For Global Peace with Social Justice in a Sustainable Environment

Simplicity and Mahatma Gandhi-I

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Senior Gandhian Scholar, Professor, Editor and Linguist

Gandhi International Study and Research Institute, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India

Contact No. – 09404955338, 09415777229

E-mail- dr.yadav.yogendra@gandhifoundation.net;

dr.yogendragandhi@gmail.com

Mailing Address- C- 29, Swaraj Nagar, Panki, Kanpur- 208020, Uttar Pradesh, India

Simplicity and Mahatma Gandhi-I

I am certain that those dedicated persons at any rate who are engrossed in the service of the people cannot possibly desire sex pleasure. How can they spare time for it, either? It is in the hope that there will be no such person that I am making my modest offering to this swaraj-yajna. If the ultimate aim is merely to get power transferred to the people, I am sure I am not so childish as to spend myself in meaningless efforts to secure this toy. I indeed believe that those who accept even this outward freedom as their goal for the present and work for it will realize that they will not achieve it till they become truthful, compassionate, brave and fearless, adopt simplicity in their lives and follow swadeshi. 1 The reputation of Bombay, the hope of my dreams, was being stained yesterday even whilst in my simplicity I was congratulating the citizens upon their non-violence in the face of grave provocation. For the volunteers with their captain were arrested during the previous night for pasting posters under authority on private property. The posters advised the people to boycott the welcome to the Prince. 2

To understand the simplicity of our programme is to realize its true beauty. There is nothing more to be done but to spin and court imprisonment, and spin even in the prisons if they will let us. Whilst we are spinning or going to jail we must retain the correct attitude of mind, i.e., of non-violence and friendliness between the various faiths. If we cease to hate Englishmen, co-operators and those who do not see eye to eye with us, if we cease to distrust or fear one another and if we are determined to suffer and work for the bread of the whole nation, i.e., spin, do we not see that no power upon earth can withstand us? And if we believe in ourselves what matters it whether we are few or many, or whether we are arrested or shot? And surely in all I have said I have presented a programme not for perfect men but for practical men, who are good, true and brave. If we cannot even become good, true and brave, have we any right to talk of swaraj or religion? Can we call ourselves Hindus, Mussulmans, Christians, Jews, Sikhs, and Parsis? Have we any business, if we are not that, to be talking of Khilafat and the Punjab? 3 Foreign cloth is costly even if you get it free and khadi is cheap even if it costs more, because all the money spent on the latter goes into the homes of the poor in the country. Moreover, khadi lasts longer and the simplicity that goes with the use of khadi influences other aspects of life and its fragrance makes public life clean and wholesome. 4

It now remains for the women of Gujarat to compete with those of Poona. When will the men of Gujarat equal the sacrifice of Poona? Even if they keep pace with it, I shall be satisfied. Up till now, Gujarat has set no value on poverty, simplicity, heroism, fortitude and service of the country. 5 The simplicity of the Conference was worthy of emulation by the Congress. There was nothing more than chapatis and dal by way of meals for this huge concourse. Nothing else is possible in a big gathering and nothing else would be appropriate either. The Sikh brethren, too, observe like simplicity in their gatherings. The members of the Congress should learn the lesson of simplicity. It saves expense, time and labour and, in addition, makes the body strong and preserves health. 6 I receive such letters often. The lesson to be drawn from them is that, though khadi may not be durable, and though it may be more expensive yard for yard than calico and wear out too soon if the yarn is not strong, still one should not forget that the use of khadi naturally brings with it simplicity in other matters and is in its own way far from expensive. No one would want to use four or five garments of khadi at a time, but one would not be satisfied with wearing only a muslin shirt. 7 I myself and many others like me have learnt the lessons of regularity, single-minded patriotism, simplicity, austerity and ceaseless work from this venerable man. At a time when criticism of the Government was considered sedition and hardly anyone dared to speak the truth, Dadabhai criticized the Government in the severest terms and boldly pointed out the shortcomings of the administration. I have absolutely no doubt that the people of India will remember Dadabhai affectionately as long as India endures as an entity in the world. 8

Your ignorance is not due to illiteracy. It is not a question whether you can or cannot read and write. Many amongst you do not know how to read but have the wisdom gained from experience. You are simple at heart and therefore misled. It is good to be innocent. Innocence and simplicity are divine qualities. 9 Our duty is to recognize merit and sing its praises. The world is hardly likely to be deceived by testimonials. I certainly have not given any testimonial of purity to Pattaniji. But my mind was led to give it. It was at Trapaj, that I was pleasantly surprised to see his simplicity, his deep knowledge, his firmness, etc. In spite of all this, however, he may be impure. In that case, I must give up the feeling of respect that I came to have for his purity of character. Your letter will be useful to me for my future conduct. What has happened has been, I believe, quite proper. Even if I come to believe that he is an adulterer, when I go to Bhavnagar for public work, I shall put up at the State Guest House if he puts me up there. I shall stay even in his own house, if he lodges me there. I do believe to a certain extent about the immorality of the Prince of. But if he puts me up at his place, I would certainly stay there and I would not think that I was committing any sin. My non-co-operation is with sin, not the sinner; with Dyerism, not with Dyer. 10

As is the king, so are the subjects. I have not found such similarity between the dress of the ruler and the subjects anywhere else as I found here. The dress of the ruling class and the peasant class was almost the same. It is amongst the peasants that I found some variety in dress. One may come across a few highly educated persons wearing western clothes or some women dressed in silk saris; however, the common dress of the Malayalis consists of an untucked dhoti and a shirt. The women also wear the same kind of dhoti, but one end of that dhoti serves as an upper garment, and of late a shirt or a blouse has been added. Khadi can be easily introduced in these parts because women require neither dyeing nor any border, nor any great length like our sari or Ghaghara. Despite this, calico and nainsook have wrought ruin. Khadi has found its way after the recent struggle. Nevertheless, there is no end to the number of spinners and weavers in these parts. In the vicinity of Kanyakumari there is a village called Nagarcoil where hand-spun yarn is sold at a regular weekly market. 11

I do make the claim that I attempt to act as I preach. But I must confess that I am not as inexpensive in my wants, as I would like to be. My food since my illness costs more than it should. By no means can I call it a poor man’s food. My travels too cost more than they did before my illness. I am no longer able to travel long distances third class. Nor do I travel, as I did before, without a companion. All this means not simplicity and poverty, but the reverse of it. 12 One of my co-workers said some years ago, writing in connection with the spinning-wheel, that its very simplicity frightened the educated classes. He said, and he said it with great truth in it, that because of its simplicity the educated Indians fail to understand its beauty and grand meaning. Simple as the spinning-wheel is, I am absolutely convinced, after years of continuous, deep and powerful thinking, that there is nothing before India so efficacious for her many ills as the spinning-wheel and khaddar. 13

It is not at all easy to say how far the difficulties pointed out here deter the educated class. My own belief is that the difficulties will not deter a sincere worker. Those who have been taking tea continue to do so and at the same time devote themselves to service. Many workers travel second class and yet do real service. There is no sin in drinking tea or travelling second class. Those who can do without tea or the comforts of the second class should do so, but those who cannot endure the physical discomforts of the third class may travel second class and serve. This is plain enough. Those who adopt untidy and slovenly ways in the name of simplicity certainly commit a sin. Simplicity is incompatible with slovenliness because simplicity is a virtue while disregard for order is a defect. One finds even those who live in style wanting in a sense of order. An unmethodical person cannot be regarded as simple. Simplicity can be acquired by training. A person who cannot have furniture and therefore manages without it is not a man of simple habits. He wants more of it and is miserable because he has to make do with a little. A man of simple habits is contented with a little even when he can get much and regards plenty as a source of misery. What is true of lack of order and method is also true of uncleanliness. A person who loves simplicity will never be unclean. We know, however, that many people of seemingly simple habits are very dirty and bring discredit to simplicity. It is the duty of those who wear khadi to keep it always clean and as white as milk, to wash it daily and to mend the garment if it is torn in any part. One need not be ashamed of patches on one’s clothes, but torn clothes are a sign of indolence and therefore something to be ashamed of. There ought to be cleanliness in simplicity. In rying to maintain cleanliness in the midst of plenty, one is driven to burden oneself with more and more possessions; that is why some people cultivate simple habits.

Anyone who adopts such habits should, therefore, understand that he must avoid slovenliness and uncleanliness. A little leisure is certainly necessary to cultivate these qualities. If shop assistants have to be in their shops right from morning to night, they cannot even think of correcting bad habits such as lack of cleanliness. They carry on observing as much cleanliness as custom requires. They do not cultivate simplicity for its own sake. Being helpless they may make a show of being saints. If they have any scope for earning money, they would probably make a great deal of it. Nevertheless, it is necessary to reduce the working hours for such people. It is quite possible that some of them will misuse their leisure, but there is no doubt that the risk must be taken. The remedy lies mainly in the hands of the assistants themselves. If they are keen enough to reform themselves, they will find their own way in the matter. If the proprietors have sympathy for them or if they understand their own real interests, they too can introduce the needed reform on their own. 14

I know that there is a marvellous change coming over Christian Indians. There is on the part of a large number of them a longing to revert to original simplicity, a longing to belong to the nation and to serve it, but the process is too slow. There need be no waiting. It requires not much effort, but I was told, and even as I write, I have a letter from a Christian Indian before me telling me that he and his friends find it difficult to make the change, because of the opposition of their superiors. Some of them tell me that they are even jealously watched, and any movement on their part to identify themselves with national movements is strongly condemned. The late Principal Rudra and I used often to discuss this evil tendency. I well remember how he used to deplore it. I am offering a tribute to the memory of a dead friend when I inform the reader that he used often to express his grief that it was too late in life for him to change some of the unnecessary European habits to which he was brought up. Is it not truly deplorable that many Christian Indians discard their own mother tongue, bring up their children only to speak in English? Do they not thereby completely cut themselves adrift from the nation in whose midst they have to live? But they may answer in self-defence that many Hindu and even Mussalmans have become denationalized. The two queue argument serves no useful purpose. I am writing not as a critic but as a friend who has enjoyed for the past thirty years the closest intimacy with hundreds of Christian Indians. I want my missionary friends and Christian Indians to reciprocate the spirit in which these lines are written. I write in the name and for the sake of heart-unity which I want to see established among the people of this land professing different faiths. In nature there is a fundamental unity running through all the diversity we see about us. Religions are no exception to the natural law. They are given to mankind so as to accelerate the process of realization of fundamental unity. 15

It is certainly not necessary for the Western people to preach and practise the spinning-wheel unless they will do so out of sympathy or for discipline or with a view to applying their matchless inventive faculty to making the spinning-wheel a better instrument while retaining its essential characteristic as a cottage industry. But the message of the spinning-wheel is much wider than its circumference. Its message is one of simplicity, service of mankind, living so as not to hurt others, creating an indissoluble bond between the rich and the poor, capital and labour, the prince and the peasant. That larger message is naturally for all. 16 None of these things are difficult for an average man or woman. They are simplicity itself. But their very simplicity is embarrassing. Where there is a will, the way is simple enough. Men have not the will for it and hence vainly grope. The fact that the world rests on the observance, more or less, of brahmacharya or restraint, means that it is necessary and practicable. 17

Those whose economic condition is not good may adopt still greater simplicity in their lives and consume less khadi; in this manner a non-co-operator should, in the present circumstances, put up with hardships but be faithful to his chosen dharma. 18 The chief things by way of preparation for living in the Ashram are cultivating simplicity in food and dress, cultivating a liking for physical labour, spinning regularly every day, learning to card, and making an earnest effort to follow truth and non-violence and observe brahmacharya, etc. One should not feel disgust even in cleaning a latrine, but regard it as one’s dharma to do so. 19

If the idea of simplicity, poverty, truth, and non-violence has taken possession of you, nobody on earth can prevent you from joining the Ashram. But you must not come with a view merely to give the Ashram life a trial. You need not prepare a khaddar mosquito curtain. It will be certainly better if you secure one. Try at the Khadi Bhandar in Princess Street. But any curtain will do. 20 Well, a motor-car is not a necessity. I certainly did not need it to come here. If God wants you to be useful he should find the means to make you useful. Motor-cars do not mean the sum of our spiritual experience. There was no motor-car in Jesus’ or Mahomed’s time, and yet they did not need them for their work. I do not hold them to be essential for real progress. We need to be humble. And humility and simplicity are not mere outward expressions. When Paul speaks of humility he means heart-humility. A true Christian has little need to speak. He goes about his Father’s business. May I cite my own case? Speeches were the least part of my work in South Africa. Most of the 16,000 people who rose like one man and joined me had not even seen me, much less heard me speak. 21

I know that many girls are now tending might be considered too simple. Let me however make my meaning clear. I do not by any means consider simplicity as synonymous with shabbiness, shoddiness or slovenliness; nor need a devotee of simplicity be devoid of a sense of taste or decency. What I have found is that the simplest things are the neatest possible and this neatness that comes from simplicity can be the common heritage of all mankind instead of the manufactured taste which has become the exclusive property of the monied few. With Gandhiji in Ceylon, pp. 100 I ask you to continue the tradition of your forefathers, I ask you not to forget their simplicity and their frugal ways by aping the showy fashion of the West. Your community has been known throughout the world for its charity, and luxury-loving ease and extravagance go ill together with charity. I am glad to find that you here have retained some of your simplicity and your Indian ways. You are known for your business capacity and your people have made fortunes wherever they have gone. But remember that it is not their riches but their large-hearted charity that made them famous. 22

I have been watching not without considerable anxiety the craze for fashion which I see has seized your young men and women belonging to the higher classes. Little do they know how by becoming slaves to this hypnotic dazzle from the West they are isolating themselves from the poor of the country who can never aspire after such fashion? I cannot help thinking that it would be a great national catastrophe, a great tragedy, if you were to barter away your simplicity for this tinsel splendour. 23 This immediately brings me to the question what are you to do for these and such people. It is easy enough to suggest a little more simplicity, a little more harness in life, but that would be merely tinkering with the question. Thoughts and thoughts like this brought me to the spinning-wheel. I said to myself, as I say to you now, that if you could but establish a living link between those famishing millions and yourselves, there is some hope for you, for them and for the world. Religious instruction you have, and very properly, in this institution. You have got also a beautiful temple. I see from your time-table that you begin the day by offering worship, all of which is good and elevating, but it may easily amount to a beautiful ceremonial and nothing else if that worship is not translated day after day into some practical work. So, I say, in order to follow out that act of worship, take up the spinning-wheel, sit at it for half an hour and think of those millions that I have described to you and say in the name of God: ‘I spin for the sake of them’. You will find at once, if you do it with your heart, with knowledge, that you are the humbler and the purer for that real act of devotion. If you will dress not for show, but for covering your limbs, you will certainly not have any hesitation in wearing khadi and establish that bond between you and the millions. This is not all that I want to say to the girls of this institution. 24

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