Brahmacharya Gandhi and His Women Associates

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Item Code: IDF350
Author: Girja Kumar
Publisher: Vitasta Publishing Pvt. Ltd.
Language: English
Edition: 2006
ISBN: 8189766007
Pages: 419
Cover: Hardcover
Other Details 8.8" X 5.8"
Weight 650 gm
Book Description
From the Jacket:

Mahatma Gandhi was not shy of speaking about his relationship with his women associates, except in a few cases. He wanted the world to know of his tryst with Brahmacharya in which women constituted an integral part. He kept a meticulous record and tried to make the players keep the records too. Alas! Most of them seem to have either destroyed the records or refused to disclose the intensity of their feelings. A construct, however, is still possible based on Gandhiji's writings and on basis of writings of some of them, who were involved. Gandhiji persuaded Kanchan Shah, his role model for Married Brahmacharya, and Prabhavati, wife of Jaiprakash Narayan, to practice married Brahmacharya. It was a difficult odyssey and the book tries to analyse why it was difficult.

It was the revulsion from sex that forced Gandhiji to take the vow of Brahamacharya in 1906. Then onwards, till the laboratory experiment in Noakhali, Gandhiji kept trying to find out if it was possible to overcome desire and remain a brahmachari. There were more than a dozen women who came to closely associated with him at one time or the other. Some of them were foreigners - Millie Graham Polak, Sonja Schlesin, Esther Faering, Nilla Cram Cook, Margarete Spiegel and Mirabehn. Prabhavati, Kanchan Shah, Shushila Nayyar and Manu Gandhi formed a part of his entourage at various points in time. He called JEKI "the Only Adopted Daughter". Gandhiji was too found of Saraldevi Chowdharani, Rabindranath Tagore's niece, and often displayed her as his mannequin for popularizing Khadi. He called her his "spiritual wife".

His closeness to Saraladevi or arguments on Brahmacharya with Premabehn Kantak created a storm in the ashram and exposed him to public glare. He was undaunted and made a tactical retreat to allow the storm to subside. Soon things were back to normal. While the world was unsure, the Mahatma was sure of his actions.

There was a definite attraction in Gandhiji that brought womenfolk to him. It is quite possible that they were looking for glory and he provided the opportunity. Some like Mirabehn were inspired by his ideals and wanted to devote their entire life to his cause. But once they came close, Gandhiji and not his cause became their obsession. They hardly knew this was the next step to losing him, as the Mahatma could not be chained. He had higher goals. The book is a psycho-biography and a study of man-woman relationship involving one of the greatest men in living memory.

Experts from the Book:

"Saraladevi was the topic of discussion in undertones and overtones among his friends, associated and family members. How could Ba not be affected? The years 1919 and 1920 were years of mental torture and agony for her". (page 220)

Gandhiji referred to "small-talks, whispers and innuendos" going around of which he was well aware: "He was already in the midst of so much suspicion and distrust, he told the gathering, that he did not want his most innocent acts to be misunderstood and misrepresented". (page 339)

About the Author:

Born in 1925 at Dhera Ghazi Khan (Pakistan), Girja Kumar is a veteran research scholar. The man behind the Sapru House Library, he has held many important positions including Chairman of the Delhi Library Board (1983-85). He was Associate, Oriental Division, Library of Congress, Washington DC during 1954-55. He retired as chief librarian Jawaharlal Nehru University Library in 1985.

His world had been a world of books. While he wrote books on censorship and education, he always contemplated producing a book on greatest cult figure of modern times - Mahatma Gandhi. Brahmacharya, Gandhiji and His Women Associates is based on extensive research and quotes of the main players while delineating the Mahatma's relationship with his women associates. The present book, in that sense, is a biography with in a biography.

Girja Kumar was associated as a book critic with several national publications and wrote more regularly from the Indian Express (1975-79) and The Week (1984-87). He has published a definitive biography of world-renowned Librarian Dr S R Ranganathan, besides publishing an innovative work on the "arrogance of intellectual power". His "The Book on Trial, Fundamentalism and Censorship in India" was widely acclaimed.

CONTENTS
Preface VII
Acknowledgements IX
Section I
Brahmacharya in Theory and Practice
1 Ode To Brahmacharya 3
2 Celibacy in the Indian Tradition 11
3 Brahmacharya in Practice 31
Section II
Mother Courage
4 Ba 47
5 Ba, Bapu and Family 71
Section III
South African Interlude
6 Millie and Henry Polak 89
7 Dictator Sonja 109
8 JEKI: 'The Only Adopted Daughter' 126
Section IV
Early Years: Foreign Associates
9 Esther Faering: The Danish Missionary 145
10 Euphoric Mirabehn 158
11 Mirabehn in Low Tides 174
12 Cook and Spiegel: The Mad Duo 189
Section V
Early Years: Indian Associates
13 Saraladevi: The Romantic 215
14 Saraladevi in Limbo 229
Section VI
Married Brahmacharya
15 Prabhavati: The Nun 245
16 Kanchan: The Duvidha Shah 260
Section VII
Odyssey of Sushila Nayyar
17 Triangular Syndrome 273
18 Sushila in Trouble 285
19 The Living Hell 296
Section VIII
Manu the Lovable
20 Nokhali Soup 315
21 In the Noakhali Soup 332
22 The Last Journey 347
Who's Who 363
Citations/ References 378
Glossary 403
Index 407
Sample Pages

















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