The text provided to us is a dialogue between Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and what seems to be a young reporter in India. Throughout their conversation hints of impatience can be detected from the side of the reporter while Gandhi keeps reinforcing the importance of patience and how he cannot think of being hasty in explaining to the representative of the news such vital Gandhi, being a man who has seen the struggles of India, talks with a wisdom only experience dictates while the “reader” here seems to voice the ‘Youth of the Nation’ – an effervescent energy that wants Home Rule and they want it immediately. The text is a series of questions posed by the the reporter to Gandhi and is divided in 7 parts.
In the first part Gandhi is asked to explain his views on the “Home Rule wave passing over India” (Gandhi 16) and whether a desire for Home Rule had been created among the people. Gandhi responded and said that the desire for Home Rule led to the birth of the National Congress. The reader then told Gandhi that the youth of India considers the congress “an instrument for perpetuating British Rule” (Gandhi 16). To this Gandhi disagreed and stated that if “the Grand Old Man of India had not prepared the soil, our young men could not have spoken of Home Rule” (16). He says that without the contributions of our ancestors who laid the foundation of Home Rule the youth would not have even thought of it. With the help of analogies, he explains that removing a step from a staircase brings down the whole staircase. Further he says that all the youth is doing is building upon the foundations laid down by the people like Professor Gokhale and Dadabhai – so under no circumstances can they discount the works of such men as less honorable than their own. To end this argument Gandhi says “All I have to show is that the Congress gave us a foretaste of Home Rule” (20). To say that the Congress as a body was calamitous to the growth of the Nation would hinder us from reaping the benefits such an institution could provide.
The next question that the reader asked was about the true moment which could be considered the true awakening of India. To this Gandhi responded that the seed when its sown is never seen, it works underground and destroys itself to give rise to a tree. Gandhi says that the actual awakening took place after the Partition of Bengal. The British Rule had never faced a shock as strong as the one that followed the partition. People were actually trying to resist it. Words that people said in fear where now said boldly and in public. The British no longer left people in awe. The country was divided between Extremists and Moderates. Gandhi said that such a divide would only last depending on the leaders.
Upon asking, in part three, if Gandhi welcomes the unrest that came after the partition Gandhi says that the partition was an awakening and that the comatose condition after this will linger for a while but it will soon fade and we will be restored to our senses. In reality, this unrest is just discontent. The spread of such discontent was deemed necessary by Hume for when people are contented with their surroundings it is difficult for us to take them out of it. So the spread of such discontent would arise the need for change. Gandhi still cautions that while these are good signs they could still end in bad results.
In part four of the text the reporter asks Gandhi about his views on Swaraj. To this Gandhi replies that all Indians are impatient to obtain Swaraj and are unaware of what it actually is. “To drive the English out of India is a thought heard from many mouths, but it does not seem that many have considered why it be so.” (Gandhi 24) in this part Gandhi interacts with the reporter asking him whether its necessary to drive the British away if we get what we want. To this the reporter says that if the British retire and still stay without domination over the country than we shall use their constitution and Government but if they “retire only for the asking” (Gandhi 24) then the Indians should have an army ready. To his point Gandhi disagreed and then asked the man why he wanted the British to leave to this the man said that because the British has impoverished the country, taken away their money and reserved all the seats for their own people. Gandhi then draws the conclusion to this argument that the reporter, much like the rest of the youth did not care whether the British stayed or left as long as they treated the people of the nation justly – “we want the English rule without the Englishman” (Gandhi 25) Gandhi then says that this is not the Swaraj that he wishes for.
In the next part the reporter asks Gandhi why he thinks of the British Government as undesirable. To this Gandhi says that the British Parliament, though considered the Mother of all Parliaments, is comparable to a “sterile woman” and a “prostitute”. “Parliament has not yet, of its own accord, done a single good thing. Hence I have compared it to a sterile woman. The natural condition of that parliament is such that, without outside pressure, it can do nothing. It is like a prostitute because it is under the control of ministers who can change from time to time.” (Gandhi 27) Thus, he concludes that the people of the parliament work of self interest and fear. The Prime Minister does not care much for the welfare of the Parliament than he does about his power. The member talk as if the world is their shop and only come to places that would benefit their economy. The people of the country to vote for whom the newspapers skew. Hence, Gandhi says that there is no finality in their decisions nor is there any reliability on their people. He says that “it is a civilization only in name. Under it the nations of Europe are becoming degraded and ruined day by day.” (Gandhi 30)
The conversation then moves to a discussion about civilization. Gandhi states that civilization is used by different people in different contexts, some call it a disease. When asked why people don’t know such a connotation Gandhi says that “Those who intoxicated by modern civilization are not likely to write against it.” (Gandhi 31). They would try to find facts that would support their agenda. He also explains that “A man laboring under the bane if civilization is like a dreaming man.” (Gandhi 31). He also says that the “true test in the fact that people living in it make bodily welfare the object of life” (Gandhi 31). People live in better conditions than they did before as symbols of a civilized lifestyle and “bodily happiness”. From a primitive and simple lifestyle, we have moved to a fanciful one. From ploughs to steam engines and wagons to airplanes. According to Gandhi the increasing bodily comfort is the curse. He believes that any progress man makes that replaces the function of human limbs is a contributor to the disease we can civilization.
In the last part of the text, the reporter asks Gandhi why and how the English took India and managed to retain it. To this Gandhi said that the English did not take India, in fact it was the Indians that gave it to them. He stated that we were tempted it at the sight if their silver and assisted the company’s officers. We welcomed the company’s officers in order to become rich. He compared the British as providers of an insatiable habit. Even if the provider disappears the habit will not. The British much like us wanted to increase their commerce and so they accepted are assistance and expanded their trade. “The sword is entirely useless for holding India. We alone keep them” (Gandhi 36). The Brutish were called “shopkeepers” by Napolean an it deems to be true since they only held dominions for the welfare of their commerce. Gandhi further says that to blame the English for taking India would mean perpetuating their power and that quarrelling among fellow citizens would only strengthen their reign. The acceptance of the fact that we gave India to the British roves that they entered the country for trade and stayed for the same. The British see the whole world as a market for their goods and they will leave no effort to turn it into one.
Throughout the text we see an argument held by Gandhi that speaks of patience when it comes to dealing with topics of the Nation and haste from the side of the young reporter. We see the discussion of the different meanings of Swaraj and why India was lost to the British.