XXV. IN INDIA
On my way to Bombay the train stopped at Allahabad for
forty-five minutes. I decided to utilize the interval for
a drive through the town. I also had to purchase some
medicine at a chemist's shop. The chemist was half
asleep, and took an unconscionable time in dispensing the
medicine, with the result that when I reached the
station, the train had just started. The Station Master
had kindly detained the train one minute for my sake, but
not seeing me coming, had carefully ordered my luggage to
be taken out of the train.
I took a room at Kellner's, and decided to start work
there and then. I had heard a good deal about The
Pioneer published from Allahabad, and I had
understood it to be an opponent of Indian aspirations. I
have an impression that Mr. Chesney Jr. was the editor at
that time. I wanted to secure the help of every party, so
I wrote a note to Mr. Chesney, telling him how I had
missed the train, and asking for an appointment so as to
enable me to leave the next day. He immediately gave me
one, at which I was very happy especially when I found
that he gave me a patient hearing. He promised to notice
in his paper anything that I might write, but added that
he could not promise to endorse all the Indian demands,
inasmuch as he was bound to understand and give due
weight to the viewpoint of the Colonials as well.
'It is enough,' I said, 'that you should study the
question and discuss it in your paper. I ask and desire
nothing but the barest justice that is due to us.'
The rest of the day was spent in having a look round
admiring the magnificent confluence of the three rivers,
the Triveni, and planning the work before me.
This unexpected interview with the editor of The
Pioneer laid the foundation of the series of
incidents which ultimately led to my being lynched in
Natal.
I went straight to Rajkot without halting at Bombay
and began to make preparations for writing a pamphlet on
the situation in South Africa. The writing and
publication of the pamphlet took about a month. It had a
green cover and came to be known afterwards as the Green
Pamphlet. In it I drew a purposely subdued picture of the
condition of Indians in South Africa. The language I used
was more moderate than that of the two pamphlets which I
have referred to before, as I knew that things heard of
from a distance appear bigger than they are.
Ten thousand copies were printed and sent to all the
papers and leaders of every party in India. The
Pioneer was the first to notice it editorially. A
summary of the article was cabled by Reuter to England,
and a summary of that summary was cabled to Natal by
Reuter's London office. This cable was not longer than
three lines in print. It was a miniature, but
exaggerated, edition of the picture I had drawn of the
treatment accorded to the Indians in Natal, and it was
not in my words. We shall see later on the effect this
had in Natal. In the meanwhile every paper of note
commented at length on the question.
To get these pamphlets ready for posting was no small
matter. It would have been expensive too, if I had
employed paid help for preparing wrappers etc. But I hit
upon a much simpler plan. I gathered together all the
children in my locality and asked them to volunteer two
or three hours' labour of a morning, when they had no
school. This they willingly agreed to do. I promised to
bless them and give them, as a reward, used postage
stamps which I had collected. They got through the work
in no time. That was my first experiment of having little
children as volunteers. Two of those little friends are
my co-workers today.
Plague broke out in Bombay about this time, and there
was panic all around. There was fear of an outbreak in
Rajkot. As I felt that I could be of some help in the
sanitation department, I offered my services to the
State. They were accepted, and I was put on the committee
which was appointed to look into the question. I laid
especial emphasis on the cleanliness of latrines, and the
committee decided to inspect these in every street. The
poor people had no objection to their latrines being
inspected, and what is more, they carried out the
improvements suggested to them. But when we went to
inspect the houses of the upper ten, some of them even
refused us admission, not to talk of listening to our
suggestions. It was our common experience that the
latrines of the rich were more unclean. They were dark
and stinking and reeking with filth and worms. The
improvements we suggested were quite simple, e.g., to
have buckets for excrement instead of allowing it to drop
on the ground; to see that urine also was collected in
buckets, instead of allowing it to soak into the ground,
and to demolish the partitions between the outer walls
and the enable the scavenger to clean them properly. The
upper classes raised numerous objections to this last
improvement, and in most cases it was not carried out.
The committee had to inspect untouchables' quarters
also. Only one member of the committee was ready to
accompany me there. To the rest it was something
preposterous to visit those quarters, still more so to
inspect their latrines. But for me those quarters were an
agreeable surprise. That was the first visit in my life
to such a locality. The men and women there were
surprised to see us. I asked them to let us inspect their
latrines.
'Latrines for us!' they exclaimed in astonishment. 'We
go and perform our functions out in the open. Latrines
are for you big people.'
'Well, then, you won't mind if we inspect your
houses?' I asked.
'You are perfectly welcome, sir. You may see every
nook and corner of our houses. Ours are no houses, they
are holes.'
I went in and was delighted to see that the insides
were as clean as the outsides. The entrances were well
swept, the floors were beautifully smeared with cow-dung,
and the few pots and pans were clean and shining. There
was no fear of an outbreak in those quarters.
In the upper class quarters we came across a latrine
which I cannot help describing in some detail. Every room
had its gutter, which was used both for water and urine,
which meant that the whole house would stink. But one of
the houses had a storeyed bedroom with a gutter which was
being used both as a urinal and a latrine. The gutter had
a pipe discending to the ground floor. It was not
possible to stand the foul smell in this room. How the
occupants could sleep there I leave the readers to
imagine.
The committee also visited the Vaishnava Haveli.
The priest in charge of the Haveli was very
friendly with my family. So he agreed to let us inspect
everything and suggest whatever improvements we liked.
There was a part of the Haveli premises that he
himself had never seen. It was the place where refuse and
leaves used as dinner- plates used to be thrown over the
wall. It was the haunt of crows and kites. The latrines
were of course dirty. I was not long enough in Rajkot to
see how many of our suggestions the priest carried out.
It pained me to see so much uncleanliness about a
place of worship. One would expect a careful observance
of the rules of sanitation and hygiene in a place which
is regarded as holy. The authors of the Smritis, as I
knew even then, have laid the greatest emphasis on
cleanliness both inward and outward.
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