Unveiling the real Gandhi

Photo by Omprakash
Book: Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, his People and an Empire
Author: Rajmohan Gandhi
Publication: Penguin Viking
Pages: 745
Price: Rs 650

Albert Einstein, one of the geniuses of the last century once said of Gandhi, “Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood, walked upon this earth.” On the close heels, much has been written and discussed about the life and times of Gandhi which has made him more or less a metaphor for non-violence, peace and humanity. But none of the biographers or writers have ever tried to discover the real man in Gandhi. If there were any attempts, they were eclipsed by his virtuosity and made them benumbed. Moreover, with the genre of writing biographies itself witnessing a change, Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, his People and an Empire conjures up the arena with its flamboyant details about the Mahatma, which were hitherto unknown.
Ranging from Erik Erikson’s Gandhi's Truth, which analysed Mohandas psychologically, to diaries of Gandhi’s personal secretary Mahadev Desai, all his biographical histories were either known for favoured treatment or deconstruction of Gandhi. Thus for anybody venturing to write yet another biography would be a herculean task, not content-wise but also in being true to the subject. Like all good batsmen who find gaps between the fielders and score runs, Rajmohan Gandhi has achieved an immaculate success with a ‘chronological, complete and candid portrayal’ — one in which ‘the whole life of the Mahatma could be looked at as one piece, and a touchable, comprehensible Gandhi brought out.’
In his attempt to construct a candid portrayal, he neither embellishes his work with historic factual details nor does he exaggerate any particular event but a perfect symmetry between both on a neutralist pitch. Spreading across 16 chapters, from his boyhood to his assassination, Rajmohan unfolds a verisimilitude and gravitated details meticulously chosen from ‘a mass of materials: letters, memoirs, diaries and published articles.’ The slow and elegant evolution of a timid and shy lad from the Saurashtra region to a remarkable leader in two different continents at first and gradually encompassing the whole world with his political and cultural philosophies which paved way for the emancipation of underprivileged across the world, is indeed a scintillating stroke.
Many times most of the biographies on Bapu were read to know more about the functioning of the Congress Party and internal disputes over the presidentship, dispute over the partition plan which mirrored his secular views, his confrontations with other national luminaries and of course, the assassination episode. Not divulging from the curious details, Rajmohan Gandhi with all punctual details appears to be an uninvolved observer. Being a twelve-and-a-half year old when Bapu was assassinated, Rajmohan has succeeded in recording both the parochial events important for any boy of that age and the political life coloured with the family life of Mahatma from either the archives or from his father’s words.
The biography hogged the limelight for the candid details about Gandhiji’s love towards Saraladevi which was omitted by other writers. Not much bewildered by the curiosity, like all other episodes, he treats Saraladevi episode but takes away the credit for bursting it. In fact, the episode goes eponymous with his wish to write a ‘complete and candid’ biography! Commenting about the communal clash during the partition plan, Rajmohan opines that it happened despite Gandhiji’s efforts to persuade people along with the leaders but not because of intermixing of politics with religion.
While recollecting some of the popular and familiar milestones too, Rajmohan strikes with his novel approach. Scrutinising the events from the point of view of people who were involved in the episode, he provides convincing background in the form of apt anecdotes from their diaries or personal letters. But the narration and the events smartly escapes the current debates and timely or momentary preoccupation with the Gandhigiri and attempts to remain within the self-imposed peripheries of Rajmohan Gandhi. The preface filled with open statements about the author’s disposition, well in fact becomes a prelude to the entire story and defends his attempt to retell the open story of the father of nation.
Admitting his attempt to embark on a challenging task, Rajmohan states, “I went for it in fear, praying that I might do some justice to the man and also to the truth. God only knows how far I have succeeded or failed.” But a reader having grasped the text would conclude that the author has done justice within his own limitations.