A Gandhi Jayanti Exclusive: The ‘teacher’ in Gandhi always drew him to schools and colleges

Gandhiji visited the college again on January 27, 1918, when Brij Krishna Chandiwala, a student of this very college met him. Deeply influenced by Gandhiji, Chandiwala became his close associate and authored many books about his life with Gandhi. Meanwhile, Pandit Malaviya had invited Gandhi to speak at the inaugural of Banaras Hindu University (BHU). Lord Hardinge, the Viceroy, had come specially to lay the foundation stone of the University. Eminent persons from all over India delivered lectures on the occasion

Notwithstanding his busy schedules, Mahatma Gandhi always found time for students. He often visited schools and colleges and became a teacher for both the young and old. When he came to Delhi for the first time on April 12, 1915, he stayed at St. Stephen’s College. At that point in time, he was just one Mr. M.K. Gandhi.

According to Father George Solomon of Delhi Brotherhood Society (DBS), who was in the college then, “Gandhiji arrived here with his wife, Kasturba Gandhiji. They were received at Delhi junction by the college principal, Prof. S.K. Rudra, along with his colleagues and some students.”

St. Stephens College moved to the present campus in 1941. But before we move further, we should know as to why he preferred to stay only at St. Stephens College.

There is a story behind Gandhi’s tryst with St. Stephen’s College.

“Actually, Gandhiji was already a highly respected figure having been a crusader for the rights of people of Indian origin in South Africa before he returned to India in 1915. He fought against racial oppression there in the foreign land. Prof. Rudra knew about his work in South Africa mainly through his friend and colleague Deen Bandhu C.F. Andrews, who was teaching in the college and was an active member of Delhi Brotherhood society,” explains Father Solomon.

Prof. Rudra was keen on meeting Gandhiji. On his return from South Africa, Rudra urged Andrews to use his good offices to ensure that Gandhi would be his guest on his first visit to Delhi. Andrews dutifully contacted Gandhiji and expressed the desire of his friend, which the latter happily accepted.

During his stay at the college, he met St.Stephen’s College community. After narrating his experiences in South Africa, he stressed on the need to fight British rule.

Gandhiji visited the college again on January 27, 1918, when Brij Krishna Chandiwala, a student of this very college met him. Deeply influenced by Gandhiji, Chandiwala became his close associate and authored many books about his life with Gandhi.

Meanwhile, Pandit Malaviya had invited Gandhi to speak at the inaugural of Banaras Hindu University (BHU). Lord Hardinge, the Viceroy, had come specially to lay the foundation stone of the University. Eminent persons from all over India delivered lectures on the occasion. On February 4, 1916 it was Gandhiji's turn to address the audience, mostly consisting of impressionable youth and a galaxy of princes.

Not many people know that Gandhi had become a teacher. While the world knows Gandhi as an apostle of peace, leader of our freedom struggle and social reformer, not many are aware that for a brief period he was also a teacher.He taught Hindi and English when he started living in Delhi’s Valmiki temple. That was perhaps the only time when he became a teacher in the true sense of the world.

When you visit Bapu’s room inside the Valmiki temple, you will come across several old sepia coloured photographs of Gandhi with Lord Mountbatten and Lady Mountbatten, Acharya Kriplani, Frontier Gandhi, C. Rajgoplachari, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad and Pt Nehru. However, one painting would tell you the story of this venerable room. Here in this carpeted room, you will find a wooden desk in the centre that Gandhiji used for writing. On the right side is a bed and a small charkha, both of which he used.

Many Valmiki families live around the Valmiki temple. It is said that Gandhi told the elders of Valmiki colony in 1946 that he wanted to stay with them for a couple of months, which they gladly obliged. Gandhi ji stayed here for exactly 214 days from April 1, 1946 to June 10, 1947.

“Once he moved to Valmiki colony, he started interacting with the local families and was shocked to find that they were all illiterates. Nobody had even seen a school. Then and there he asked the elders to send their kids to him and he would teach them. The elders started sending their children to his classes,” informs Krishan Vidhyarti, the caretaker of the temple. Incidentally, Vidhyarti’s father and uncles also attended Bapu’s classes.

On his part, Gandhiji ensured that his classes were held both in the morning and evening uninterrupted. He was such a conscientious teacher that he often used to delay his meetings with stalwarts of the freedom movement in order to finish his classes. So during his classes and later prayers, he did not meet guests, whosoever they were. Well, Gandhi was a tough taskmaster. He used to chide students, who turned up without taking a bath.

And much before his classes at the Valmiki temple, Gandhiji had visited the prestigious Modern School in the capital in 1935 at the invitation of the head of the school’s managing committee Sardar Sobha Singh, who was the father of Khushwant Singh.

A sepia coloured picture of Bapu with the then students of Modern School still adorns the principal’s room.

Meanwhile, Mahatma Gandhi and Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) are inseparable. JMI was founded in 1920 during the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movements in response to Gandhi's call for a boycott of all government-sponsored educational institutions. It had the blessings of Gandhi at its very inception.

In 1925, it was moved from Aligarh to Karol Bagh, Delhi. Gandhiji sent his grandson Rasiklal to the Jamia for his education. His youngest son, Devdas Gandhi taught English there. So, Gandhiji had very intimate ties with various students, schools and colleges. Father George Solomon, who also takes part in all religious prayers at Rajghat, says “Gandhiji will remain our guiding light. Thanks to his blessings, Delhi Brotherhood Society is now opening St. Stephen’s School in Haryana ''.

(The author is Delhi-based senior journalist and writer. He is author of Gandhi's Delhi which has brought to the forth many hidden facts about Mahatma Gandhi)