| |
Back
Reminiscences
Of Gandhi
Some Reminiscences of the visit of Mahatma Gandhi
to Romain Rolland in 1931
- Madeliene Rolland
ONE of the most precious memories of my life is that
of the visit which Gandhi paid to my brother, on his way back from the Round
Table Conference at London, in 1931. We were then residing in Switzerland, near
Villeneuve, at the eastern end of Lake Leman. We had long looked forward to this
meeting, and more than once we had been disappointed. What was, therefore, our
joy when we received a wire announcing that the Mahatma would arrive on the 6th
of December!
We were tenants of two small villas at ten minutes' distance from Villeneuve,
enclosed within a large park and separated from each other only by their own
small gardens. It was in one of these villas, the further of the two from the
road, that we arranged to offer Gandhiji and his party our modest hospitality
with, however, the advantage of complete independence.
On Sunday, the 6th of December, as night was Coming on, Gandhi arrived by train
from Paris. It was com; it was raining. My brother, still suffering from an
attack of bronchitis, was unable to go to the station to welcome his revered
friend. But he was waiting for him at the threshold of the Villa Lionnette when
Gandhi, enveloped in his big white shawl and followed by friends, some Indian
and some European, appeared. My brother moves forward, his hands held out;
Gandhi, pressing his cheek on his shoulder, puts his arm around him in a moving
brotherly embrace. A few words of welcome are exchanged, and we take on: guest.
to the upper floor where a room almost unfurnished is reserved for him, with one
window overlooking the Lake I and two others the beautiful Alps of Savoy, the
wide valley I of the Rhone against the background of the glaciers of the Dent du
Midi.
It is there that he will stay during his all too short visit, I from that Sunday
evening of December 6th to the following from Friday, the 11th; there, too, that
the morning and evening prayers will usually be held; there that, seated at his
spinning wheel, he will receive the many visitors of all races and all strata
who will stream in ceaselessly. Hi!' son Devadas, his disciples and secretaries,
Mahadev Desai and Pyarelal, and the devoted Mira supervising everything, will
share the other rooms.
Henceforth, letters, telegrams, messages, telephone calls (the latter,
fortunately, received only at the Villa Olga) will keep up uninterruptedly. Now
it is Lausanne reminding the Mahatma of his promise to address several meetings;
then, Geneva, notified of his visit later, feeling desperate at having to take
second place and claiming the immediate presence of Gandhi at a large public
meeting; then there are all the press correspondents, most of them ignorant
enough of the real life and teaching of the master; and above all come ail the
fervent admirers of non-violence (amidst whom, of course, there are a few
prompted by curiosity) requesting interviews and vying with each other in
offering the greatest service. Two reverend fathers place ,their car at the
disposal of Gandhi during the entire period of his, stay; a young musician,
every morning at dawn, plays the violin under his windows; a Japanese artist
comes hurrying from Paris to make sketches; school children bring him flowers;
and on the eve of his departure the choir of Villeneuve will sing popular songs
in the garden, including the celebrated Ranz des Vaches (Calling the Herd), that
song which even more than the national anthem touches the heart of every Swiss
away from his motherland, arousing patriotic love coupled with a feeling of home
sickness. And let me not forget to mention the Syndicate of the Milkmen of Leman
who, even before Gandhi's arrival, had phoned to express their desire to supply
milk to the "King of India"!
Amidst that seeming confusion, Gandhiji remains calm and smiling,! punctual at
every one of the engagements he makes, and yet managing, somehow, at dawn or
during any moment of leisure in the course of the day, to slip out of the house
and to stride briskly along through the neighbouring country, accompanied by.
the faithful Mira, but watched by photographers hidden behind trees and followed
(we blushed to witness this!) by British and Swiss policemen, entrusted, so they
pretend, with "protecting" him! On Wednesday afternoon, he asks to be driven by
car to a ,mountain village where he calls on an old peasant woman whom Mira had
known when she was still Madeleine Slade and used to come to us at Villeneuve;
that old woman spins and weaves her own garments; and so Gandhi is happy to
shake hands with her, to sit at her loom and to fraternize 'with her before
proceeding along the steep road up to Leysin where he says a few words to the
tubercular students of the University Sanatorium.
But before all else, he gives preference to his daily interviews with Romain
Rolland for which he sets aside jealously two to three hours. Is not that the
sole reason .for his having come? And so, sometimes in the morning and sometimes
at the end of the afternoon, he will go across "the little garden of the Villa
Lionnette and enter through the gate that of the Villa Olga to go up to my
brother, since he does not wish the latter, in his indifferent state of health,
to be exposed to the cold and dampness of a specially' rainy season. Then,
Romain Rolland at his desk and Gandhiji -facing him cross-legged on a settee,
talk to each other as if alone, for the rest of us are silent listeners-Mira,
Mahadev, Pyarelal, my future sister-in-law and myself. We .are there only to
take notes or to be called upon as interpreters. They discuss the grave problems
which they have at heart. My brother describes for Gandhi the tragic situation
of Europe: the sufferings of the people oppressed by dictators; the drama of the
proletariat who in their desperate effort to break the shackles of an anonymous
and . ruthless capitalism and pushed forward by their legitimate aspiration for
justice and freedom, see only one way out, that of rebellion and violence. For
man in the West is by education, by tradition and by temperament unprepared for
the religion of ahimsa...... Gandhi listens, reflects..... When he answers, he
reaffirms his unshakable faith in the full power of nonviolence. Yet he
understands that to convince sceptical Europe the concrete example of a
successful experiment in non-violence would be necessary. Will India furnish it?
He hopes so many are the burning topics that are touched upon during these
intimate talks, in the course of which the two speakers open their hearts
without any reservation. At times their conclusions vary; yet always they
commune with each other through their common love for humanity, their identical
desire to alleviate its misery, their fervent search for Truth, in its
multiplicity of aspects.
On Tuesday the 8th and on Thursday the 10th, the Swiss Pacifists (headed by
Edmond Privat and Pierre Ceresole organized public meetings in Lausanne and
Geneva, respectively. Gandhi, refusing the motor car which is offered him, takes
the train to Lausanne, traveling in third class, as his custom is. There a large
crowd awaits him, eager to hear him speak, and receiving enthusiastically the
answers that Gandhi gives to the various questions put to him at the public
meeting, answers which are remarkable for their precision, their clearness, for
the presence of mind they show, as also for their biting frankness. But the two
private gatherings at Lausanne are more moving still. Of these one is set apart
for his personal friends; at which Pierre Ceresole, founder of the Civil
International Service; states to- Gandhi his point of view on' the practice of
non..; Gandhi gives to the various questions put to him at the public meeting,
answers which are remarkable for their precision, their clearness , for the
presence of mind, they show, as also for their biting frankness. But the two
private gatherings at Lausanne are more moving still. Of these one is set apart
for his personal friends, at which Peirre Ceresole, founder of the Civil
International Service, states to Gandhi his point of view on the practice of non
violence. Ceresole (that noble personage who has just passed from the scene)
believes that he can reconcile with his duties as a loyal citizen his passionate
fight against war and militarism. He thinks that, if a conscientious' objector
refuses to comply with the obligation of compulsory military service, because to
him it represents a maleficent and destructive force, he owes the State
voluntary service; beneficent and constructive, in exchange for the protection
it gives him, and hence should pledge himself to assist the victims of national
and international calamities. On this basis was created the Civil International
Service. Gandhi, on the other hand, explains that for him there is only one
logical attitude possible towards a militaristic Government, and that is total
non-cooperation. A painful and perplexing inner conflict for a sincere soul who
in all loyalty, as in all humility, cannot and does not wish to resolve it on
the spot.
The other private gathering, held in a church, is for the representatives of the
Pacifist groups in Switzerland. It is permeated by a religious atmosphere which
becomes more striking still as Gandhi speaks of his experiences and explains -
how he passed from his first definition of God, "God is Love," to "God is
Truth," and finally to "Truth is God."
Meanwhile the public meeting at Lausanne, which had been broadcast, was having
its repercussions. Gandhi's voice. had aroused echoes throughout Switzerland as
well as abroad. Some of his statements had awakened fear in the minds of the
narrowly conservative. Furthermore, Gandhi !:lad dared to protest openly against
the way in which his words and even his motives had been misrepresented by two
of the leading newspapers of Switzerland. These did not forgive him. Overnight
the press, until then rather favourable changed its tone. As a result the public
meeting at Geneva took place in an atmosphere altogether different from that
which had prevailed in Lausanne. On Thursday the ,10th of December, the large
amphitheatre of Victoria Hall was filled with a dense crowd among whom one could
sense conflicting tendencies. The upper bourgeoisie were there, capitalistic and
militaristic, and hence hostile to Gandhi; some Socialists, sceptical and
curious, wanting to hear him speak of social problems; and some Pacifists, his
followers; Most of the questions raised were but. traps behind their insidious
simplicity. One of them brought up the. case of a neutral country, such as
Switzerland-what should it do faced with foreign invasion? Must it not defend
itself, and therefore did it not need an army? In a tranf1uil' yet firm voice
Gandhi answers: "An army is useless: It would be enough to have all citizens,
men, women and children, making of their bodies a wall against the enemy;' And
if the latter should be barbarous enough to butcher them, their death at least
would bear good fruit."
The other question refers to the class struggle. And Gandhi answers: "Labour
does not know its own power. Did it know it, it would only have to rise to have
capitalism crumble away. For Labour is the only power in the world." Such
statements fill the bourgeoisie with silent fury while most of the audience
applaud.
One can understand, however, that such declarations by Gandhi were looked upon
as dangerous by the authorities and commented upon with indignation by the
press. It is very likely that, if the departure of the Mahatma had ,not already
been fixed for the next day, his expulsion as an undesirable, might have been
considered.
That same day, Gandhi, indefatigable and having taken only a few minutes' sleep
on the hard, benches of the third class compartment, was back in Villeneuve to
have one more talk with my brother, in the short free interval before the
evening prayers. !These were held on this day, in the ground floor of the Villa
Olga, so as to allow Romain Rolland to be present. Afterwards, in the silence
which followed the last hymn, my brother, accompanied only by Gandhiji, Mira and
myself, went up to his little music room. There, at the request of the Mahatma,
he played on the piano an andante movement of a symphony of Beethoven, an
invocation without words to the Deity, by the religious soul of the great
composer. For Gandhi knew that it was through Beethoven that Mira had known
Romain Rolland, and, that it was to Beethoven therefore that he owed his
faithful disciple......
The following day, Friday the 11th of December; the sun, which on the previous
days had hidden itself, flooded the country, revealing to our guests for the
first time the mountains and glaciers clear of mists, and the sparkling lake.
That morning there took place the last interview, even more intimate and more
affectionate than the preceding ones. Then the preparations for the departure.
The good weather fortunately permitted my brother to go to the station. On the
square, a sympathetic and curious crowd had gathered, as also friends who had
come to greet Gandhiji who was to cross through Italy, halting at Rome, before
embarking at Brindisi. My brother had warned him against the tricks of the
Fascists who might try to get hold of him and thereby compromise him. To protect
him my brother had succeeded in having Gandhiji invited to stay at Rome with a
friend whose integrity was beyond doubt and whose. hospitality was therefore
above any possibility of suspicion.
We stand beside those who are about to leave us, reflecting sadly on the fact
that most likely in this world we shall not see each other again, yet deeply
grateful that Providence should have granted us the privilege of living a few
days near Gandhi, to feel the radiance of his presence, as also to be richer
through the affection of new spiritual brothers, for it was thus that we looked
upon Mahadev, Pyarelal, Devdas......
Then, Gandhi, coming towards my brother, gives him a farewell embrace and gets
into his compartment. We stay a long time looking at Mira who waves a last good-
bye. The train starts, carrying our friend towards his destiny of earthly trials
and spiritual victories. (Translated, from the original French, by Shrjmati
Sophia Wadia.)
Paris, 14-2-1946.
|
|
 |
