandhi as a child watched with curiosity as his father peeled and pared vegetables for his mother's kitchen, discussing matters of religion with his Jain³ friends who were prominent businessmen in the area.

As a boy, Gandhi broke off a piece of gold from the thick armband

The much-reviewed film "Gandhi" surely deserves special attention. It has won acclaim and awards for recreating in almost documentary style a history-making person of simple but profound moral example. The winner of eight Academy Awards, including best picture, actor, director, screenplay, and costume design, the film seems likely to remain a classic for years to come.
The two comments on the film which we take pleasure in publishing in this issue reflect in different ways on various implications of Gandhi, the person, and the moral and social issues of his time, and perhaps of all time.

Susanna Oommen Younger was born in Kerala, India, and is a graduate of Madras and Kerala Universities, and taught at Mar Thoma College. She received her divinity degree at Princeton Theological Seminary and now lives in Dundas, Ontario. In recent years, she has begun to translate some stories and poems from her native Malayalam language of southwest India.

¹ Named for the legendary bird which rose renewed from its own ashes.
² The Gandhis were Banias belonging to the Vaisya or merchant caste.
³ The Jains are well-known for their reverence for all forms of life

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worn by his older brother and sold it to pay off a petty debt. Wracked by guilt, at the insistence of his mother, he wrote a letter to his father confessing what he had done and requesting punishment. His father read the letter and then with tears coursing down his cheeks he tore it up and cast it aside. Without a word he motioned for the boy to leave the room, indicating that that was the end of the matter. This incident seems to have subconsciously influenced Gandhi's search after truth. Satyagraha ("truth-force") was defined by him in later years as a "grasping of" or "holding on" to truth. In this activity himsa (violence) was to be entirely excluded "because," he affirmed, "man is not capable of knowing the absolute truth and therefore not competent to punish."⁴

In his early years in India, Gandhi had had only a perfunctory acquaintance with the Hindu Scriptures, but in England he studied them with great zeal. A Bible Society salesman also introduced him to the Christian Scriptures. There is no doubt his outlook on life was shaped by two great influences: (1) the Bhagavad Gita he seems to have taken Arjuna⁵ for a model in ekagrata or single-mindedness in the pursuit of one's vision or goal,) and (2) the Sermon on the Mount in terms of which he came to know the personality of Jesus.

The Gita helped Gandhi practice "detachment" or "desirelessness" in the pursuit of Dharma or right conduct. Come what may, one has to do one's duty.

The Sermon on the Mount appealed to Gandhi although he had harsh words for Christianity. He believed that when Christianity bad the backing of the Roman Emperors, the church distorted Christianity into an "imperialistic faith." "If Indian Christians," he said, "will simply cling to the Sermon on the Mount, which was delivered not merely to the peaceful disciples but a growing world, they would not go wrong, and they would find no religion is false. Cooperation with forces of good and non-cooperation with forces of evil are the two things we need for a good and pure life, whether it is called Hindu, Muslim, or Christian."⁶

Gandhi did not read extensively. "I have read very few books," he would say, "but all of them good." Although initially he was interested only in the Gospels, later on he came to love the Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and the Prophets. Some of those who influenced him with their writings

⁴ Roland W. Scott, Social Ethics in Modern Hinduism (Calcutta: YM.C.A. Publishing House, 1953), p. 90.
⁵ Dronacharya the expert in martial arts took the Pandava brothers to the forest to test their knowledge of weaponry. He had craftsmen fashion an artificial bird and attach it to a treetop where it was hardly visible and proceeded to point out the target to the princes, Each one as he stood poised with the arrow was asked, "Do you see the bird on the treetop Prince?" "I see it." "Now can you see the tree or me or your brothers?" The teacher turned away in disgust as each one answered, "I see the tree and yourself and my brothers." Then he came to Arjuna. "Do you see the bird? and the tree? and me?" "I see the tip of the arrow and the eye of the sparrow," said Arjuna. The story is given in: J.A.B. Van Buitenen (trans. and ed.), Mahabharata (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1973), pp. 272-273.
⁶ M.M. Thomas, The Acknowledged Christ of the Indian Renaissance (Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society, Madras, 1970), p. 215.

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were Tolstoy⁷ (The Kingdom of God is within You), Ruskin (Unto This Last), and Thoreau (Civil Disobedience). He studied Thoreau's essay while serving a jail term in South Africa and often repeated a line from it. "I did not feel for a moment confined, and the walls seemed a great waste of stone and mortar."

Returning from London to India, Gandhi met the poet-businessman Rajchandra, who had a great influence on him. "Rajchandra," as one of Gandhi's biographers noted, "combined an astonishing intellectual daring with an encyclopedic knowledge of Indian religions and moral earnestness…. He was the first to suggest to Gandhi that no religion was superior to another for all religions were concerned to bring the worshipper to the presence of God."⁸

Gandhi visited a Trappist monastery while in South Africa and was greatly impressed by their spartan simplicity and vows of silence. He asked the prior why they kept the vow of silence-and was told, "We-are frail human beings. We do not know very often what we say. If we want to listen to the still small voice that is always speaking within us, it will not be heard if we continually speak."⁹

V

Attenborough showed uncanny insight in his choice of Ben Kingsley to play the part of the Mahdtma. In 1914, before leaving for India, Gandhi gave General Smuts a pair of leather sandals which he had made in prison. In 1939, Smuts as a gesture of friendship sent them back to Gandhi in India, saying "I have worn these sandals for many a summer since then, even though I may feel that I am not worthy to stand in the shoes of so great a man."¹⁰ Kingsley, too, must surely have felt unworthy to walk in the sandals of so great a man, but he has played the part of Gandhi so well that I did not feel at any time that it was not the Mahatma. My "willing suspension of disbelief" was sustained throughout.

The part of Kasturbai, Gandhi's wife, is portrayed with great charm and finesse by the beautiful Indian actress, Rohini Hattangady. Since she dwelt and walked in the shadow of her great husband, many people are not aware that Kasturbai was a woman of remarkable intelligence, strength, and resourcefulness. Married when both were thirteen years old, one could not imagine a greater contrast as far as temperaments were concerned. Gandhi as a child was timid, hated athletics, was afraid of ghosts, thieves, serpents, and of the dark. Kasturbai was fearless, and afraid of nothing. Small boned, sloe-eyed, and beautiful, she was as spirited as ever when Gandhi returned from England with a law degree

⁷ Tolstoy was fascinated by the young revolutionary Gandhi and corresponded with him while Gandhi was in South Africa.
⁸ Robert Payne, The Life and Death of Mahatma Gandhi (New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc-, 1969), p 80
⁹ Ibid., p 108.
¹⁰ Lous. Fischer, Gandhi: His Life and Message (New York: New American Library, 1954) p. 48.

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and tried to dominate her with his authoritarian ways. There were many stormy scenes after which they would not speak to each other for days. But things changed during the years in South Africa. A bond developed between the two, so strong, that if there was silence between them it bespoke of a communication that had no need for words.

Gandhi's vigil at Kasturbai's death bed is one of the most poignant scenes in the film. This was one time when the habitual detachment for which he was so famous did not come to his aid. He felt like a bird with broken wings. "She was the very warp and woof of my life," he was heard to say later on. In spite of physical exhaustion, he maintained the vigil till her body was reduced to ashes.

Attenborough has shown impeccable taste in his choice of actors to play the parts of the Indian politicians. Roshan Seth is excellent as the noble and impetuous Nehru. I had trouble convincing myself that Jinnah was as vitriolic in real life as he seems to be in the movie. He spent many years fighting for freedom, was thrown in jail, and though he did drink, smoke, and eat pork (forbidden by the Muslim religion), was a man of high moral rectitude. All of the Indian politicians in the film seem to mature and age imperceptibly so that the illusion of having watched a documentary remains with one long after.

The film is mostly silent about Gandhi's difficult relationship with his sons, especially with his bitterly rebellious oldest son, Harilal. It also fails to include two men who play key roles in relation to Gandhi and in relation to the Indian political and social scene. Ambedkar, an Untouchable, was a Columbia University lawyer, an intellectual, married to a Brahman. He spent his entire adult life championing the cause of the millions of Untouchables¹¹ oppressed for millennia. At the time of Indian independence, Ambedkar demanded separate constituencies for the Untouchables. Gandhi was totally opposed to this¹² and fasted. Ambedkar gave in. (Some Untouchables in India are now boycotting the film because of this omission.)

Another important figure, not in the film, was Vinoba Bhave, a frail Brahman from Maharashtra, a Sanskrit scholar and an interpreter of the Upanishads, who came to be known as the "walking saint of India." The spiritual mantle of Gandhi fell on him, and he walked the entire length and breadth of India, persuading the rich to part with thousands of acres in favor of the landless and the oppressed.

III

The movie abounds in memorable lines and scenes. In reply to Jinnah, who felt that just reprisals were in order, Gandhi says, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." Speaking of his abhorrence of violence, Gandhi says, "I am willing to lay down my life for the cause, but there is no cause in the world for which I am prepared to kill."

¹¹ Gandhi called them Harijan, "people of God."
¹² Gandhi maintained that to divide the country on the basis of disability or religion would give rise to divisiveness and hatred instead of bringing healing and reconciliation.

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Gandhian humor: "My friends keep telling me how much it costs them to keep me in poverty!" To Smuts (played by the South African actor, Athol Fugard) who offers him sherry or tea, Gandhi in prison clothes and sporting the number 189 on his shirt replies, "But I have already dined." Charles Andrews, the Anglican minister, relieved to escape from young hoodlums on the pavement, says, "that was lucky!" Gandhi: "But then I thought you were a man of God!"

Gandhi decided that it would be best in the interests of the freedom struggle to part with his dear friend Charlie Andrews (played by Ian Charleson, who was Liddell in "Chariots of Fire"). Andrews, with tears in his eyes, replies, "Say Goodby to Ba for me." Gandhi: "There are no goodbyes for us, Charlie. Wherever we are, you will always be in my heart."

There is one scene toward the end of the movie which is absolutely stunning.The partition of India in 1947 was followed by a blood bath of such tragic dimensions that Gandhi, his heart nearly broken, decided to fast to death unless the Muslims and the Hindus made peace between themselves. He is fasting in Calcutta in the house of a Muslim. He is greatly emaciated; his friends with anxious faces are standing around him. Suhrawaddy, the Muslim Governor of Bengal, who was responsible for inciting the riots in Calcutta, is now contrite and standing at the back, solicitous and willing to do all he can to help. A band of rough-looking erstwhile murderers walk in and surrender their macabre weapons. At this point the wildest looking of them all bursts in with a chapati (Indian bread) in hand which he almost throws on Gandhi. "Here! Eat!" he shouts, "I am going to hell; but I do not wish to have your death on my soul!" Feeble, his voice barely rising above a whisper, Gandhi tells him, "Only God decides who goes to hell. Tell me, why do you say you are going to hell?" "I killed a small child! I dashed his head against the wall because they [the Muslims] killed my little one." Gandhi says, "I will tell you a way out of hell: You find a child whose parents have been killed. Then you and your wife bring him up as your own. Only, make sure the child is a Muslim and raise him in the Muslim faith." Disbelief and then a look of awe come over the dazed eyes. He bends low, touches Gandhi's feet with his forehead, and silently departs.

IV

Gandhi has a powerful message for the world of today. He often stood alone in the fight against evil and spoke out when everyone else was silent or looked on with unconcern. More than once he had to break an evil human law in obedience to a higher moral one, for it was the dignity and worth of the human being that was at stake. In South Africa, denouncing the unjust discriminatory laws, he told his friends, "This evil has to be fought with every fibre of our being…. They may beat us! They may break our bones! They may kill us! In the end what do they have? Our dead bodies! But not our obedience!"

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A voice that speaks without fear, and a government willing to listen, will become possible only if we are able to locate and vanquish the real enemy first. And according to Gandhi the battle of Kurukshatra must be fought and won within the confines of the human heart, where the enemy resides in the form of uncurbed passions and untamed desires and above all in the form of indifference and hopelessness. As for the other enemy, "tyrants and murderers may flourish for a while, but in the end they all will fall…. You will see, you will see!"

In these days, when an E.T. has arrived to teach us how to be humane, and a man is on the scene to show some of us how to be a woman ("Tootsie"), Gandhi is in our midst to show us how to be truly human. To be truly human we should be able to love not only our friends but also our enemies whatever their color or creed. "The gentle figure of Christ," Gandhi wrote, "so patient, so kind, so loving, so full of forgiveness that he taught his followers not to retaliate when abused or struck, but to turn the other cheek-it was a perfect example, I thought, of the perfect Man. "¹³

It is only as we emerge into our true humanity that we approximate the divine, for it is written that we are created in God's image.

Gandhi did not advocate one religion, but believed in the unity of all people belonging to different religions. He was in the habit of fasting whenever the spirit moved him. At one time, long before the Partition, he felt like fasting for three weeks for the sake of Hindu-Muslim unity. At the end of the fast, he felt very happy and wished to celebrate the occasion before he touched food. The Imam (Muslim priest) read a passage from the Koran. Passages from the Gita and the New Testament were read. Then he turned to his friend Andrews and said, "Now, I would like you to sing the Christian hymn, you know the one I mean, it begins with, "When I survey the wondrous Cross" and ends with the words, "Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.

¹³ M.K. Gandhi, The Message of Christ. (Ahmedabad, 1940).