GANDHI IN INDIA’S LITERARY AND CULTURAL IMAGINATION This book engages with the socio-cultural imaginings of Gandhi in literature, history, visual and popular culture. It explores multiple iterations of his ideas, myths and philosophies, which have inspired the work of filmmakers, playwrights, cartoonists and artists for generations. Gandhi’s politics of non-violent resistance and satyagraha inspired various political leaders, activists and movements and has been a subject of rigorous scholarly enquiry and theoretical debates across the globe. Using diverse resources like novels, autobiographies, non-fictional writings, comic books, memes, cartoons and cinema, this book traces the pervasiveness of the idea of Gandhi which has been both idolized and lampooned. It explores his political ideas on themes such as modernity and secularism, environmentalism, abstinence, self-sacrifice and political freedom along with their diverse interpretations, caricatures, criticisms and appropriations to arrive at an understanding of history, culture and society. With contributions from scholars with diverse research interests, this book will be an essential read for students and researchers of political philosophy, cultural studies, literature, Gandhi and peace studies, political science and sociology. Nishat Zaidi is Professor of English at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. A scholar, critic and translator, she is the recipient of several prestigious grants and has conducted collaborative research with the Centre for Indian Studies in Africa, University of Witwatersrand, SA, South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University, Germany, and Michigan State University, USA. Her publications include her monographs, Makers of Indian Literature: Agha Shahid Ali (2014), Ocean as Method: Thinking with the Maritime (with Dilip Menon et al. 2022) and Terrains of Consciousness: Multilogical Perspectives on Globalization (Wurzburg University Press, 2021, co-authored with Zeno Ackermann et al.) and her translations and edited books, Day and Dastan (2018, with Alok Bhalla) and Between Worlds: The Travels of Yusuf Khan Kambalposh (2014, with Mushirul Hasan), among others. Her forthcoming work is Karbala: A Historical Play (translation of Premchand’s Play Karbala with a critical introduction and notes) to be published in 2022. Indrani Das Gupta is Assistant Professor in the Department of English, Maharaja Agrasen College, University of Delhi, India. Currently pursuing her PhD from Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia, India, in the area of Indian Science Fiction. She is engaged in the examination of the interface of science fictionality with the paradigms of nation state and the social variables that constitute the ontological human existence. Her research interests include science fiction studies, crime fiction, children and young adult narratives, utopia/dystopia, sports culture, popular culture and postmodern narratives. She is the non-fiction editor of Mithila Review: An International Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy. GANDHI IN INDIA’S LITERARY AND CULTURAL IMAGINATION Edited by Nishat Zaidi and Indrani Das Gupta Cover credit @gettyimages First published 2022 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Nishat Zaidi; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Nishat Zaidi to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-0-367-68887-5 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-70284-7 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-14547-9 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003145479 Typeset in Bembo by Apex CoVantage, LLC CONTENTS List of Figures viii Notes on the Contributors x Acknowledgements xiv Introduction 1 Nishat Zaidi PART I Gandhi in Sonic and Visual Practices: Enunciations of “Darsan” and Activism 17 1 Gandhi’s Image and Images of Gandhi: The Culture and Politics of Visual Representation 19 Vinay Lal 2 Music for the Congregation: Assembling an Aesthetic for Prayer 44 Lakshmi Subramanian 3 Visualizing Gandhi: The Icon and His People 51 Ruchika Wason Singh vi Contents PART II Consumptions of Gandhi: Articulations or Disarticulations? 71 4 Mahatma in Memescape: Making of Gandhi in Participatory Digital Culture 73 Haris Qadeer 5 Mahatma in Antiphony: Gandhi in Indian Nationalist, Muslim and British Press Cartoons, 1946–1947 90 Barnali Saha 6 Exploration of Indian Visual Practices From 1960 to 1970: A Study of Indian Comic Books on Gandhi 109 Aparna Pathak 7 Gandhi, the New Divine: Gandhi Ethos in the Malayalam Socials of 1950 and 1960s 122 M.H. Ilias 8 Framing Gandhi 137 Nishat Haider PART III The Construction of Self: Experimental Site of Praxis and Its Discursive Limits 151 9 An Untouchable in Search of an Asketic Gandhi: The Religiosity of Postcolonial Political 153 Dhritiman Chakraborty 10 Reformulation of Public–Private Dynamics in Bengali Women’s Autobiographies: Exploring Gandhi and Women’s Activism 168 Bhaswati Chatterjee 11 Examining Gandhi’s Disavowals and Re-thinking the “Experiment” in The Story of My Experiments with Truth 182 Aishwarya Kumar 12 Gandhian Environmentalism and Its Limits: A Reading of C. K. Janu’s “Autobiographical Testimonio” Mother Forest 195 P. Rajitha Venugopal Contents vii PART IV Gandhian Presence in Intimate and Public Spheres: Reflections on Corporeality, Ethicality and Society 209 13 The Missing/Divergent Inscription of the Gandhian Body: Examining Corruption in Shrilal Shukla’s Raag Darbari 211 Indrani Das Gupta 14 Gandhi, Abstinence and Political Freedom: Reading Saadat Hasan Manto’s “Swaraj Ke Liye” 226 Baran Farooqi and Disha Pokhriyal 15 Gandhi and Peasant Organizations in Colonial India: A Reading of Satinath Bhaduri’s Dhorai Charit Manas 239 Bharti Arora Index 256 FIGURES 1.1 Shanti Ke Devata; Mateshwari Kastur Bai 26 1.2 Rastra Ke Sutradhar: Mahatma Gandhi 27 1.3 Azaadi Ke Paigamber Ki Ghoshna 28 1.4 Bhagvan Ki Takli 29 1.5 Gandhi Ashram, Sabarmati 30 1.6 Arrest of Mahatma Gandhi 31 1.7 Satyagraha Yoga-Sadhan 32 1.8 Tyagamurti Pandit Motilal Nehru Ki Antim Yatra 33 1.9 Asahayoga Govardhan 34 1.10 Asahayoga Nauka Ke Teen Chatur Malaha 35 1.11 Ramayana Non-Cooperation Setu Bandhan 35 1.12 Dandi Mein Namak ki Loot 37 1.13 Bardali Vijaya 37 1.14 Destruction of Palm-Trees 38 1.15 Way to Swaraj 39 1.16 Sampatti Haran 39 1.17 Bharatuddhar 40 1.18 Krishna Gandhi Milan 41 3.1 Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Other Patriots Trying to Liberate Mother India From Outside India 55 3.2 Post Card for Gandhi 60 3.3 Lamentation 61 3.4 Bapu at Rene Block Gallery, New York 61 3.5 Broken Branches 63 3.6 NAVU (We Together) 63 3.7 Shanti 65 4.1 Two Cheese Pizzas With a Liter of Root Beer 82 Figures ix 4.2 Food for Thought 83 5.1 Lady Congress and the Sacred Birds 92 5.2 Passive Resistance in Transvaal 93 5.3 The Mahatma Along With the Gods 95 5.4 Mahatma Gandhi in the Lap of Bharat Mata 96 5.5 The Hound of the Baskervilles 100