INDIGO

LOUIS FISCHER

About the Author:

Louis Fischer was born on 29 February 1896 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
First, he worked as a school teacher. Then he served as a volunteer in the British Army during
the First World War and then he made a career as a journalist and wrote for ‘The New York
Times’, ‘The Saturday Review’ and for ‘European and Asian Publications’. As a journalist he
lived through and reported the Second World War. he was a Jewish-American who was greatly
influenced by Gandhiji’s
use of non-violence and spiritualism as political tools. he wrote highly acclaimed books on
Gandhi and Lenin. He died at the age of 73 on 15 January 1970 in Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

About the Chapter : This chapter is an excerpt from Louis Fischer’s famous book ‘The Life of
Mahatma Gandhi’. The writer observed Gandhiji’s work to fight for the cause of the voiceless,
downtrodden Indians who reeled under the rule of the indifferent, oppressive colonial British
rule.
‘Indigo’ is one of the many episodes of Gandhi’s long political struggle. The chapter describes
the Champaran visit of Mahatma Gandhi which was undertaken casually on the entreaty of a
poor peasant,
Rajkumar Shukla, in the expectation that it would last a few days, occupied almost a year of
Gandhi’s life.
The story describes Gandhiji’s struggle for the cause of the sharecroppers of Bihar and how he
asked the Britishers to leave the country. It highlights the leadership shown by Gandhi to secure
justice for
oppressed people.

About the Characters:

Gandhiji- A prominent political leader of India (The Father of The Nation.
Rajkumar Shukla- A poor, emaciated but resolute peasant of Champaran.
Rajendra Prasad- A lawyer who later became the First President of India.
J.B. Kripalani- A professor of the Arts College in Muzzafarpur.
Malkani- A Government school teacher.
Sir Edward Gait- The Lieutenant Governor.
Mahadev Desai and Narhari Parikh- Volunteer teachers. Kasturbai- Gandhi’s wife.
Devadas-Gandhi’s youngest son.

Theme The chapter: ‘Indigo’ emphasizes the fact that an effective leadership can solve any
kind of problem without any harm to anybody. This chapter deals with the way Mahatma Gandhi
solved the
problem of poor sharecroppers of Champaran in a non-violent way.

POINTS TO REMEMBER
Rajkumar Shukla- A poor sharecropper from Champaran wishing to meet Gandhiji.
• Raj Kumar Shukla- an illiterate but resolute hence followed Gandhiji Lucknow, Cawnpore,
Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Patna, Muzzafarpur & then Champaran.
• Servants at Rajendra Prasad’s residence thought Gandhiji to be an untouchable.
• Gandhiji considered as an untouchable because of simple living style and wearing, due to the
company of Rajkumar Shukla.
Gandhiji was released without bail- Civil Disobedience triumphed.
• Gandhiji agreed to 25% refund by the landowners, it symbolized the surrender of the prestige.
• Gandhiji worked hard towards social economic reforms, elevated their distress aided by his
wife, Mahadev Desai, Narhari Parikh.
• Gandhiji taught a lesson of self-reliance by not seeking help of an English man Mr. Andrews.

TEXTUAL QUESTIONS

Question 1) Strike out what is not true in the following:

(a)Rajkumar Shukla was:
(i)a sharecropper
(ii)a politician
(iii)delegate
(iv)a landlord.

(b) Rajkumar Shukla was:

(i) poor (ii)physically strong (iii) illiterate.

Answer: (a) (ii) a politician

(b) (ii) physically strong

Question 2) Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as being ‘resolute’?

Answer: He had come all the way from Champaran district in the foothills of Himalayas to
Lucknow to
speak to Gandhi. Shukla accompanied Gandhi everywhere. Shukla followed him to the
ashram near Ahmedabad. For weeks he never left Gandhi’s side till Gandhi asked him to
meet at Calcutta.

Question 3): Why do you think the servants thought Gandhi to be another peasant?

Answer: Shukla led Gandhi to Rajendra Prasad’s house. The servants knew Shukla as a
poor villager. Gandhi was also clad in a simple dhoti. He was the companion of a
peasant. Hence, the servants thought Gandhi to be another peasant.

Question 4: List the places that Gandhi visited between his first meeting with Shukla and his
arrival at Champaran.
Answer: Gandhi’s first meeting with Shukla was at Lucknow. Then he went to Cawnpore
and other parts of India. He returned to his ashram near Ahmedabad. Later he went to
Calcutta, Patna and Muzaffarpur before arriving at Champaran.

Question 5) What did the peasants pay the British landlords as rent? What did the British now
want instead and why? What would be the impact of synthetic indigo on the prices of natural
indigo?

Answer: The peasants paid the British landlords indigo as rent. Now Germany had
developed synthetic indigo. So, the British landlords wanted money as compensation for
being released from the 15 percent arrangement. The prices of natural indigo would go
down due to the synthetic Indigo.

Question 6): The events in this part of the text illustrate Gandhi’s method of working. Can you
identify
some instances of this method and link them to his ideas of Satyagraha and non-violence?

Answer: Gandhi’s politics was intermingled with the day-to-day problems of the millions
of Indians. He
opposed unjust laws. He was ready to court arrest for breaking such laws and going to
jail. The famous Dandi March to break the ‘salt law’ is another instance. The resistance
and disobedience were peaceful
and a fight for truth and justice…This was linked directly to his ideas of Satyagraha and
non-violence.

Question 7) Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of a 25 percent refund to the farmers?

Answer: For Gandhi, the amount of the refund was less important than the fact that the
landlords had been forced to return part of the money, and with it, part of their prestige
too. So, he agreed to a settlement of a 25 percent refund to the farmers.

Question 8) : How did the episode change the plight of the peasants?

Answer: The peasants were saved from spending time and money on court cases. After
some years, the British planters gave up control of their estates. These now reverted to
the peasants. Indigo sharecropping disappeared.

Question 9) : Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning-
point in his life?

Answer: The Champaran episode began as an attempt to ease the sufferings of a large
number of poor
peasants. He got spontaneous support from thousands of people. Gandhi admits that
what he had done was a very ordinary thing. He declared that the British could not order
him in his own country. Hence, he considered the Champaran episode as a turning- point
in his life.

Question 10): How was Gandhi able to influence lawyers? Give instances.

Answer: Gandhi asked the lawyers what they would do if he was sentenced to prison.
They said that they had come to advise him. If he went to jail, they would go home. Then
Gandhi asked them about the injustice to the sharecroppers. The lawyers held
consultations. They concluded that it would be shameful desertion if they went home.
So, they told Gandhi that they were ready to follow him into jail.

Question 11) “What was the attitude of the average Indian in smaller localities towards
advocates of ‘home rule’?

Answer: The average Indians in smaller localities were afraid to show sympathy for the
advocates of home-rule. Gandhi stayed at Muzaffarpur for two days at the home of
Professor Malkani, a teacher in a government school. It was an extraordinary thing in
those days for a government professor to give
shelter to one who opposed the government.

Question 12) : How do we know that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement?

Answer: Professor J.B. Kriplani received Gandhi at Muzaffarpur railway station at

midnight. He had a
large body of students with him. Sharecroppers from Champaran came on foot and by
conveyance to see
Gandhi. Muzaffarpur lawyers too called on him. A vast multitude greeted Gandhi when he
reached
Motihari railway station. Thousands of people demonstrated around the courtroom. This
shows that
ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement in India.

Question 13) : Discuss the following: “Freedom from fear is more important than Legal justice
for the poor.” Do you think that the poor of India are free from fear after Independence?

Answer: For the poor of India means of survival is far more important than freedom or
legal justice. I
do not think the poor of India are free from fear after Independence.
The foreign rulers have been replaced by corrupt politicians and self-serving
bureaucracy. Power-
brokers and moneylenders have a field day. The situation has improved in cities and
towns for the poor
but the poor in the remote villages still fear the big farmers and moneylenders. The
police and revenue officials are still objecting of terror for them. The poor, landless
workers must still work hard to makeboth ends meet. Peasants and tenant- farmers must
borrow money from rich moneylenders on exorbitant rates of interest, which usually they
fail to repay due to the failure of monsoon or bad crops.
Cases of small farmers committing suicide are quite common. If this is not due to fear,
what is the
reason behind it?

The qualities of a good leader.

Answer: A good leader has a mass appeal. He rises from the masses, thinks for them, and
works for
them. He is sincere in his approach. He is a man of principles. Truth, honesty, patriotism,
morality, the
spirit of service, and sacrifice are the hallmarks of a good leader. He never mixes politics with
religion
or sect. He believes in working for the welfare of the nation and does not think in the narrow
terms of
class, caste, or region. Corruption and nepotism are two evils that surround a leader in power.
The life of
a good leader is an open book. There is no difference between his words and actions. Such
good leaders
are exceedingly rare. What we find today are practical politicians, who think of achieving their
end
without bothering about. the purity of means. The law of expediency gets the better of morality.

Multiple choice questions :

Q1. ‘It was an extraordinary thing in those days.’ This indicates that--------------
(a)Professor Malkani gave shelter to Gandhi
(b)Indians were not frightened to give shelter to a person like Gandhi who was anti British rule
(c) Champaran peasants revolted against the British rule
(d)The British sheltered Gandhi, an anti-British leader

Q2. ‘The battle of Champaran was won.’ This indicates that-------------

(a) the lawyer helped the peasants win the battle
(b )the peasants of Champaran were no longer afraid of the British
(c) Gandhi helped the peasants defeat the British
(d) the British were afraid of the peasants

Q3. ‘Conflict of duties’ implies that Gandhi-----------------

(a) did not want to break the law but wanted to help the poor peasants
(b) wanted to help the British
(c)wanted to go to the prison
(d)none of these

[Link] considered the Champaran episode to be a turning point in his life because he
----------
(a)insisted that the British must leave India
(b)declared that the British could not order him in his country, which made Gandhi decide to
urge the
departure of the British
(c)defied the secretary of the British landlords’ association
(d)gathered peasants against the British

Q5. Gandhi was against getting the help from C. F. Andrews because-------------
(a)he did not want the support of an Englishman as a prop for his cause
(b)he wanted the peasants to be self-reliant
(c)both (a) and (b)
(d)C .F. Andrews told Gandhi he will follow him into jail

Q6. ‘The battle of Champaran was won.’ This means that-------------

(a)peasants were no longer afraid of the British
(b)when the lawyers told Gandhi that they were ready to follow him into jail
(c)conscience of the peasants triumphed
(d)Gandhi gave the peasants inspiration to live with freedom

Q7. The greatest lesson that Indians learnt through Champaran episode is --------------
(a)self-esteem (b)loyal to the nation (c)self-reliance (d)national integrity

Q8. The cultivation of indigo will not be viable because---------------

(a)Germany had developed synthetic indigo
(b) the British cultivated indigo
(c)Indians cultivated indigo
(d)peasants developed synthetic indigo

ANSWERS :

Answer 1. (a) Professor Malkani gave shelter to Gandhi.

Answer 2. (b)the peasants of Champaran were no longer afraid of the British.
Answer 3. (a)did not want to break the law but wanted to help the poor peasants.
Answer 4. (b) declared that the British could not order him in his country, which made
Gandhi decide to urge the departure of the British.
Answer 5. (c) both (a) and (b)
Answer 6. (b)when the lawyers told Gandhi that they were ready to follow him into jail.
Answer 7. (c) self-reliance
Answer 8. (a) Germany had developed synthetic indigo