From Palace to Hut- Mahatma Gandhi

[Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav]

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Senior Gandhian Scholar

Gandhi Research Foundation, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India

Contact No. – 09404955338, 09415777229

E-mail- [e-mail];

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

 

 

From Palace to Hut- Mahatma Gandhi

 

Wherever I go, the poor are always with me. They seek me out wherever I may be. No one had been informed about my trip to Barrackpore. I did not know that there were labourers living round about. But a little after I reached Sir Surendranath’s villa, about a hundred or two poor people of the neighborhood flocked to his park. Within a minute, they came to know of my visit, God knows how. Ordinarily, they would be afraid or would hesitate even to enter in this manner the villa of a great man. But believing that they have a right to enter where I go, they come in unafraid, and no one stops them. Among those poor people, there were one or two Biharis. They used to work as teachers in the labour area. Barrackpore is situated on an elevation. There is a lake there. Water from the Ganga is drawn here and then filtered and purified. Hundreds of labourers have been engaged on this work. These labourers hail from Bihar and from the part of United Provinces bordering on Bihar. One of the Bihari teachers invited me to his house and expressed a desire to show me the yarn spun by him and the khadi store which he ran. He works on six spinning-wheels and, ordering khadi from Bihar, sells it to the labourers. How could I slight or decline his invitation? We went there. The labourers came and surrounded us. To be sure, there were spinning-wheels in that tiny house. On our side, khadi worth three or four hundred rupees was attractively arranged on a bench. He said, “My brother, some of my friends and I work on these spinning-wheels. We get slivers from Calcutta. We sell this khadi to the labourers without charging any profit. Four or five of us wear khadi exclusively. As money is needed to carry on this work, the labourers give me one pice for every rupee of their wage. I take nothing for myself out of what they give. It only helps in meeting the extra expense incurred on khadi.” I asked him why they did not order khadi from Bengal. He replied: “Because we must help dispose of khadi produced in Bihar. We should give what help we can from here.” In this way, these youths sell khadi worth Rs. 2,500 annually to the poor labourers. Who can say how many such poor, selfless youths there are who silently help in spreading the use of khadi without expecting or desiring publicity? Sir Surendranath could not help expressing approval of the khadi and spinning movement. Before we left the hut of this poor youth, he showed us the book in which in very clear hand, he had written the accounts relating to his khadi work.

Reference:

Navajivan, 17-5-1925