Collective Sanitation as Practiced by Mahatma Gandhi

A picture taken in 1930, shows a man believed to be Mahatma Gandhi with broom

Collective cleanliness 

 As I grew up in the Sewagram Ashram founded by Gandhiji in 1936, the picture that is etched in my mind is of our joyous participation in the collective cleaning drive in the Ashram. Oh , what joy it was for us children to walk with our own jhadu (broom), tokri (basket) and a little khurpi (shovel) and  phawada (spade) and  march out in  teams to our allocated area for taking part in systematic community sanitation for three quarters of an hour each morning under the leadership of our elders. The time that we spent in cleaning the surroundings, especially the toilets, are one of the happiest memories of my life. Everything became so clean and the night soil was composted into pits that turned magically into Sone khaad, used as manure in the farms.  The habit of cleaning the toilets has continued even today and it is with great pride that my family gets involved in this task.

 For centuries, perhaps from the feudal ages or even earlier sanitation is considered to be a mean activity in India. The job used to be done by the members of a particular caste of people who were treated differently. Although every mother does the cleaning of the children and women sweep the household, cleaning of streets and latrines were left to the so called untouchables.

Even as a child, Gandhiji could not accept the idea of untouchability. When Dedhabhai came to clean the toilets in the Gandhi household in Probandar, his mother Putli Bai forbade Mohan, or Moniya as she used to call him from playing with him. It was unbearable to Mohan who for once could not comply with his mother’s orders.  Dedhabhai and Mohan became friends. Many years later, he told Dr. Ambedkar that he was wedded to untouchability much before he was wedded to Kasturba. His tireless campaign against untouchability had undoubtedly shaken the very foundation the system. However, untouchability was not eradicated from the country. Even today untouchability is present despite Gandhiji’s campaign and Dr. Ambedkar’s constitution and laws.

Phoenix Settlement

Gandhiji began cleaning the toilets in South Africa as well. Ever since he established a community in Phoenix, he made cleaning of the campus a common activity for everyone. Cleaning of the toilets, which was considered to be the dirtiest of jobs was voluntarily taken up by Gandhiji himself until it became a natural part of the whole process of sanitation. 

In Sewagram too, the collective sanitation became a fine art and developed into a scientific activity, when most of the members joined the activity and some of them became leaders in planning and organizing the activity for the whole community. Everyone, from Gandhiji to the little ones in the Ashram used to carry the basket on their heads!

Experiments with different types of latrines were also conducted in the Ashram to make the cleansing process free of offensive smell and to use night soil for fertilizing the farms. It developed into a process that made it both hygienic and economically productive.  But perhaps the most important dimension of the process was the social one. A task that was abhorred by the higher caste Hindus was turned into a daily ritual by Gandhiji in his Ashram.  One of Gandhiji’s methods of introducing his Ashram life to newcomers was to allot the task of cleaning the toilets. It was both a test of their willingness to change their lifestyle and an act of initiation in the Ashram way of living. 

Once Srimanarayan, a young educated youth from London School of Economics had come to seek an audience with Gandhiji in the Sewagram Ashram. He had come with big dreams of changing the Nation; eagerly awaiting his turn to tell his ideas to Gandhiji. On the appointed day of his meeting, even before he could utter a word, Gandhiji with a smiling face and soft voice instructed him to join the collective sanitation for which he was ready to leave. My mentor, Narayanbhai Desai was a teenager at that time and was responsible to perform the role of the senior partner to the beginners. He told me that it was most interesting for him to see the novice passing through almost a mental crisis in the earlier stages. His task was to present them the process in as pleasant a way as he could! 

The process

The sanitation duties would rotate from time to time giving the Ashramites experience in various processes and preventing them from being bored. Preparing some of the implements such as brooms and preparing compost-pits were also part of the community sanitation activity. Community sanitation was Gandhiji’s revolutionary method of social change, being a constructive revolt against untouchability. When Gandhiji turned his steps towards the villages, the prosperous Indians could hardly imagine what kind of villages captured Bapu’s attention.  From the beginning of his stay in Maganwadi, Bapu had begun going to the adjoining village to clean the faces from the streets and yards, where people normally relieved themselves. This was no jungle hamlet far from the railway track, but a village right by the city of Wardha reminisces Narainbhai Desai.

This work had two purposes. One was to encourage the villagers to adopt better habits of sanitation and the second was to show that proper Hindus could undertake such work. The job of ‘sweeper’ was assigned to an outcaste community, to fulfill this function.  But teaching such lessons to the villagers was no easy task as we are seeing even in today’s times. For months on end the villagers looked on Gandhiji, Mahadevbhai and their companions as ordinary sweepers.  Only, these were better, because they took no money for their work!  

‘Go over there. It is dirtier on that side.’ So said one who had just eased himself, pointing to the spot he had soiled. In the Sabarmati Ashram it was dumping the buckets of ‘night soil’ into compost pits, and to scrub the buckets with coconut-leaf brooms. But here things were different.  When my father questioned him about what good was this work, as it doesn’t affect people. To that Gandhiji said,’ the bane of untouchability is no ordinary blemish on our society. We will have to perform a prolonged penance to remove it.’ Gandhiji was so enthusiastic about sanitation and a stickler for cleanliness that he maintained that if he had his way he would be out there sweeping those roads himself. Not only that, he would plant flowers there and water them daily. Where there was dung of heaps today, he would make gardens. ‘Sweeping is an art in itself, he said. 

Village sanitation program

Health, sanitation and beauty were apparent outcomes of village sanitation programme; Gandhiji wanted to tackle the question of the biological resource of natural fertilizers and disposal of human and animal waste. Perhaps his fastidious habits of personal hygiene were inherited from his mother Putlibai, who was particular about religious observances.

Perhaps it is also the time we learn from the Japanese people, how to keep the surrounding and the neighborhood clean. During my recent trip to Tokyo and Kyoto in October 2104, I chanced upon group of elderly in uniforms, brooms and cleaning materials, who were keeping the sub ways, hotels, rooms, roads and all the public places spic and span, like only the Japanese can. Their dedication, commitment and diligence is something to learn from.  From their childhood, Japanese children are taught to clean. Called o-soji, this is a part of their education.

Even the Japanese audience of the recent World Cup matches in football demonstrated to the world how much they value cleanliness. Though their team lost, after the match was over, all of them rose as one and cleaned the stadium as though to do their natural duty of maintaining cleanliness and order all around.  Can we learn from them?  After all, it was just 66 years ago that our Father of the Nation demonstrated to us that cleanliness is next to Godliness.  

Mahatma Gandhi- the Servant Leader

Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in 1915 as the leader of successful movements; by now he was acquainted with many important leaders of the Congress. He was invited by them to participate in the meetings of the Congress and was given due respect by the leaders. Clad in the garb of a peasant, Gandhi saw himself as an ordinary worker of the Congress. He was firm in his principles, code of ethics and views but remained extremely polite and courteous. He looked upon the leaders of the previous generation with great respect.

Gopalkrishna Gokhale, whom Mahatma Gandhi considered his political guru, had given Gandhi a valuable advice, ‘Keep your eyes wide open; your ears too, but do not speak in public.’ It was to first understand India. Gokhale ji had given another piece of advice, which was to, if possible, try and spiritualize the politics. When Mahatma Gandhi was busy in South Africa, Gokhale ji had said in the public meeting that a ‘person like Gandhi has not been born in our country in the last 1000 years and he is not sure when in the future another would come like him’. 

On his return to India, Mahatma Gandhi decided that to understand India; he would travel only by train in third class to know the people of this country, to understand the core of their faith, of what they believe in. After a year, he had fully understood the plight of the millions in India. He saw that the real India lives in the villages; the great masses of India remained unconcerned even about political independence. They were cut off from the leaders and their promise of swaraj.  The Amritsar Congress of 1919 was the first Congress where Mahatma Gandhi’s views acquired significance. In the following one year his involvement with the Congress acquired a different character.

He came, he won and he conquered. This is what people thought in India as Mahatma Gandhi emerged as the leader during the Congress session in 1919. By the time the Congress met for its annual session in 1920 at Nagpur, he was amongst the leading figures of the Congress. The Congress acquired a truly national character with the non-cooperation movement. After fifteen years, the Congress decided to give up the policy of adopting resolution, drafting petitions, holding special sessions and advocated a strategy of direct action. This signaled the basic change in the role of the Congress. Mahatma Gandhi was clear about the methods to be adopted for the programs for Nation building focusing on constructive activities and that’s what his advised the Indian National Congress in 1934 to pursue.

Mahatma Gandhi created standards for all of us for bringing about transformative change in any collective endeavor.  The eminent Gandhian, Narayan Desai writes in his book My Life is my Message, that Gandhi’s revolution was two sided. On the one hand he was trying to convince the Congress to adopt a program of non-cooperation and on the other hand; he was hoping to build the nation through simple but concrete programs. For both these, the methods were based on truth, non-violence and purity of means. His clarity on the efficacy of his methods was unusual and novel for the country at that time. The Congress, its organizations and the many associations for constructive work became his vehicle.

The greatest achievement of non-cooperation, civil disobedience and quit India movements and programs was that it created a large group of dedicated men and women, professionals, lawyers, teachers, and political leaders who were willing to sacrifice their all for the country.  It was required of them not to cooperate with the unjust or injustice. Gandhi had realized that untruth, injustice, oppression and tyranny last only so long as their victim accepts them. The moment on learns to say NO to injustice, their edifice collapses immediately. This was true for the political, the economic and the social order. He said,’ I believe that it is possible to introduce uncompromising truth and honesty in the political life of the country…’

And how did Mahatma Gandhi bring spiritualization in politics? The path he took was especially suited for him. As he knew that the means were in his hands, but ‘the end was in the hands of God’.  ‘I will first examine the means and only then will I adopt them’, he had said. There were ways through which he attempted to give politics a spiritual color.  The first was his insistence on ‘purity of means’ that he adopted; and the means were of Non-violence and truth.  The second may have been that ‘Service to Mankind is Service to God’ which has come down to us through Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and Swami Vivekananda. It is through these that the spiritualization of politics was achieved and he undertook his constructive programs.

Mahatma Gandhi’s upmost desire was to restore the dignity of the poorest of the poor. This he understood was only possible through selfless service. He had said ‘Service which is rendered without joy help neither the servant, nor the served, but all other pleasure and possessions pale into nothingness but before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy.’

He felt in communion with himself in the midst of the poor and unhappy. Their joys and sorrows became his. The ills that plagued them perturbed them deeply, while their goodness made his heart dance with joy. He felt oneness with the people and according to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru there was no one who knew the pulse of the people better than Mahatma Gandhi.

In fact, one can trace the motive for working for a cause larger than his own personal desires or needs, continuing from his childhood, through his youthful days to the end of his life. He was involved in politics for the same reason. His life was a ceaseless quest for Truth and the incessant desire to measure him on the scales of truth. Mahatma Gandhi’s definition of truth is very simple, speak as you think and act as you speak. There should be unity of thought, word and deed. He was a leader who did what he said. There was no difference between what he did and what he said.  The leadership quality that one sees clearly, is that he was one leader who kept the Nation above himself and his organization.

At that time, communication media was in its infancy. The best way to communicate with the masses still remained through the word of mouth. Though people were illiterate, India had attentive ears. It could hear the soft, soothing voice of Mahatma Gandhi, who spoke in a language that they understood clearly, straight from his hearts.  He was one who lived amongst them, in an ashram, dressed just like them. Indians, though respected the bejeweled rich Maharajas and Nawabs, accepted Mahatma Gandhi as their own and gave him their hearts. 

The main impetus behind Mahatma Gandhi’s attempt at forging unity in the country was religious, that is, moral and spiritual motivation. He would not have entered the political realm without the spiritual motivation. Spirituality, bound the leader and the masses together in an invincible thread of love and respect as the servant leader marched forth leading the nation for fifteen years through the Indian National Congress. Mahatma Gandhi employed symbols and allegories that would immediately speak to the audience; while speaking to the large groups his language was replete with cultural references. If educated persons asked about his views he used language familiar to such a person.

In the book Gandhi’s Outstanding Leadership, P.A. Nazareth mentions that by empathizing with the masses, praying, working and living with them, selecting simple issues like cotton and salt which they understood Gandhi managed to enthuse and inspire them, convince them that truth, non-violence and purity of means were effective weapons for India’s political, social and economic emancipation, that a mere 100,000 Englishmen in India could not rule its 350 million people if the latter refused their cooperation and were willing to suffer the consequences, that all Indian, men and women, rich and poor, high caste, low caste and untouchables had a vital role to play in the liberation of India. Concurrently he also managed to train, plan, fund raise, finance, lead and effectively control vast group of people with desperate interests and backgrounds. Millions responded to his call; they spun cotton, they burnt foreign cloth, they submitted to beatings and imprisonment and refrained from violence.   

Through the leadership qualities like service, self- sacrificial love, spirituality, integrity, simplicity, emphasizing follower needs, and modeling Mahatma Gandhi cultivated public opinion that truth and non-violence were integral to the life of the country. Transparency was seen in all his actions throughout his life. There was no difference between his personal life and public conduct. He uttered what he thought and acted according to what he uttered. And how did he do this? By cultivating the courage of conviction, by being steadfast to his no-comprise zone, by insisting on purity of means of adhering to truth and non-violence in every sphere. For Mahatma Gandhi, the laudable ends could never justify means because such means contaminated even the noblest of objectives. Purity of means was what he insisted on while confronting discrimination, slavery, oppression, injustice and violence.

What was the reason for emergence of Mahatma Gandhi as a leader in the country? He had new methods to offer and the country saw the emergence of Mahatma Gandhi as a leader. His qualities also satisfied the aspirations of the people. With him to lead the Congress, the struggle for freedom had ceased to be an exclusive preserve of the elite. He had taken it to the common people.  He was a common man himself. He spoke the language of the people that was culturally rooted. He had exceptional command over the English language, but insisted on using his broken Hindustani. His simple life of labor, the willingness to undergo voluntary self-suffering and his faith in the oneness of all souls was in itself an example. He awakened the power of the people by reposing faith in them.

Mahatma Gandhi’s personality uniquely combined humility with self-confidence, serenity with enthusiasm. He was willing to understand his own limitations and shortcomings and subject himself to the most sever discipline to rid him of all defects. This man had a quality that attracted the educated and the illiterate alike. It was open for all to see. His words matched his action. Hindustan needed action not merely eloquence. The people of India went to Mahatma Gandhi with hope, expectation and desire. They hoped that this man who understood their suffering would lead them to swaraj.

It was a unique coming together people and leader. His quest for perfection led him to search for the truth with the people. He did not run away from politics, though to him it was not the primary quest.  Why did the masses of India love him? Mahatma Gandhi believed that the reason was his affection and love for the poor of the country. He communicated the intricate aspects of Truth, like the sages had communicated the most incommunicable knowledge by simple formulation: ‘Speak the truth’, ‘Follow your dharma’. He communicated it through his life by establishing unity between his individual life and public conduct and that is how it reached the hearts of people.

In 1934, Mahatma Gandhi resigned even from the primary membership of the Congress. He wanted the Congress to take up the constructive activities for Nation building. The Congress Working Committee often met in his presence and did not stop seeking his council. He either remained a president or a mentor to constructive work organizations established by Congress. The country saw the leadership of Gandhi for about 15 years.  Mahatma Gandhi was a revolutionary who thought about the need to remove violence and at the same time how to establish a non-violent society; a society without oppression, a society without authoritarian government. And this Mahatma Gandhi meant to do with Constructive programs to cover the maximum sectors of society; the financial sector, the social sector, the educational sector and the political sector. The political strength of constructive activity was not clearly seen by the county as much as Mahatma Gandhi wanted it to be.

‘The best way to find your self is to lose yourself in the service of others’ Mahatma Gandhi had said.

THE BOND OF AFFECTION BETWEEN GANDHI AND NEHRU

Mahatma Gandhi first met Jawaharlal Nehru at the annual meeting of the Indian National Congress in the year 1916 at Lucknow. That was the year of his marriage with Kamala. In his autobiography,  Nehru writes "My first meeting with Gandhiji was about the time of Lucknow Congress during the Christmas, 1916. All of us admired him for his heroic fight in South Africa, but he seemed very distant and different and un-political to many of us young men. He refused to take part in Congress or national politics then and confined himself to the South African Indian question. Soon afterwards his adventures and victory in Champaran, on behalf of the tenants of the planters, filled us with enthusiasm. We saw that he was prepared to apply his methods in India and they promised success." This first meeting was enough to impress Nehru regarding Gandhi and the charm of this relationship increased and flourished with passing time.

According to the Gandhian Scholar, Narayan Desai, in 1919, some months after the massacre at the Jallianwala Bagh, General Dyer was travelling back to Delhi by train after disposing before the Hunter Commission. All the berths in his compartment were occupied by soldiers, save one. Later in the night, a passenger came and occupied it. General Dyer was chatting with his fellow passengers and boasting of his deeds. He had no idea that the Indian passenger in his train was none other than Jawaharlal Nehru. Describing this incident, Nehru wrote, ‘He pointed out how he had the whole town at his mercy and he felt like reducing the rebellious city to a heap of ashes, but he took pity on it and refrained.’These boastful words echoed his statement before the Hunter Commission.

For about eight months the government of India tried to put a veil of secrecy over the atrocities in Punjab. Sin is closely related to darkness; it considers itself immune under the cloak of secrecy.

The young Nehru began taking active interest in the national problems after the Punjab incident. He was assigned to work along with C.R.Das, who investigated the incidence of atrocities in Amritsar. He also had the opportunity to observe Mahatma Gandhi from close quarters.  He recorded his first impression of Mahatma Gandhi, saying:

‘During the Punjab inquiry, I saw a great deal of Gandhiji. Very often his proposal seemed novel to our committee and it did not approve of them. But almost always he argued his way to their acceptance and subsequent events showed the wisdom of his advice. Faith in his political insights grew in me.’

The day after General Dyer’s massacre in Jalliawalan Bagh, Gandhiji commenced his 72 hours fast in Ahmedabad. On 21^st July 1919, he announced in Bombay that he was suspending the civil disobedience movement and would not resume it because of violence in “Chauri Chaura” village of Gorakhpur district of the united provinces, where the police had opened fire on a peaceful large procession. The principals of ahimsa integral to this decision were revealed to the country some two years later.

This decision caused much debate and consternation among the non-cooperators. Nehru questioned the wisdom of that decision to suspend the movement. Later he answered these and other question himself.

“As a matter of fact even the suspension of civil resistance in February 1922 was certainly not due to “Chauri Chaura” alone, although most people imagined so. That was the last straw. Gandhiji has often acted almost by instinct… At that time our movement, in spite of its apparent power and the wide spread enthusiasm, was going to pieces. All organization and discipline was disappearing; almost all our good man were in prison and the masses had so far received little training to carry on by themselves… These were probably the reasons and influences that worked in Gandhi’s mind, and granting his premises and the desirability of carrying on with the technique of non-violence, his decision was right. He had to stop the rot and build a new.”

In Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru had found the absolute leader who was capable of handling the entire nation says Siddhartha Dash in his book on Gandhi and Nehru. This quality he found missing in almost all the Indian political leaders of the time. Even Motilal Nehru was highly impressed and influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's inner strength and self-confidence. The greatest quality that went in favor of Mahatma Gandhi was his image. General masses could identify themselves through Gandhiji. In the initial stages of his political career, Jawaharlal Nehru found everything regarding Mahatma Gandhi amazing and great. His plan of action in any field attracted Nehru to a great deal. Nehru's admiration for Gandhi grew in the Satyagraha Sabha in 1919 to defy the notorious Rowlatt Act.

On 8^th November 1927, the viceroy announced the appointment of the royal commission to consider the future constitution of India. Mrs. Anne Besant inaugurated the boycott committee, formed to oppose the Simon commission. A public meeting was held at the Shraddhanand Park for declaring the boycott of British goods as the first step for the attainment of Swaraj. Gandhiji was following the Indian reaction to the Simon commission with great interest. Two things interested him deeply.  One, the country was united in its opposition to the royal commission and the Congress and the Muslim League had passed almost similarly worded resolution, where they had stated that non- inclusion of Indians was an insult to India’s self-respect. Both these organization felt that the Indians should have the right to determine the future of their country. The police assaulted peaceful protesters at many places and in places where the law and order was in the hands of white officers the repressive character of the state became more apparent. Unfortunately, Lala Lajpat Rai sustained grave injuries and succumbed to this on 17^th November 1928.

Mahatma Gandhi wrote in the Young India when the news of the assault on Lala ji had reached him “Well done!  Now we shall not be long in getting Swaraj”, explaining the importance of Martyrdom. His response to Jawaharlal Nehru is indicative of the caring and intimate relationship that the two of them shared. He wrote, “My love to you. It was all done bravely. You have braver things to do. May God spare you for many a long year to come and make you His chosen instrument for freeing from yoke.”

Jawaharlal Nehru had assumed the responsibility of the working secretary of the congress after his return from Europe in 1927. Mahatma Gandhi wrote to him after the 1927 Madras session of the congress saying, “If I can advise you, now that you are working secretary of the Indian national congress, it is your duty to devote your whole energy to the central resolution, i.e. of unity and the important but secondary resolution, i.e., boycott of the Simon commission.”

By the end of 1929 the Congress recognized that it would be required to enter into a direct confrontation with the government and that civil disobedience movement was imminent. The organization looked towards Mahatma Gandhi for leadership. A president was required for the Lahore Congress. Mahatma Gandhi was tuned to the new youthful winds blowing across the Congress. He clarified his views on the issue of the president ship of the Congress in two essays: ‘Who should wear the Crown?’ appeared in the Navjivan on 4^th August 1929, and ‘My Limitations’ was published in the Young India of 12^th September 1929. 

In this article he also said that Jawahrlal Nehru should become the president of the Congress. Gandhi felt that Nehru had everything to recommend him. He has discharged with devotion and ability the office of the secretary of the Congress.  Nehru’s bravery, determination, application, integrity and grit had captured the imagination of youth.  He was in touch with the Labour Party and was closely acquainted with European politics, which allowed him to assess the Indian political situation. Reflecting on his own influence on the masses Mahatma Gandhi said:

‘So long as I retain the affection of our people, there is not the slightest danger of my not being without holding office to make the fullest use of such powers, as I may possess. God had enabled me to affect the life of the country since 1920 without the necessity of holding office. I am not aware that my capacity for service was whit enhanced by my becoming President of the Congress in Belgaum.’

The AICC elected Nehru as the President for the Lahore session of the Congress.  Most members of the AICC were eager for a struggle by the beginning of 1930 and like other leaders of the Congress; Nehru knew that if a struggle of non-payment of taxes or civil disobedience is to be waged no one could lead the movement as well as Gandhi.  

Mahatma Gandhi wanted the wisdom and the courage of the youth to be harnessed for the nonviolent struggle of independence and so he wanted the congress to elect the young leaders as President.  It was Gandhi who had insisted that Nehru be appointed the Congress President of Faizpur Congress in 1936.

Nehru was influenced by the socialist thoughts and dreamt of complete independence.  His training and intellectual disposition allowed him to appreciate the idea of freedom over that of Swaraj. Narayan Desai says in his book ‘My Life is My Message’ that it is important for us to note clearly the differences between Nehru and Gandhi.  Mahatma Gandhi did not give a rebuttal to all the arguments raised by Jawahalal Nehru, instead he asked Nehru to openly protest or come and meet him for an exchange of views.  Both Gandhi and Nehru gave significance to practical and pragmatic issues and did not allow their ideological differences to come in the way of the primary objective of attaining national freedom.

On 15 January 1941, Mahatma Gandhi had stated ‘Some say Pandit Nehru and I were estranged. It will require much more than difference of opinion to estrange us. We had differences from the time we became co-workers and yet I have said for some years and say so now that not Rajaji but Jawaharlal will be my successor.’

Mahatma Gandhi had great fondness for Jawahalal Nehru. To Gandhi, a man like Nehru is rare. A man of sterling character, fearless and therefore reposed a deep trust in Nehru. It was because of his liking that he projected Nehru on the national scene. Gandhi believed that the success of independence movement and national reconstruction depends on the sacrifice of the young generation. Nehru represented the aspirations of younger generation. Nehru effectively harnessed Gandhi’s popularity and charisma to fulfill these objectives. Gandhi also wanted to utilize the energy of this youthful leader, his ability to view the issues in a larger perspective and his enthusiasm for the task of attaining swaraj.  Both had to make compromises in order to work towards a shared objective. But their differences about the long term vision for India persisted but Nehru’s heart was submitted to Gandhi; His intellectual core was formed by western thinking, his emotions bound him to Gandhi, the two retained their regards and mutual reverence for each other.

On the night of 30^th January, 1948 Jawaharlal Nehru gave these words to the millions of hearts:

‘…The light has gone out, I said, and yet I was wrong. For the light that shown in this country was no ordinary light. The light that has illuminated this country for these many years will illumine this country for many more years and a thousand years later that light will still be seen in this country and the world will see it and it will give solace to innumerable hearts. For that light represented the living truth, and the eternal man was with us with us with his eternal truth reminding us of the right path, drawing us from error, taking this ancient country to freedom.” 

Learning from Ms. Shihioka Urushi about empowering women

According to Atusushi Kodera in Japan Today newspaper of 6^th October, 2014, history was created when Evernote Corp. CEO Phil Libin, a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur visited Tokyo’s Shinagawa Joshi Gakuin in May and addressed around 100 students. The combined junior and senior high school for girls came under the media spotlight - not only because it was unusual for a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur to visit a girls’ school, but also because of the progressive nature of the school. However, it was not the first time the school had drawn media attention. Earlier coverage focused on Urushi’s achievement of dramatically turning around the 89-year-old school, which at one point had come close to collapse.

Starting from the current school year, all of the roughly 200 second-year students in high school are provided with an iPad miniature tablet computer loaded with Evernote software, which the school introduced in October 2013. With the use of the Evernote “cloud” they are able to share text, graphics and videos from classes. A question posed by a student is answered by classmates or the teacher. Students even discuss social issues with their counterparts at cooperating schools in Australia and Singapore.

Principal Shihoko Urushi felt that she should had in mind about the world and the future of her students, who will as adults play important roles for Japan in 20-30 years from now. She admitted that she is not particularly technology minded thought. In the changing demographics and social environment in the future, her thoughts are on the kind of people required to carry out the information technology at that point that will be as basic as reading, writing and arithmetic.”

The great-grand daughter of Masako Urushi, founder of what is now Shinagawa Joshi Gakuin and a pioneer of women’s education, chose to teach Japanese in Tokyo in another school rather than managing Shinagawa Joshi Gakuin after graduating from college. Things took an unexpected turn when she learned that the girls’ school, which then operated separate junior and senior highs, was suffering a serious decline in enrollment that was so bad one year its junior high school had only five students. In the late 1980s, Urushi heard her mother had terminal cancer. That helped persuade her to jump ship and join the schools where her parents worked, with a new determination to save it. She launched sweeping reforms that turned the school around in seven years, raising applications 60-fold and the school’s “deviation value,” which indicates the degree of difficulty in entering the school, by 20 points.

The reforms included ditching the old-fashioned uniform, a middy blouse, in favor of a stylish plaid shirt. The junior high and senior high schools were then combined and renamed Shinagawa Joshi Gakuin. The premises were then rebuilt to give the school a more modern look. She feels the change was more philosophical than institutional.

Simply put, the success of the turnaround revolved on a return to their first principles and they were aimed at giving women an education that would enable them to play a significant role in society. It is best understood in the ethos introduced in 2003 known as ‘28 Project’ brought the school back is a restatement of this mission in a modern context: It declares that graduates should become significant players in society by the time they are 28 years old. Urushi said., “That founding spirit had kept the school alive even through the war, and this made us view it with respect. Another important factor may be that we didn't give up and kept trying.”

This is the age, says Urushi, when women typically become capable of putting what they have learned to more effective use at work, but it also represents the age at which women typically give birth for the first time — or become aware of their biological clock. In either case, it is the time when women start trying to balance work with their private lives.

“As many as 60 percent of working women quit work (after giving birth), and only 20 to 30 percent resume it at their former career level,” Urushi said. “I think women should aim for a specialist job or a job that needs a qualification, because that helps ensure they can go back to the same work.”

She mentioned a former student who became a certified public accountant upon graduation and started working for an accounting company. She gave birth in her first year on the job without worrying about her career because she was eminently qualified.

Today, a strong investment in Internet technology is just one thing that sets Shinagawa Joshi Gakuin apart from its rivals. For example, the school is also known for assigning projects where students work directly with business people.

In 2013, for example, groups of students worked with Itoham Foods Inc. to develop three ready-to-serve packaged products for the company, including Karatamacchi, a unique fried chicken stuffed with egg filling. The products went on sale nationwide in March.

In 2008, a group of 42 students from both schools learned about media promotion in a lecture from Kadokawa Pictures Inc. and took on the promotion and public relations activities for the film “Dive!” and the novel it was based on.

For Urushi, the knowledge and cooperation provided by businesses complements for teachers’ lack of experience outside the education world. It forms part of what she thinks is one of the school’s most important functions: connecting with society.

Despite the fact that students embark on various careers, teachers themselves typically remain confined to their jobs because they start teaching classes right after college. This, Urushi says, makes them ineffective at teaching business, which is where many of their students end up.

Nurturing women who can continue their careers after childbirth is just what is needed to achieve Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s goal of bringing more women into the shrinking workforce as the population grays. Urushi, however, thinks that goal won’t be achieved unless day care services are expanded.

Some women’s empowerment this! And with a new vision to compliment Prime Minster Shinzo Abe's vision of ‘Abenomics’ in Japan!  This is what is required in India too, to be taken up by all of us. Mahatma Gandhi had shown us the way with his experiments of Nai Taleem /Basic Education, that is skill oriented education, which India never adopted. It is high time to understand and Act according to Gandhiji  instructions.    

The Umbrella Revolution: Civil Disobedience by the generation next!

According to Li Xueying of the Asia Times Network, The Nation, Bangkok edition, Tuesday ,September 30, 2014 , Joshua Wong who is all of 17 years, not old enough to drink or drive-let alone vote yet, is fighting for greater democracy for Hong Kong. He is frail, looks barely able to lift his back pack, but is bearing the weight of politically aware Hong Kong's student's aspirations currently. Social media savvy students have emerged as a powerful political and 

social force in the country, as Wong incites them for civil disobedience. The logo and motto of the Umbrella Revolution is an Umbrella and ‘Hands up, Don’t Shoot’ has  gone viral on social media network.

Last Tuesday Wong’s Scholarism student movement, together with the Federation of Students, comprising university unions, spearheaded a mini Occupy Central exercise to lobby for the right to Public to nominate candidates in the Chief Executive race.  

Wong was prompted to get involved, as per his local media interview,' I have always wondered why my life is so comfortable while others had so little. And that's where we need start. When he was six or seven, his parents began to take him on visit’s to Hong Kong’s poor.

Today Wong is at the forefront of a surging protest movement or Umbrella Revolution pushing for the right to democratically elect the region's next leader. Joshua Wong is one of Hong Kong's fiercest and most influential government critics. He was concerned about the problems such as Hong Kong’s widening income gap, he said that could be traced to structural flaws in its political system that allows vested interests to control politics and policies.

But that is what he has been doing since he was 15, when he led a campaign that forced the government to back down on introducing national education in schools. His student movement, Scholarism, successfully blocked the introduction of national education in schools which would have required students to develop "an emotional attachment to China".

The child of middle class Christian parents -his father works in a multinational cooperation while his mother is a housewife, Wong says his interest in social issues started at an early age. Learning about the Tinanamen student movement in 1989 had fired him up. Wong has difficulty in reading because of Dyslexia, but he is otherwise articulate and has formidable communication skills in rallying his young non-violent troops.

Since late Friday, police have arrested dozens of protesters who had scaled fences at government headquarters following a week of pro-democracy protests and class boycotts. Police had used pepper spray on some of the students.

“The courage of the students and members of the public in their spontaneous decision to stay has touched many Hong Kong people,” said Occupy Central, which had originally planned to launch a mass civil disobedience campaign around China’s National Day holiday on Oct. 1, when many mainlanders visit the city.

It is interesting to note that, as we gather to celebrate the International Day of Non-violence on 2^nd October in Bangkok, the Man born 145 years ago had extended the experiment in non-violence to non-violent resistance, non-cooperation and civil disobedience. The method and this experiment have changed with every decade and in each country. The essence though, remains the same; its strategy has changed in response to a specific context. The method that seeks not to vanquish the adversary but causing a change of heart and thus making the victory a joint one is relevant even today in the world. The answer for Mahatma Gandhi was always found in action. Mahatma Gandhi had said, ‘An ounce of practice is worth more than tones of preaching.’

The Gandhian way of Communal Harmony

As a child of three, I remember my father carrying me on his back at 4 am to the Prathana bhoomi near Bapu kuti in Mahatma Gandhi’s Sewagram ashram. The morning star, bright in its glory in the clear blue sky, used to be the pathfinder; as was the waning and waxing moon and the vast coolness of the moonlight. On the way from our home, he used to chant from the  Bhagawad Gita in his booming melodious voice or  sing lilting songs from Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s  poetry or recite the couplets from the Telugu saint Vemana.

The morning and evening community prayers used to be held under the open sky and that included prayers from all religions. The all religious prayers used to start with the Buddhist chanting ‘’Namyo Ho Renge Kyo’’ taught by the most venerable Fujii Guruji of Japan, followed by two minutes of silence. Other prayers included shlokas from the Upanishads and other well-known sources.  This used to be followed by the Muslim prayer, Jain prayer, Zoroshtrian prayer, prayer from the Bible, Bhajans composed by our great saint poets in different languages and finally the Ramdhun.

At the prayer 

Gandhiji had started this practice in Phoenix Settlement when the evening community meeting at 5 pm was converted into all religious community prayer with Imam Saheb, Parsee Rustomji, Henry Polak and the ashram inhabitants; and that practice continued till Gandhiji’s last day. Over the years more such prayers were added till the Ashram Bhajanavali was compiled by Pandit Vishnu Narayana Khare in Sabarmati Ashram with inputs from stalwarts like Kaka Saheb Kalelkar, Vinoba Bhave, Kishore Mushroowala and many more.

Gandhiji had done a deep study of the religious texts of these all the religions and came to the conclusion that the essence of all the religions was the same as they point to the same truth; and therefore we must all study the essence of all the religions with humility and must have an attitude of respect and reverence towards the practitioners of different religions. There is no religion in the world that does not speak about love, compassion and service to society he had said. Till date these prayers are sung in our household, as we gather for the morning and evening prayers daily. Respecting and extending reverence to the practitioners of different religions blossomed as we welcomed Christian, Sikh, Muslim and Jain sons-in-law in our extended family.   

Gandhiji was seized with the need of communal unity since the South African years. His early associates in social work were Muslims. Many of them in South Africa were Christians who participated in the last Satyagraha. The principal question before him was harmony between Hindus and Muslims who inhabited this country. Gandhiji felt that if Hindu-Muslim unity was established, unity with other communities which were already there could easily be strengthened. He never found serious differences between the Hindus and Muslims and other minority communities like the Christians and the Sikhs, not to speak of the small community of Parsis. Naturally, therefore, he turned to the question of Hindu-Muslim unity. He insisted that the Hindus who are in a majority in the country should help the Muslims and should never entertain any idea of enforcing their rights but try to win the hearts of the minority community.

He had expressed, “I am striving to become the best cement between the two communities. My longing is to be able to cement the two with my blood, if necessary. There is nothing in either religion to keep the two communities apart. In nature there is a fundamental unity running through all the diversity. Religions are no exception to the natural law. They are given to mankind so as to accelerate the process of realization of fundamental unity. The need of the moment is not an establishment of a Universal religion but there is a greater need to develop mutual respect towards the different religions."

The public workers in South Africa were free of previous experiences and hence were free of prejudices. India had witnessed years of politics before he joined public work. On his return to India in 1915, Gandhiji had jumped into the Khilafat movement even while incurring the displeasure of many Hindu associates. He did so because he believed that the Khilafat movement was caused by a breach of promise. Never after the Khilafat movement did the country witness the extent of communal unity experienced during the movement. His relations with Ali brothers were strained after the Kohat incidence. His differences with Jinnah remained unresolved. Gandhiji asserted that despite differences, his affection for Ali brothers had not lessened in any way. The speech of Maulana Mohammad Ali in the second Round Table Conference was among his last public speeches. This speech shows that despite their differences, the Maulana and Gandhiji were in agreement on the question of a dialogue with the British. Perhaps the Maulana also had not lost all the faith in Gandhiji.  

Imam sahib and his family returned to India with him and stayed with him in the Sabarmati ashram and joined the Dandi Yatra. Abbas Tyabji was appointed to lead the Dandi march after Gandhij’s arrest. It was far more difficult for him to achieve communal unity in the political realm of India than in South Africa.

Gandhiji gave his life for communal unity. By participating in the Khilafat movement, Gandhiji made the first attempts to achieve communal harmony at the national level as he was able to reach out to the poorer sections of the Muslim community. In those days, national organisations like the Congress, the Home Rule League did not have a reach beyond the middle class.

Gandhiji’s perspective was that he believed that all human beings were capable of good. Gandhiji wanted to touch the trustworthy aspects of the community and appeal to the goodness of people and convert them towards non–violence. His clarity on the efficacy of the methods was unusual and novel for the country at that time.  He was clear on the programme for national building through constructive activities that was taking shape in his mind apart from obtaining swaraj. The programme was to espouse swadeshi, Hindu Muslim unity, and communal harmony with the minorities including the Parsis, the Christians, the Jews and the powerful Sikhs, acceptance of Hindustani, removal of untouchability, Khadi and village industries and so on.

In his constructive programme, he gave the first place to communal harmony among the people of different faiths. The result was the famous book, ‘The Way to Communal Harmony,’ written by Gandhiji himself.  In this collection of his writings and speeches, one is struck again and again by the passion and sincerity with which he pleaded for the cause of better understanding among individuals and communities. The book is a compilation of Gandhi's reflections on certain problems that divide mankind. Everywhere in the world, individuals and groups are divided because of fear, suspicion, and hatred towards each other, which further depends on whether the division expressed itself along religious, economic, political, caste, or colour lines. Whatever is the form, insecurity is perhaps the major cause of individual or social dissensions. A person, who is integrated and sure of himself, fears none and consequently provokes no fear. We have examples of such heroic individuals. But we do not have till now instances of societies or communities that are fully integrated and therefore fearless.

In Gandhiji’s words, ‘Unity does not mean political unity which may be imposed. It means an unbreakable heart unity. The first thing essential for achieving such a unity is for every person, whatever his religion may be, to represent in his own person Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Zoroastrian, Jew, etc,. In order to realise this, every person will cultivate personal friendship with persons representing faiths other than his own. He should have the same regard for the other faiths as he has for his own.’

Gandhiji liked to describe himself as a practical idealist and tried to adopt a pragmatic approach while dealing with national issues, and in doing so he earned praise and criticism, In the future he was to meet with many failures, popularity and displeasure. His involvement in the Khilafat movement gave him some lifelong friends, and at the same time some came to regard him as their lifelong enemy. Some would argue that by joining the movement Gandhiji invited the first major failure in his public life in India; some would even argue that the journey towards eventual success despite a series of failures also began with this movement.

With Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan ( Badshah Khan) 

Gandhiji had a quality that attracted the educated and illiterate alike. This quality was such that it did not require to be fathomed. It was open for all to see. Gandhiji’s words matched his actions. Hindustan required action, not merely eloquence. People understood this leader, who spoke in the language of the people. His Hindustani was uniquely his own. The people of Kashi did not think it was Hindi, in Lucknow it was not considered Urdu, though Gandhiji called it at time Hindi and at times Urdu. His language, which the people understood did not require approval from either grammarian or lexicographer. His language was earthy; it flowed through his veins, and was culturally rooted. It was the language of the Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Holy Koran. It was the language of Kabir, Tulsidas and Guru Nanak.

It was a unique coming together of people, and leader. Gandhiji believed that through the ordinary people of India the culture of renunciation, sacrifice and generosity would flourish again, and it would show a new path to the world to rid itself of injustice, tyranny, exploitation and oppression. The people of India went to Gandhiji with hope, expectations and desire. They understood that this man who understood their suffering will lead them to swaraj. 

The week between 6-13 April 1919, occupies a special place in the history of India. This week later came to be celebrated as the National week. For many years, people relived the events and memories of that week and felt the same excitement.  Another example of Hindu-Muslim unity was seen in the week between on 30^th March and 6 April 1919 in Mumbai during the one day nationwide hartal to oppose Rowlett Act. Gandhiji had publically declared its opposition and said the Act was unjust, subversive of the principles of liberty and justice and destructive of the elementary rights of individuals and no self-respecting people could submit to that.  During the meeting a satyagrahi pledge was taken, the first part laid down the object of the pledge, the vows formed the second part in which they pledged to bear any kind of suffering and to sacrifice, if necessary, both their life and property.  He was convinced that by taking a pledge he was introducing an aspect of spirituality in the political movements. The third pledge affirmed that the satyagrahi would fearlessly adhere to truth and non-violence, and would not misinterpret facts and hurt anybody. The most important task before Gandhiji was educating the people and mobilizing support, as he was aware that before launching the civil disobedience movement certain preparations were necessary.   

Gandhiji got an idea to call upon the country to observe a general hartal by suspending their business on that day and observe the day as one of fasting and prayers.  Musalmans joined in a large number in Bombay and there was a fair sprinkling of women and children.  The Hartal became a unique display of Hindu-Muslim unity. The procession went to a temple and a mosque where two Hindus, including women addressed the people. Two persons gave hundred rupees each for a copy of Hind Swaraj; one of them was a Muslim gentleman.  Gandhiji hoped that the Hindu-Muslim unity which appeared to have taken firm hold of people will become a reality. 

This also saw the beginning of the Shanti Sena in India. As both in Bombay and Ahmedabad there were incidences of large scale violence after a week or so after the hartal. All that Shanti Sena is expected to do in times of riots and violence was done first by the ashramites like Maganlal Gandhi, Imam Saheb, Abdul Bavazir, Vinoba Bhave and Narahari Parikh and later by Gandhiji and Mahadev Desai. The work of the Shanti Sena involved awakening both the people to their actions , stopping acts of violence and rioting by going to the area of conflict, assuaging the feelings of people by visiting their homes and localities , making public appeals, making those who were mere spectators aware of their duties and making attempts to prevent rumors from spreading. All these were done under the direct leadership of Gandhiji who had told them that, “I am your soldier, but in the struggle, I am your leader, so follow what I ask you to do.’

Gandhiji regarded Islam as a religion of peace in the same sense as Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism. No doubt, there are differences in degree. He says in this regard that he knew the passages that can be quoted form the Holy book Quran to the contrary. But it is possible to quote from the Vedas to the contrary.

Gandhiji had said, "My reading of the Quran has convinced me that the basis of Islam is not violence but is unadulterated Peace. It regards forbearance as superior to vengeance. The very word "Islam" means peace, which is nonviolence. My experience of India tells me that the Hindus and the Muslims know how to live at peace among themselves. I decline to believe that the people have said good-bye to their senses, so as to make it impossible to live at peace with each other, as they have done for generations. The enmity cannot last forever."