The Making of the Mahatma Page #5

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Our stretcher corps

is in the thick of battle

The British army met with reverse after

reverse in the beginning of the war

And large numbers were wounded

Carrying the wounded 7 or 8 miles

on foot is part of our daily routine

Sometimes we carry badly wounded

soldiers over a distance of 25 miles

Though our work is supposed to be

outside the firing line...

the action at Spioenkop

found us in the midst of battle

Water

The war is coming to an end

I should be back soon

Our work is being appreciated

and everyone believes that...

Indian grievances are

surely going to be addressed

The attitudes of the whites

appear to have changed

I think that my work

in South Africa is now over

We will soon be going home

Aren't these farewell gifts beautiful?

- Yes

This one was given

by Rustom kaka, wasn't it?

Yes.

- It's pretty

And this... this is

a diamond necklace

From Madrasis.

- Oh Madrasis!

And this one... this gold chain.

Do you see that?

From Gujarati Hindus.

It is in your name, Ma

Yeah. This will be for your bride

Now if you have finished with

all this admiring...

please go and put that in the safe

Give it to me, Mani

What do you think?

Shall we keep all this jewellery?

Do we need such costly presents?

What do you say, Mani?

- Bapu, we don't need them

Shall we return them?

- But we would need them later

Why would we need them later?

Now will you plead them with your

mother to return these costly jewels?

Mother, we've decided.

- We've decided to give them back

If your father wants to be a recluse,

let him. You don't have to follow him

Bapu is right. Why do we need them?

- You keep quiet

I'm talking to your father

You may not, but I need these jewels

for my daughters-in-law

When the time comes, you can ask me.

- Ask you?

You are the one who sold my jewellery,

all that my Father gave me

And now you're going to get jewels

for my daughters-in-law?

I will not allow these

to be returned

And that necklace with 50 guineas.

That was given to me

What right do you have to return it?

- These jewels were given to me...

for my services to the community

Here I work night and day.

Is that no service?

I have lived like an untouchable

serving all and sundry

I'm going to write to Rustom kaka,

returning all these jewels

They should be kept in a trust

for the community

You're just a hard, uncaring man

After five years in South Africa,

we came back to India

Of our four boys,

Ramdas and Devdas were born there

Bapu established his office in Bombay

and his law practice was picking up

Just when we seemed

to be settling down...

a cable arrived from South Africa

with unsettling news

Without a second thought...

Bapu departed for South Africa,

leaving us behind

When the British took over Transvaal

we thought things would become better

But they only became worse

All of us are keen that

you represent us

They put restrictions

on our owning property here

Lands leased by us

are being confiscated

Now this new Asiatic department

that was set up to help us...

is doing quite the opposite. That's

why we sent for you, Gandhi-bhai

This Mr Farlow is an old India hand,

not easy to deal with

Mr Farlow will see you now

Good morning, Mr Farlow

This is Mr Mohandas Gandhi, Mr Farlow

Gandhi? How did he get

into the Transvaal?

Mr Alexander, the Natal

chief of police...

was kind enough to issue me

a permit, sir

Alexander must've given you a permit

through oversight

You are not a Transvaal

domiciled Indian

I have lived in Pretoria

for a whole year

That was in the Boer Republic,

not the British colony

I represent the crown here.

You may not wait on Mr Chamberlain

You may go now

How dare he insult you?

- Patience, Naidu. Patience

Just a moment, Mr Tayab

Tayab!

Look, Mr Chamberlain does not

want to see Gandhi again

He's already met him in Durban

Why do you insist on including him

in your delegation?

He does not live here.

What does he know of your conditions?

I suppose you do, Mr Farlow

If you can't come with us,

we'll cancel the writ petition

Don't do that. They will think

we haven't got a case

What do you mean? Allow Farlow

to treat you like this?

I'll break his bloody legs!

- Naidu, will that solve our problem?

No. Violence is not the answer,

neither are petitions and delegations

We must mobilise Indian opinion.

Yes, we need our own mouthpiece

Mouthpiece? We have you

My voice is not loud enough

I was thinking of our own newspaper

Something that reflects

our own viewpoint

My young friend Madanjeet

has a printing press

Yes

"Indian Opinion"

Show us your permit

We'll deport anyone who does not have

a residential permit

Prepare yourself

for relocation elsewhere

"Outbreak of Plague

in Coolie Locations"

Gandhi-bhai, isn't the

plague contagious?

Highly contagious

You want to leave?

- No, it's fine

"Plague Recedes. Indian volunteers

show exemplary courage"

Good morning, Mr Gandhi.

- Good morning

We read your letter about the plague

in the newspaper

We would like to offer our services.

- That's very kind of you

Fortunately, we've come to the end

of our nursing duties

Unless of course we have

new patients. Heaven forbid

Is there anything at all we can do?

I'm Henry Pollock

I write for the Transvaal Critic.

- The Critic?

You are the one who wrote

on the Indian question

I stand accused. Mr Albert West.

He runs a printing press

Perhaps we can print

some pamphlets for you

Printing press? Well,

we publish The Indian Opinion

Madanjeet here manages the press

Well, as you can see he is in no position

to do so at the moment

Would you like to go to Durban

to run the press for us?

We can offer you a salary of 10 pounds

a month and a share in the profits

Well, I can leave tomorrow

if you like

Mr Pollock, perhaps you would like

to write for The Indian Opinion

Though the Indian Opinion became a

powerful weapon for the Indian cause...

Albert West was unable to keep

the paper from going bankrupt

Bapu was reluctant to shut down

the paper, and I was worried...

because it was using up

all our savings

Have you decided what you want

to do with The Indian Opinion?

I don't want to shut it down

I think I owe it to Albert. He's been

working without pay all this time

How can you afford to keep it going?

We'll have to make it pay for itself

We should not have stopped

taking advertisements

The aim of journalism is service,

Henry, not commerce

What are you reading?

- Would you like to read it?

John Ruskin

"Unto This Last"

Reading that little book, Bapu

found the direction he was seeking

I can't speak for anyone else.

But I'm willing to work without wages

It won't work!

It is better to close it down

No, I don't agree

Maybe we should reduce our wants

and live a simpler life

I think if we grow our own food

and build simple huts to live in...

we don't need any wages.

- What kind of a pipe-dream is that?

You know what Ruskin says?

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