The Making of the Mahatma Page #6

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The life of the tiller of soil

and weaver of cloth is worth living

Whatever the labour, that of the

barrister or that of the scavenger...

is equal in value

All labour is equal.

All men and women are equal

And the good of the individual

is contained in the good of all

I want to get a farm and

put the printing press there

The paper is a business,

it cannot be run from a farm

It's an idea worth considering. Don't

you see what Gandhi-bhai is driving at?

The Indian Opinion has not been

a business, it's a labour of love

Well, count me out of it.

I'm going back to India

I didn't come here to be a peasant

Gandhi-bhai, we are with you.

I will join you with my family

Have you found a farm yet?

Not yet. But I will

Hello there

Hello. I'm Mohandas Gandhi

Oh, Mr Gandhi! I'm Dube.

Reverend John Dube

What brings you here?

- We are planning a settlement here

Settlement? That's interesting.

- Well, we're trying to emulate you

I know of your excellent school here

and I've seen your paper...

The Alangalaze Natal.

- Yes

Your Indian Opinion and my paper

used the same press for a while

Yes, we're going to be neighbours

soon. We have a lot in common

Above all, we have God in common

Yes. Goodbye

Bye now

"Enclosed are the latest copies

of The Indian Opinion"

"From this you can get

much of the news here"

"I thought I'd return to India in a

few months but now it seems unlikely"

"If your mother decides to join me,

you are to come with her"...

"bringing Ramdas and Devdas.

Manilal could stay on in Bombay"...

"with cousin Chaganlal, to continue

his studies. Your loving Father"

But I don't want to stay here.

- Then you go with Mother

I'll stay and finish my school

Is that the real reason

you want to stay back?

I know Haridas kaka's promise

to marry Chanchal to you

I also know that the two of you

are meeting each other

So?

Your father doesn't want you

to marry before you are twenty-one

With what are you going

to support your wife?

Once I'm properly educated, I can.

Why not?

What will I tell your father then?

Here... this way

Johannesburg Station,

December 1904

What is this?

Did you have an accident?

- Some nuts fell off the sails...

of the ship. And I got my finger stuck

in the window of the train

Very careless

We shall have to put you both right

with mud-packs

You haven't told me

why Harilal is not here

Bapu, Harilal is going

to marry Chanchal

But I had written to them that

they were not to get married...

until they were older.

He's not even twenty

Yes, but Hari was afraid that

the girl's family will not wait

If he wants to get married in spite of

what I told him, then it's his business

But I will stop thinking

of him as a son

You can't do that.

- At least for the present

That boy was conceived

in a moment of lust

It seems to have affected his nature

He who directs himself

through dedicated action...

free from attachment,

in full control of his senses, excels

He who directs himself

through dedicated action...

free from attachment,

in full control...

Shall we prepare the room upstairs

for Hari and Chanchal?

He should only bring her here

when he can support her

Why? We will look after her

A little separation

will do him no harm

The Geeta says we must be

free from attachment

You say anything

that comes to your mind

Why are we born then

if we have to give up this and that?

Kastur, to earn merit,

we must learn to give up something

Haven't we managed well

without servants?

I think we must give this house up

and go and live in Phoenix...

on our settlement

I have also decided that

from now on...

we shall use up all our savings

for community service

You want us to give up this house?

You want us to give up everything!

I haven't said we must give up

everything. But we must learn...

to live without possessions.

- But what's the point in living...

if we cannot even keep

the little what we have?

We have each other

Did I have a choice

in the matter?

You do love me

I do, for better or worse

For better, I know

Having you by my side

is the best thing in my life

After serving others, of course

What kind of pest is that?

Reverend Dube!

Has something happened?

- Twelve of our people...

have been blown up at the mouth

of the cannon by the British...

as revenge for the killing of

two tax collectors by Bombata's men

They took twelve lives for two.

- That's terrible news

What's going to happen now?

- We running in revolt...

against the poll tax. We have

a war in our hands, I'm telling you

I want to revive the stretcher corps.

- What...?

Why should we? Why should

we offer our services

to help the government to put

down chief Bombata's rebellion?

After the Boer war what did we get?

Just false promises, that's all

Gandhi-bhai, the Zulus are protesting

against the poll tax just as we are

Would you call that a rebellion?

They want to force the Zulu farmers

off their land and into their mines...

and into their plantations. That's it.

- Yes

I know that justice is clearly

on the side of the Zulus

But as long as we are British subjects,

we will have to support the government

Gandhi-bhai! Come this way!

Bring that body over there

Put it behind

Yes, leave a little space

Who did this?

These are not battle wounds.

- They were flogged

Flogged? Why?

The General ordered them

flogged

They were taken prisoner as suspects

and then left unattended...

for further punishment.

- Where is the nursing staff?

They absolutely refused to attend

to these people

Isn't it their duty as human beings?

Perhaps you and your men would help.

I know it's not part of your duties

But some of these people haven't been

attended to for four days

This isn't war!

It's a manhunt!

Aren't you coming to bed?

I can't...

get over the horror...

the suffering I've seen

on the battlefield

You know, Kastur, when I was carrying

the wounded and the dead...

I felt so small...

so inadequate

How can I help those

who suffer if

I can't share their burden of pain?

If I have to serve others,

I have to empty myself of all desires...

detach myself from all ties.

Wealth, family...

wife

You wish to leave me?

I want to free myself...

from desire for you

Will you help me, Kastur?

I can do it

But for you to control your desire...

is like gathering an ocean

in a tea cup

This new Bill will require all of our

Indians above the age of eight...

"Empire Theatre,

Johannesburg. September 1906"

men, women or child,

to carry an identity pass

To get this pass, each one of us must

give thumb and finger impressions...

like criminals!

- No! No!

Those who do not register

before the registrar of Asiatics...

will lose the right of residence, can

be fined, imprisoned, even deported

No!

- This pass has to produced on demand...

even when you are away

and your wife is alone at home...

the police can enter and order her

to produce her pass

Will you accept this?

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