Where are the Gandhians

CHAPTER 1

July 19th 1969 pm in K. C. College, Bombay, India

[Note: this is an adaptation from Hindi, which was prepared for publication, but not published. It is
for reference only.]

It was noon, everything around was still, silent. I was sitting on a bench, underneath a statue
of Mahatmaji, in a garden of the capitol. I thought of asking Gandhiji the whereabouts of true
Gandhians. But, before I do it, I heard the statue muttering something. ”The idiots have stood me
here. Rana Pratap is given a horse. Shivaji; even Rani Laxmibhai is given a horse, whilst why am I
made to stand on my feet?”

I was shocked. I never thought that Gandhiji could become angry. I sprinted to a big leader of the
capitol. ”Gandhiji is in angry mood. He is imprecating: ’Where have the hypocrites stood me? I also
want a horse to sit on.’” The leader said: ”Impossible! Gandhiji will never use a bad word!” I took him to the garden whereupon the statue said: ”I asked you for a horse mister, not an ass.”

I do not know what happened to that leader afterwards because by that time I was fully awake. But
the subject did not leave me for the rest of the night, and I arrived at some conclusions.
The very first thought that came to my mind was this: that the ass should not be blamed for this.

The asses invariably collect around a mahatma.... Mahatmas are the persons of high rank. And, no
first rank person will sit at the feet of another first rank person. No Mahavir, or Buddha, or Krishna,
or Gandhi followed anybody. They never follow anybody, but the people around them are the people
who are in the habit of following, following anybody. A follower hasn’t a judgement of his own. In
fact, the brainless becomes the follower. Those who have their own intelligence stand on their own
feet instead of blindly following others. After the death of a mahatma, someone from the second
rank wants to occupy the first position and the race for the power starts.Similarly, the people who assembled around Gandhiji were of second rank. They had some
’reflections’ of the original mahatma but now that generation is also gone and the national power
is in the hands of the third rank people. These are the people who used to spread beds in the

Gandhian Era and used to go from village to village to announce that the mahatma was coming.
This is not unique of the Gandhian times. It did happen in the Buddha and Mahavir era also. And it
shall not stop unless the men of the first position stopped desecrating disciples. Then only welfare
could be expected. But because it hasn’t happened yet, the nation, via Gandhiji, is now in the hands
of the third rate persons.

I also want to say that his was pre-destined. It was to occur and for that the Gandhian should not be
blamed. I feel at much pains to criticise him. It also is not a fit subject for criticism. We criticise that
of which we nurture high hopes and if in the end it does not prove to our expectations. If a person
treasures stones, glass pieces, accepting them to be jewels, who should be blamed? The stones or
the person who collects them? Today the same person is crying that the jewels are fake; that he is
duped! He should have examined his brain before the acceptance

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