THE SAGA OF PERPETUAL STRUGGLE

THE STORY OF THE SIMPLE YEARNING, SELFLESS CHURNING AND SUBLIME LEARNING OF DR. JIVRAJ MEHTA

First Chief Minister of Gujarat, pioneer of Medical Education in India, pioneer of Hospital Organization in India, personal doctor to Gandhiji – Dr. Jivraj Mehta. He was the architect of not only his own life, but he lent a new direction to the medical science of India.

EARLY LIFE, ACADEMICS

Jivraj Narayan Mehta was born on 29th August 1887 in Amreli, a small town in Saurashtra in Gujarat. His family struggled to make two ends meet. But this could not obstruct the goals and the spirit of Dr. Mehta. This spirit was further shored up, thanks to the strong influence of his grandmother, a woman of drive and determination, and to the encouragement of his schoolteacher Apte Sahib. He often studies under the streetlights. He also gave tuitions to supplement the family income.
Dr. Mehta took up medicine with the inspiration from Dr. Eduljee Rustomji Dadachandjee, a civil surgeon in Amreli. He secured admission into the Grant Medical College and Sir J.J. Hospital, Bombay. His medical education was sponsored by the Seth VM Kapol Boarding Trust. He was also endowed with the Jamkhande scholarship -a scholarship that was reserved for the poorest of the freshly admitted students.
Dr. Mehta topped his class in medicine. In his final year, he won seven of the eight prizes open to his batch and shared the eighth prize with his hostel roommate Kashinath Dikshit. He further, acquired a prestigious fellowship from the Tata Education Foundation and pursued masters from London Hospital Medical College. Mehta lived from 1909 to 1915 in London. He was the president of the Indian Students Association in London where he studied medicine and did his FRCS there. He was a junior doctor in the Out-Patients Department of The London Hospital before working in The London Hospital Pathological Institute as Pathological Assistant. He won University gold medal in his MD examinations in 1914. Later, in 1915 he had been made a member of the prestigious Royal College of Physicians of London.

FROM A DOCTOR TO A NATIONALIST

Following his British education, he returned to India and entered into private practice that was quite rewarding. After leaving London, Dr Mehta returned to India, where he married Hansa, kin to the Diwan of Baroda. Meanwhile, he came in touch with Gandhiji and served as his personal doctor. He served many positions like:

• The first ‘Dewan’ (Prime Minister) of the erstwhile Baroda state in free India, sworn-in on September 4, 1948
• Director General of health services
• Secretary to the Ministry of health
• Minister of public works, finance, industry and prohibition for the then province of Bombay
• First Chief Minister of the newly formed Gujarat state from April 1960 to September 1963
• Indian high commissioner to the United Kingdom (1963–66)

MEDICAL SERVICES

Dr. Jivraj Mehta was the founder-architect of Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College and King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. He devotedly served the cause of these institutions in the unenviable post of their first Dean over an eventful period of 18 years (1925-42). He was thrice elected president of the All India Medical Congress and president of the Indian Medical Association.
Dr Mehta’s suggestions, based on his London Hospital experiences, for the organization of the new hospital were radically different from the traditional design of teaching hospitals in India, where each department tended to be located in isolated blocks. He suggested that the whole medical college be housed in one building, encouraging co-operation between different departments. Also at Dr Mehta’s suggestion, the KEM Hospital was the first in India to have the Out-patients Department housed within the main hospital building. Here the first heart transplant and the birth of the first test-tube baby in India were to take place and the medical school became one of the most successful in India.

When Dr. Jivraj Mehta died in 1977, aged 91, a hospital in Ahmedabad was named after him.

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PEOPLE OF GOD, IN THE LAND OF GOD: MEGHWALS IN GUJARAT

AMID ALL OTHER GLORY, GUJARAT POSSESSES GREAT PRIDE IN BEING HOME TO DIFFERENT TRIBES – ONE SUCH IS THE MEGHWALS (HARIJANS).

Gujarat is a land that has absorbed lakhs of people, thousands of cultures and hundreds of communities into itself. It is a treasure to learn about all these. All have different religions, lifestyles, costumes, traditions, cultures, beliefs; yet they stay under one state as a family! There are about 290 distinct communities in Gujarat. And interestingly, as many as 206 of these are immigrants from neighboring Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra – and even overseas! One such known tribe of Gujarat is the Meghwals – who came originally from Marwar in Rajasthan to Sindh in Pakistan in the 17th century, and then on to Kutch in 1971 after the Indo -Pak war. At present, its national population is nearly 4 lakhs. Of which, sizeable population is inhabited in the District of Kutch and large numbers of people are found in Saurashtra, Jamnagar and Ahmedabad districts of Gujarat.

PEOPLE OF GOD: HARIJANS

Meghwals were named Harijans by Mahatma Gandhi. Hari means God and Jan meaning people; they are God’s own people. The term Meghwal, also called Meghwar, is derived from the Sanskrit words megh that means clouds and rain; and war means prayers. Meghwar thus means people who pray for the rains.

A story goes that once a great ancestor of the Meghwals was not allowed to bathe in a nearby pond. Then the Brahmins had predicted a famine in Junagadh for twelve successive years. This ancestor climbed to the top of Mount Girnar convincing people that he would come down only when his beard will be submerged in the rainwater. Soon, the clouds started pouring so much that there was a fear of the entire place being flooded. The then ruler of Junagadh urged the ancestor to stop the rain and offered a vessel filled by the rainwater to submerge his beard. Hence the name Meghwal was born.

It is also believed that the the Meghwals are descendents of the Khod community of Rajputs in Rajasthan. An old man belonging to this community once removed a dead calf, as no one from a lower caste was available. People mocked at him and he was termed as impure. Meghwal means abrasht (impure) according to this belief.

LIFESTYLE AND CUSTOMS

Meghwals live in groups in the outskirts of villages. Classified as ‘Scheduled Caste’, they lived a humble life for centuries. Gradually, they have improved their lifestyles. They are peace loving and believe in humanity. They live mostly in small settlements of round, mud-brick huts painted on the outside with colorful geometric designs and decorated with detailed mirror inlays. Known as weavers of wool and cotton, their women do exquisite embroidery and patchwork. Leather embroidery is another of their specialties. Also, Meghwals are into agricultural labor, weaving Khadi and woodcarving.

Even today, women do not enjoy an equal or high status in the Meghwal society. She has no rights in inheritance and her life is often confined to the household. They however engage in embroidery and other such arts during their leisure time. They also play an important role in social, religious and ritual activities of the community. Meghwals have a social evil in the form of a system called ‘ex-communication’ of persons they do not like. This is practiced even in the cases of trivial matters. This further increases the social hardships for their women.

Marriages are arranged through negotiation between the families before puberty. Polygamy is allowed but polyandry is not practiced among the Meghwals. The marriage fire is fed with ghee or oil, betel nuts, corn and red Kanku powder. The couple walks four times round this light.

ELABORATED ORNAMENTS

Meghwal women are known for their colorful and exuberantly detailed costumes and jewellery. Married women wear an elaborate gold nose ring called ‘Velado.’ It is a sign of marriage and worn only on special occasions. Some nose rings are so heavy that the weight of it is suspended by a beaded chain, which is connected to her hair. Whereas unmarried girls wear three beads drop earrings in upper ear and a necklace with silver leaf-shaped pendant. Neckpieces can weigh up to three kilograms.

Meghwals’ work is distinguished by their primary use of red, which comes from a local pigment produced from crushed insects.

GOD FOR THE GOD’S OWN PEOPLE

Meghwals are Hindu by caste, though little is known about the history of their religion. They are believed to worship Lord Ganesha by preference. There are traces that the community believes in Lord Shiva, some say they worship King Bali as their God and pray for his return. Some follow ‘Pir Pithoro’ and worship his shrine near Pithoro village. Daily offerings are made by Meghwals to Chamunda mata in the village temples. Bankar mata is worshiped at weddings. They also worship Yakshas, Sitalamata or the Goddess of Smallpox and Kshetrapal snake God.

There is a belief that Baba Ramdevji is their chief deity and the Meghwals worship him during the vedwa punam (in August-September). Meghwal religious leader Swami Gokuldas claims that Ramdevji was himself a Meghwal, in his 1982 book Meghwal Itehas, which constructs a history of the Meghwal community in an attempt to gain respect and improve their social status.
The worships and the Gods differ as per the habitats of the Meghwals.

THE SCENARIO TODAY

Gone are the days of untouchables. Meghwals today have witnessed a qualitative and progressive change. Efforts are made to mobilize them and reconstruct their culture, literature and history so that they can claim for their identities.

Gujarat, no doubt, is a significant confluence point for different races and people. The social set up is such that the customs and lifestyles of different tribes are welcomed. Meghwals are one of these – it is a charm to the eyes and pride to the knowledge of the beholder to learn more about this rich and varied heritage of Gujarat.

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The Grand Old man of Gujarat

Abbas Tyabji with Gandhiji

A very unique example of voluntary riches to rags – Abbas Tyabji was a nationalist and an Indian freedom fighter from Gujarat.

Born in Baroda before the Indian Revolt of 1857, Tyabji was a Sulaimani Bohra Muslim and the grandson of the Merchant Prince Mullah Tyab Ali Bhai Mian. He was an England-educated barrister, brought up in an atmosphere covered with loyalty to the Empire. He lived in England for eleven years and then moved on to the princely state of Baroda to become the Chief Justice of the (Baroda) Gujarat High Court.

During those days, Tyabji was seen as a model of Britishness, leading a Western lifestyle and wearing impeccably tailored English suits. Though a nationalist at heart, he would not stand adverse criticism of the British as people, or of the Raj. His moderate but simmering nationalism and his absolute integrity and fairness as a judge were widely recognized and lauded.

Tyabji’s life changed when he chaired an independent fact finding committee of the Congress to look into the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. He decided to leave behind all the comforts when he was in his late 60s – a time when people usually take a backseat. He dumped his ‘British lifestyle’ and plunged himself whole heartedly into the freedom struggle. His first hand experience of the British atrocities committed by General Reginald Dyer turned him to become an ardent follower of Gandhiji.

Tyabji’s changed lifestyle included burning his English clothes and adopting Khadi as his clothing. He travelled around the country in third class railway carriages, stayed in simple dharamshalas and ashrams, slept on the ground and walked miles to preach non-violent disobedience against the British Indian government. He continued this new lifestyle well past the age of seventy, including several years in British jails.

Abbas Tyabji was also a key ally of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel during the 1918 Kheda Satyagraha, and the 1928 Bardoli Satyagraha. In the hot summer of 1928, when Tyabji was nearing 80, he went around Gujarat’s villages in a bullock cart popularizing “the livery of freedom”. After these, in early 1930, the Indian National Congress declared Purna Swaraj or independence from the British Raj. As a first act of civil disobedience, Gandhiji launched the well-known Salt Satyagraha. Tyabji was then chosen as the immediate successor in case of Gandhiji’s arrest. On May 4, 1930, after the Salt March to Dandi, Gandhiji was arrested and Tyabji was placed in charge of the next phase of the Salt Satyagraha. On May 7, 1930, Tyabji led the Dharasana Satyagraha with Gandhiji’s wife, Kasturba by his side. This was a raid on the Dharasana Salt Works in Gujarat. On May 12, before reaching Dharasana, Tyabji and 58 Satyagrahis were arrested by the British. After Tyabji, Sarojini Naidu was appointed the leader of the Satyagraha.

Tyabji’s was a household name in the 1930s. One popular slogan then went like this: “Khara rupaiya chandi ka/ Raj Tayab-Gandhi ka”. Tyabji had an affectionate relationship with Gandhiji and they exchanged an unending stream of letters. The ‘ever-smiling’ Tyabji kept poor health in the later years. Advised to spend more time in the hills, he moved to a cottage, ‘Southwood’, in Mussoorie, where he died in the night of June 9-10, 1936. After his death, Gandhiji wrote an article in the Harijan newspaper titled “G. O. M. of Gujarat” (Grand Old Man of Gujarat), including the following praise for Tyabji: “At his age and for one who had never known hardships of life it was no joke to suffer imprisonments. But his faith conquered every obstacle. He was a rare servant of humanity. He was a servant of India because he was a servant of humanity. He believed in God as Daridranarayana. He believed that God was to be found in the humblest cottages and among the depressed of the earth. Abbas Mian is not dead, though his body rests in the grave. His life is an inspiration for us all.”

With the polarization between the communities growing at a fast rate in our country, the common heritage of the legacy of people like Abbas Tyabji seems to have no place in our memories.

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The Sacred Secretary

While many know him as Mahatma Gandhi’s personal secretary and translator of his autobiography, few have a real sense of the role Mahadev Desai played in the Mahatma’s life. Also other attributes include him being an Indian freedom fighter and a nationalist writer of high regard.

Mahadev Desai was born on 1 January 1892 in a village named Saras in Surat district of Gujarat. His father Haribhai Desai was a teacher in a primary school. Mahadev’s mother Jamnaben belonged to Dihen, the ancestral place of this Desai clan. The family belonged to the Anavil Brahmin caste, one of the leading communities of the district. Mahadev lost his mother when he was only seven years of age.

Mahadev was educated in a manner befitting a brilliant son of a poor but cultured father. He got married to Durgaben in 1905, at the age of 13. He received his primary and secondary education at different places. He matriculated from Surat in 1906, at the age of 14, winning a scholarship for higher education. He then moved to Bombay in January, 1907 and joined the Elphinstone College and graduated from there after passing B.A Degree examination in 1910. Mahadev joined the Law College thereafter and got his LL.B in 1913.

Mahadev had many qualities imbibed in him that endeared him to all. He overlooked defects in others, but was always ready to see and acquire their virtues. He may be labeled a man of serious temperament but was warm hearted, jovial in nature, and possessed the art of combining fun and humor in a natural and easy way in the midst of serious and important work, so much so that there was always around him an atmosphere of playfulness, mirth and enthusiasm.

After completing his education, while working for his livelihood, Mahadev translated Lord Morley’s ‘On Compromise’ into Gujarati and won the handsome prize of a thousand rupees. This work was later published in 1925. He tried to practice law in courts but was not successful, and through his friend Vaikunth Mehta secured a job in the Central Co-operative Bank of Bombay. But Mahadev soon got tired of the irregularities being practiced there as well as a lot of traveling involved in the job, and left it. Also his destiny was fast drawing him into the folds of Gandhi.

Mahadev Desai joined Gandhiji in 1917 along with Narhari Parikh, Mohanlal Pandya and Ravi Shankar Vyas, and became his most devoted secretary for over 25 years, from 1917 to 1942. The four were the earliest supporters of Gandhi. That was the beginning of a relationship destined to last for a quarter of a century and Mahadev not only remained with Gandhi but also merged himself completely with his master. He began writing his diary, called ‘Day to day with Gandhi’ from 13 November 1917 and continued writing it until 14 August 1942 the day before he died.

After Mahadev Desai joined Gandhiji, three important events took place in their life as well as that of the country. These were the Champaran Satyagraha (1917), the Bardoli Satyagraha (1930), and in all these Mahadev actively participated and courted arrest. In 1921 Gandhiji sent him to edit Motilal Nehru’s periodical, the Independent, Allahabad, and there too he was arrested and jailed. After his release in January 1923, he returned to Ahemdabad and looked after the editorial work of the Navajivan. His sharp editorials on the hollowness of 1919 constitutional reforms and his outburst against the British Government kept up the tempo of the freedom struggle. Desai created a sensation by bringing out a hand-written cyclostyled newspaper after the printing press was confiscated by the British government. In 1924 he took over as editor of Navajivan and also saw his home blessed with a son, Narayan Desai, who is also a non-violent activist. Mahadev toured the country with Gandhiji, explaining the salient features of the freedom struggle. He accompanied Gandhiji in 1931 to the Round Table Conference in London. The chief period of interest is the time Gandhiji was imprisoned in the Yeravda Jail near Pune from 1931 to 1934. Desai wrote most of his important works on Gandhi during this period. In the Quit India Movement of 1942, he along with Gandhiji was arrested and sent to the Aga Khan Palace for imprisonment. Mahadev knew that to live with Gandhi was never an easy task; one would always feel being on the mouth of a volcano. Yet he adjusted his bearing so well that he became indispensable to Gandhi.

On August 15, 1942, Mahadev Desai died of a massive heart-attack at the age of 50. It was unacceptable for Gandhiji and the entire country mourned his death. Mahadev had become what he could. Gandhiji used to visit his Samadhi daily and had said: “Remaining the disciple, Mahadev became my Guru. I visit his Samadhi to remember and emulate his worthy example. Pray God; let us walk in his foot-steps. ”

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