Gandhi Page #47

Irwin looks at his ADC, then paces a bit, pondering it.

IRWIN:

And that's the basis of this

"Declaration of Independence"?

SENIOR POLICE OFFICER

Yes, sir. The day he sets off everyone

is supposed to raise the flag of

"Free India." Then he walks some two

hundred and forty miles to the sea

and makes salt.

A moment as Irwin considers it, then it is the general who

speaks.

GENERAL:

I say ignore it. Let them raise their

damn flags, let him make his salt.

It's only symbolic if we choose to

make it so.

PRINCIPAL SECRETARY

(pointedly)

He's going to arrive at the sea on

the anniversary of the massacre at

Amritsar.

Irwin has turned to him. And this makes up his mind.

IRWIN:

General Edgar is right -- ignore it.

Mr. Gandhi will find it's going to

take a great deal more than a pinch

of salt to bring down the British

Empire.

He is concerned enough to be angry, but certain enough to be

dogmatic.

THE ASHRAM - EXTERIOR - DAWN

It is very early, the light just beginning to break, and we

are looking out across the river toward the distant town,

and against the pink glow of the sky we can see people in

groups wading across the river toward the ashram. And suddenly

a mass of people, hidden by the embankment, appear at the

top of the steps coming up from the river, and the camera

lifts slightly with their movement and we see that they are

but the forerunners of a long tendril of humanity that

stretches across the river, all the way back to the distant

outskirts of the city.

And around the ashram many fires are burning, people are

cooking breakfast, some are packing knapsacks for the journey,

others are strewing the path from the ashram with leaves.

GANDHI'S BUNGALOW - INTERIOR - DAWN

Quiet, just the buzz of activity from outside the building.

Gandhi lies on a mat and Ba and Mirabehn are massaging him

with oil as he checks page proofs, an oil lamp by his side.

Nehru sits cross-legged next to him, taking the proofs as

Gandhi finishes them. Maulana Azad sits to one side. Behind

them Desai is making notes on Gandhi's instructions.

GANDHI:

(to Nehru)

...the real test will come if I am

arrested. If there is violence we

lose all our moral advantage. This

time it mustn't happen.

He looks at Nehru and Azad solemnly to emphasize the point.

Nehru nods; a little smile.

NEHRU:

We're not beginners anymore. We've

been trained by a strict sergeant

major.

He means Gandhi of course, and Gandhi accepts the reference,

but it is the acceptance of the strict sergeant major: "Don't

fail me." Then he looks to Azad.

GANDHI:

If I'm taken, Maulana is to lead the

march. If he is arrested, Patel,

then Kripalani, then yourself.

Nehru nods. Ba moves to massage the top of Gandhi's head.

BA:

You should be relaxing.

Gandhi grins, looking at Mirabehn, who is massaging his legs.

GANDHI:

I'm sure I'm fit for at least five

hundred miles.

MIRABEHN:

You should ride the pony. It is not

necessary to walk to prove the point.

Gandhi looks at Nehru, a benign shrug.

GANDHI:

I have two of them bossing me now.

Nehru smiles. He stands, having taken the last proof sheet.

Azad rises with him.

NEHRU:

We must get these to the printer.

(He looks down at

Gandhi.)

I know it will succeed. Even my mother

is prepared to march.

Gandhi is pleasurably impressed with that.

GANDHI:

And Jinnah?

NEHRU:

(a beat)

He's waiting. He's not prepared to

accept it will mean as much as you

think.

GANDHI:

(smiles confidently)

Wait and see... wait and see...

He leans back and closes his eyes. Ba rubs his head

soothingly. Nehru bends and squeezes his arm in farewell.

Gandhi nods, not opening his eyes. Nehru and Azad smile at

Ba and leave.

THE ASHRAM - LATER - EXTERIOR - DAY

The sun higher, but still early light. A green, white and

saffron flag (the colors of India) is pulled up an uneven

pole. The sound of gentle clapping.

Gandhi is off to one side, just in front of the veranda of

his bungalow, not paying attention to the ceremony. Ba and

Mirabehn watch from the veranda as Pyarelal (Desai's new

assistant), with a knapsack over his own shoulders, hands

Gandhi his. As Gandhi slips it on, the ashramite boy whom we

saw with the goat hands him a long staff. And Gandhi moves

around the edge of the bungalow, heading toward the entrance

of the ashram.

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