I feel moved as I recollect the18 months between July 1976 and January 1978, I spent in Sevagram working at the first rural medical college in India started by Dr Sushila Nayyar to commemorate the life and mission of Mahatma Gandhi. The ashram of Mahatma Gandhi, where he spent considerable time of his life while involved in the freedom movement is located a walking distance from the college. Anna and I regularly visited the ashram to get a sense of the ambience of the ashram.
It was Dr Sushila Nayar who was the founder director and the head of the community Medicine in whose department I was working, who interpreted to me the significance of Mahatma Gandhi. As a personal physician to Mahatma Gandhi, living in Sevagram, Dr Nayar had a regular contact with him at a personal level.
Five thoughts she shared with me at different occasions stayed with me and influenced me.
I was already used to wearing hand spun clothes for ten years as a mark of my identification with the less advantaged in the community. This gave me a sense of nearness to the simple life style Mahatma Gandhi had advocated. I had a marxist orientation as a student and resented that path half way through my medical studies. It was in that vacuum that I was drawn to Gandhian way of viewing life and following the inner voice of mindfulness of others. As I had my own personal struggles to understand the political application of Gandhian views, I needed an interpreter. Dr Nayar became that interpreter at a turning point in my life.
The first foundation of Gandhian thought is Truth . Gandhiji's view of truth had three dimensions. True experience of God; True personal path of living and true fidelity towards others. These three dimensions made a genuine seeker of truth an authentic person.
The second foundation of Gandhian thoughts was Integrity. For Gandhiji this meant living a life honestly, soberly and vicariously. Its application in political life was immensely important for Gandhi that he viewed a person from who is in conduct and character than how capable he might be.
The third foundation of Gandhian thoughts was Freedom. This meant abolition of cast system, bonded labour, practisingself governance, offering equality of opportunity and fair resource distribution, upholding pluralistic view of religion and liberation from material possessive instinct. It is here Gandhi could not influence the political system sufficiently that was emerging following the independence. Dr Nayar's description of the intense pain and conflict that Gandhi went through during the Hind-Muslim mutiny at the time of partition gave me a glimpse of the despair into which Gandhiji had slipped. He got confused and dispossessed from his view of harmony to such an extent that he needed considerable attention physically since then.
The fourth foundation of Gandhian thoughts was Equality. His perspective was that each village or a unit of population ought to be self sufficient through agriculture or industry and the distribution of benefits ought to be according the needs of each unit of family. He saw social, economical, educational and religious fraternity as a means for human development. He resented exploitation and self indulgences. Instead he believed in simple living and high thinking.
The fifth foundation of Gandhian thoughts was non-violence. Gandhiji initiated freedom struggle by using non-violent methods such as satyagraha. For him non-violence meant no harm towards self and others. In fact he qualified it with peace and harmony. He advocated purity of thought so that one does not think evil or plot revenge at the thought level.
When I heard about these foundations with many illustrations and personal anecdotes about the way Gandhiji practiced these values, I got a glimpse of the God orientation Gandhiji lived with.
An illustration was the the three religious books of Hinduism, Islam and Christianity he read and meditated on. I happened to see the new Testament on Gandhiji's table which was underlined in several places. The text of the Sermon on the Mount was marked in a special way. It seems he read portions of it almost every day.
It was not an ordinary task to fight the might of the British with non-violent means and come to a negotiated settlement for handing over power. But for the partition and its terrible consequences the independence would have been an historic testimony to the fruits of the lofty vision of non-violence.
During those 18 months, I got to experience something of these values. Dr Nayar was keen to pursue and propagate these values to the medical fraternity in the college.
I felt touched when Dr Nayar once told me that I must study paediatrics and take care of children. She arranged for me to spend part time in the Child Health department in order to get me oriented to community Paediatrics. That was how I moved from community Medicine to Paediatrics and joined Medical College, Nagpur for my post graduate training.
We owe our freedom to Mahatma Gandhi and to his non-violent freedom struggle.
What this country needs now is leadership rooted in Gandhian foundational values. It is a dream than a reality now.
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
It was Dr Sushila Nayar who was the founder director and the head of the community Medicine in whose department I was working, who interpreted to me the significance of Mahatma Gandhi. As a personal physician to Mahatma Gandhi, living in Sevagram, Dr Nayar had a regular contact with him at a personal level.
Five thoughts she shared with me at different occasions stayed with me and influenced me.
I was already used to wearing hand spun clothes for ten years as a mark of my identification with the less advantaged in the community. This gave me a sense of nearness to the simple life style Mahatma Gandhi had advocated. I had a marxist orientation as a student and resented that path half way through my medical studies. It was in that vacuum that I was drawn to Gandhian way of viewing life and following the inner voice of mindfulness of others. As I had my own personal struggles to understand the political application of Gandhian views, I needed an interpreter. Dr Nayar became that interpreter at a turning point in my life.
The first foundation of Gandhian thought is Truth . Gandhiji's view of truth had three dimensions. True experience of God; True personal path of living and true fidelity towards others. These three dimensions made a genuine seeker of truth an authentic person.
The second foundation of Gandhian thoughts was Integrity. For Gandhiji this meant living a life honestly, soberly and vicariously. Its application in political life was immensely important for Gandhi that he viewed a person from who is in conduct and character than how capable he might be.
The third foundation of Gandhian thoughts was Freedom. This meant abolition of cast system, bonded labour, practisingself governance, offering equality of opportunity and fair resource distribution, upholding pluralistic view of religion and liberation from material possessive instinct. It is here Gandhi could not influence the political system sufficiently that was emerging following the independence. Dr Nayar's description of the intense pain and conflict that Gandhi went through during the Hind-Muslim mutiny at the time of partition gave me a glimpse of the despair into which Gandhiji had slipped. He got confused and dispossessed from his view of harmony to such an extent that he needed considerable attention physically since then.
The fourth foundation of Gandhian thoughts was Equality. His perspective was that each village or a unit of population ought to be self sufficient through agriculture or industry and the distribution of benefits ought to be according the needs of each unit of family. He saw social, economical, educational and religious fraternity as a means for human development. He resented exploitation and self indulgences. Instead he believed in simple living and high thinking.
The fifth foundation of Gandhian thoughts was non-violence. Gandhiji initiated freedom struggle by using non-violent methods such as satyagraha. For him non-violence meant no harm towards self and others. In fact he qualified it with peace and harmony. He advocated purity of thought so that one does not think evil or plot revenge at the thought level.
When I heard about these foundations with many illustrations and personal anecdotes about the way Gandhiji practiced these values, I got a glimpse of the God orientation Gandhiji lived with.
An illustration was the the three religious books of Hinduism, Islam and Christianity he read and meditated on. I happened to see the new Testament on Gandhiji's table which was underlined in several places. The text of the Sermon on the Mount was marked in a special way. It seems he read portions of it almost every day.
It was not an ordinary task to fight the might of the British with non-violent means and come to a negotiated settlement for handing over power. But for the partition and its terrible consequences the independence would have been an historic testimony to the fruits of the lofty vision of non-violence.
During those 18 months, I got to experience something of these values. Dr Nayar was keen to pursue and propagate these values to the medical fraternity in the college.
I felt touched when Dr Nayar once told me that I must study paediatrics and take care of children. She arranged for me to spend part time in the Child Health department in order to get me oriented to community Paediatrics. That was how I moved from community Medicine to Paediatrics and joined Medical College, Nagpur for my post graduate training.
We owe our freedom to Mahatma Gandhi and to his non-violent freedom struggle.
What this country needs now is leadership rooted in Gandhian foundational values. It is a dream than a reality now.
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
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