‘My innermost being wants your approbation,' Gandhi wrote to him to the Ashram address in Salem. Thirty-nine years after his death, the shining veracity and severe austerity of the man seem as incredible as his ethical intelligence and his self-denying dedication.
At a little-noticed event in Chennai last month commemorating Kalki R. Krishnamurti, Tamilaruvi Maniam spoke eloquently and insightfully about Kalki's political lodestar, C. Rajagopalachari.
Maniam made the significant observation that even those who disagreed with CR — and there always were many such — never failed to acknowledge the shining veracity of Gandhi's ‘Southern warrior' and the stark simplicity of his lifestyle. Maniam said no one who visits the Gandhi Ashram at Tiruchengodu, Pudupalayam which CR founded and where he was based in the 1920s, can fail to be moved by the severe austerity of the place, its almost desolate character, and the extreme adversities under which the once-prosperous Salem lawyer opted to live.
Anniversary on December 25
On this anniversary of CR's death, I thought I would share with readers of The Hindu some vignettes from CR's time in Tiruchengodu, drawing from some of his unpublished letters to Gandhi and his circle, which I am compiling and which should be out in book form early next year.
Ever loyal to his ‘master,' but ever frank and never hesitating to crucify himself on the Cross of his contrarian standpoints, CR found himself at a crossroads as early into the struggle as 1924. That was the time when the Congress had divided into the Swaraj party led, at the national level, by Pandit Motilal Nehru and Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, and powered within Madras State, by the redoubtable S. Satyamurti and led by C. Vijiaraghavachari and S. Srinivasa Iyengar.
The Swarajists wanting to depart from the Congress' programme of boycotting the Raj's institutions and to ‘change' Congress' strategy for Swaraj by entering Raj-controlled Councils was not a problem with CR. That Gandhi should want to cooperate with the ‘pro-changer' Swarajists ‘in the larger interest of the struggle' was a huge problem for him. He could not accept it. CR could not cooperate with leaders of the Swaraj Party for whom boycott was anathema, khadi a matter of secondary importance, prohibition of little interest and the Harijan cause a desirability but not a priority. When Gandhi wrote to CR on September 6, 1924 “We must continue to surrender (to the pro-changers) up to the very margin of principle,” CR had had enough. He decided to withdraw from active politics and to found an Ashram on the lines of Gandhi's Sabarmati.
The Gandhi ashram
He set it up on a four acre plot in a challenging part of the rocky and rain-parched Salem district, which was made available to him by the munificence of the public-spirited zamindar Ratnasabhapati Gounder. Pudupalayam village in Tiruchengodu had no more than 150 dwellings, belonging to the village's many weavers, farming Gounders and “untouchable” groups. Christening the new settlement ‘Gandhi Ashram,' he gave himself as his goal the promotion of khadi, countering “untouchability” in the region, and weaning men away from drunkenness — tasks that were rather more difficult than making speeches against the Raj.
CR's ashram became a magnetic field, drawing the nation's great leaders — Gandhi himself, Rajendra Prasad, Acharya P.C. Ray, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel.
Kasturba Gandhi came and was delighted to see Tiruchengodu's women spinning good quality khadi. When CR was showing her round the dyeing unit, she asked him in her ‘working' English: ‘Rajaji, this colour go?” CR replied: “No Ba, this no-go colour.”
CR was himself Gandhi's ‘no go colour' follower, except that he chose to weave that deep-dyed yarn in a ‘count' set by his own highly ethical intelligence. The cotton was Gandhi's, the yarn dyed in Congress' ideology, but the weave his very own.
CR's withdrawal gave Gandhi both pride and dismay. He wrote to him on July 16, 1925:
My dear C.R.,
Somehow or other I need your letter to feel that all is well with you. My position is this. My body and mind are living in a world by which I remain unaffected, but in which I am being tried. My soul is living in a world physically away from me and yet a world by which I am and want to be affected. You are a part of that world and perhaps the nearest to me. My innermost being wants your approbation of what I am doing and thinking. I may not always succeed in getting it, but it craves for your verdict.
…Your sadhana is the development of the place where you are…
C.R.
The year 1929 saw drought descend over the Tiruchengodu region. Young India published a telegraphic appeal from CR for help. Help came, but more was needed.
CR wired Gandhi:
. . . We have restricted our relief work to Adi-Dravidas of five villages within a mile of the Ashram. . . clamouring for relief. . . . Large numbers are emigrating. But very poor and old persons, especially women and children, have not even this escape out of an intolerable situation. . . .
The year 1929 also brought a pang of personal pain. Gandhi received a communication from someone saying CR was using khadi funds collected during Gandhi's southern tour ‘to maintain idle Brahmins.' In an epiphanic moment in July 1929, when CR, sitting outside his hut at the Ashram, was drafting a reply to this slur, a woman in rags came crying. Hearing the account, CR tore up the draft he was writing and sent, instead, an article for Young India in an altogether different key. It was carried in the issue of 11.7.1929.
Almost every one of these people is in debt. A couple of rupees borrowed carries so much interest per rupee per month and the people earn so little that the debt can never be discharged but grows and grows. It practically sells the man into slavery. There is no legal process but assault and intimidation and coercion do the work of the courts. The creditor is his own bailiff. If no one lent money to these people they would be in a worse position. A debtor and slave feel more respectable than a mere starving beggar.
I tore off the worthless article I was writing in self-defence. What if I was calumniated? It was nothing to the miseries of these defenceless people. Our mutual quarrels and hates are God's retribution for our wicked indifferent indifference to the miseries of these children of His.
‘Is your daughter to be married?' I asked.
‘Yes, swami, this Wednesday,' she smiled.
What fuss we make over a wedding in our homes! Think of a brute who lent a couple of rupees to your dead father, and he comes and stops the proceedings and pulls the carpet and paraphernalia out and assaults the assembled folk, for his debt is still due.
‘Go on with it,' I said. ‘Don't be afraid. If the kantukaran comes and interferes in any way come and tell me at once and don't be afraid.'
‘My Swa-a-mi! My protector,' she cried in joy as she walked away.
I sent a message of stern disapproval to the tyrant's friends. Either he feared police proceedings or he relented, or what is more probable, he resolved to bide his time. I heard nothing more of the trouble.
In times when politics has become brazenly self-serving and even ‘public service' unashamedly motivated, the life-work of such a one as Rajagopalachari seems almost incredible, a distant light beyond the miasma of politics. We do not see self-justification ‘torn off' from political intentions, nor human voices heard and heeded betimes.
Of the unpopular and the true, it has been said, both speakers and listeners are scarce.
Keywords: Kalki R. Krishnamurti, C. Rajagopalachari, Gandhi Ashram, Tiruchengodu, Sabarmati Ashram, Pandit Motilal Nehru, Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das, C. Vijiaraghavachari, S. Srinivasa Iyengar, Tamilaruvi Maniam
Dear all who have written the comments. I am planing to write a book
on Rajaji. Rajaji' from the perspectives of Valluvam. I plan to
compare Gandhi and Nehru with Rajaji in terms of Tiruvalluvar's
ethics. Those of you who are interested to join this endeavor as
joint authors or contributors of material please contact me through
the e mail.
In modern cynical times the Letter reproduced in the article from Gandhi to CR would be dismissed as soppy or namby-pamby. Life was simple, issues were not many nor hugely complex with global impact then. In those 'good old days' one could impress others by ostensible simplicity. Besides, there is a streak of yearning for Asceticism among older Indians who wallow in nostalgia and so giving up comforts and living in spartan style is treated as a virtue. That by itself cannot make for an acceptable leader.This was proved by subsequent events when CR was not chosen as the First President of the Republic, and was sent as an unelected CM to Madras which chair should have been refused by him if he really believed in strengthening the fledgeling democracy. democrat . When he was the CM he sat on his high intellectual perch and failed to read the pulse of the people.
The article of Gopalakrishna Gandhi on the veteran leader Shri. Rajaji is amazing. Indian politics is in urging need of such leaders. I wondered of his affiliations with the carders and how he was meticulous towards trivial things in politics. In the late sixties, my father, J.E. Mohan, a functionary of Swatantra Party in Thirunelveli District, published a bit notice condemning the arrest of one Ganapathy a sincere disciple of Shri. Pasumpon Thevar on a fabricated case. The bit notice was published in the name of the local Swatantra party. My father sent the copy of the same to his revered leader Shri. Rajaji in order to draw his attention on the issue. He acknowledged the receipt through a white post card along with an advice that such a publication must contain the name of the individual publishing and not in the name of the party. It is still a surprise to me how a colossus of Indian political arena cared of his followers. He is a lesson to the politicians of these days.
CR was responsible for the downfall of cngress in this state and at the all india level.the down fall is complete here But the raise of down parties to this extent would have been beyond his vision.We now rue for his statesmanship now.
We can only lament that the country that brought forth such a Titan as CR has come to this pass now. I had no answer to an elderly gentleman in Japan who asked me 2 questions on India a few years back. Why are there no leaders in India today similar to Gandhi, Rajaji and Patel? Why is the caste system still prevalent in India 50 years after independence? I guess the seeds of decline in the moral fiber were sown when the first Congress government ministers under Nehru started to enjoy the fruits of countless martyrs and self-less leaders who paved the way for independence and began losing touch with the ground realities and we're unable or unwilling to stop the corroding influence of power over millions of trusting citizens.
I am writing this based on the information given by my father on late C.Rajaji, the last governor general of India. After relinquishing all his offices, he lead a delegation of Indian Leaders to the capitals of super powers in the world to spread the message of peace for. The interests of humanity. He called upon the then president of USA late Kennedy. The then president invited the Indian leader and his team for breakfast and for half an hour Discussion thereafter. The USA officials found on enquiry that CR took iddlies for Breakfast and a special Indian cook was commissioned to prepare the iddli and other items for the breakfast of the distinguished visitor and his team. CR took two iddlies and The late president also took the same on that day to show respect to the last governor general of India. Although the discussion time was was fixed for 30 minutes, Kennedy cancelled all other programs and was closeted with CR for the entire day!
This is an excellent piece on an intellectual hero of Indian Independence. A much-misunderstood man, he stood for principles and moral rearmament; he was a bold dissenter, who did not care for power or pelf.A simple minded Gandhian, Rajaji has left golden footprints on the sands of time.He will be long remembered. I look forward to Sri Gopal Gandhi's planned book Rajaji's stint in Tiruchengode.
Greatness of Rajaji could be judged by an incident after he retired
as first Governor General of India. When the Madras police was
prosecuting a person of some fraud, he testified in judicial
magistrate court to disprove the accused claim that he was
acquainted with Rajaji as Governor General. It was reported that
Rajaji appeared as an ordinary citizen in the witness stand and
disproved the claim with help of his official diary recordings while
serving as Governor General. He was an epitome of honesty,
simplicity and uprightness with few parallels in India.
Gopal Gandhi's excellent article drives back on memory lane to early fifties when as a student I used to attend all his meetings in Chennai whether against BCG vaccination or reorganisation of states on linguistic basis , which he described as a tribal idea - that irked Nehru, who was the one who surrendered to Sriramulu's fast-unto-death for Andhra State. Home Minister Pant derided SR's suggestion as a counsel of despair!
I used to correspond with him, when once he warned me against joining politics and allowing the self to eat up the life-energy! To my invitation for my marriage, he replied - Don't try to teach your wife but be an example in all things. You will realise this as you go along.
What a great man he was! Kalki's moving account of the days with CR in Tiruchengode is a must for every one enamored of honest public service.
A very moving article on a very great man. Sad that this piece is tucked away in the inside pages more as a space filler and an article on Kolaveri is splashed on the cover pages. That is The Hindu , Once upon a time called "Mahavishnu of mount road ". Hope you dont carry any more Kolaveri in the main edition. You have the cinema pull out for such readers. Please dont meddle with the Hindu contents so often, if you wish to last another hundred years.
The name of the person mentioned in the first paragraph should be Tamilaruvi Manian and not Maniam.
With little knowledge in politics of those years and much less about Rajaji,I had always thought about his two political steps as a turning point in Tamilnadu and Delhi politics.One his starting the Swatantra party against all India Congress and another his alliance with Annadorai against Tamilnad congress.Both the ideas destroyed congress in both places which they rue till this day. Brahmins disappeared from politics giving way to Dravidian parties in south.
This story was poignant and given the present day reality, I am yearning for the bygone days. CR, fondly called Rajaji was in my opinion, a very brave soul. He was trapped in between two of his good friends Gandhi (a simpleton) and Nehru (full of hubris) and did not know which way to lean. I sincerely believe in my heart that his intelligence and his service to the nation were severely underutilized by the nation. The movers and shakers of then India with a political clout simply ignored him. They viewed his stand and progressive thinking as a threat to their own survival. The Dravidian movement spear headed by EVR was adding more to the confusion. No doubt he was a noble soul!
I cannot control my tears when I think of present day Tamil Nadu. I
only remember what Einstein told of Mahatma was such a gentle man
lived in this part of the country a few decades ago and served the
nation selflessly. Let us pay our HOMAGE to the great soul on this
day
Life of Rajaji is an open book on austerity.People of Tamilnadu have in them what makes a model state.The simplicity of its respected leaders like Rajaji and Kamaraj are shining examples of public life.At least now the leaders of the State and its subjects -especially the youngsters - should remember the glorious heritage bequeathed to them and swear to bring in austerity in their lives and governance and shoulder the responsibility towards the poor and the needy. Service to the poor is service to God.
"Your sadhana is the development of the place where you are.."
Following this one principle will make the world a better place to live.
Thank you for sharing this vignette. Would you consider giving references to good biographies for further studies next time, as such books are not easy to purchase even in bookfairs? Mahatma Gandhi was so lucky to be in the company of so many great people: Gokhale, Patel, Rajendra Prasad, Kripalini, Ambedkar, Motilal Nehru, and CR of course - to name a few. Thank you, again.
What a man Rajagopalachari was! And to see the sypocant, self-serving leaders of economic and political institutions in discouraging to say the least. Economic leaders cry about profits(and not abt people) all the time; without even caring for the ethical or moral growth society and promote a vision of living lush with consumeric and a materialistic outlook. Politicians outdo one another in displaying their moral turpitude and their decadent behaviour in public; and otherwise displaying spineless behaviour in front of criminals - while exuding compassion for those who have killed hundreds. What is happening to our country? How did this present change of things come about - just about in 50 years we have ended up from having leaders like CR, MK, Patel to the present-day politicians! This means there is something wrong with the roots of our society as we are building it anew - is it the lack of focus on values? We need to introspect.
As I read, "The Tiruchengode CR" tears rolled over my cheeks. If only Gandhi has heeded to his advice on Pakistan in time and did not shift his preference from CR to Nehru the country would have become a totally different place long time ago. CR's "razor sharp intellect" vetted in pure ethics always centered around equity.This policy would have given the country every thing it needed including the highest esteem among the nations.
C.R had the courage to call " a spade , a spade" and he did that even with the father of the Nation. On the issue relating to the partition of India, he expressed his views openly to the Mahatma, and he became unpopular on this openness . Mahatmaji still respected CR for His integrity. CR was with Mahatmaji, during the last south Indian tour,in the forties of the Last century, and my memory goes back to the THANGAMmaidanmeeting, when I was a student at tinnevelly. A great leader, but to a certain extent, a misunderstood leader. Gopala Krishna Gandhi is the most competent man to write about the last governor general of India, and his contribution will be a great asset who think about India and the Architects of the biggest democracy in the world .
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