Belgaum Impressions By Mahatma Gandhi

 Belgaum Impressions

By Mahatma Gandhi

When there are too many impressions all clamouring for expression, the

registrar's task becomes, unenviable. Such is my position as I take up the pencil

to register my impressions of Belgaum. I can but try.

Gangadhar Rao Deshpande and his band of workers rose to the highest

height. His Vijayanagar was a triumph-not yet of Swaraj-but certainly of

organisation. Every detail was well thought out. Dr. Hardikar's volunteers were

smart and attentive. The roads were broad and well kept. They could easily be

broader for the convenience of the temporary shops and the easy movement of

thousands of sight-seers. The lighting arrangement well perfect. The huge

pavilion with a marble fountain in front of it seemed to invite all who would

enter it. The capacity of the pavilion could not be less than seventeen thousand.

The sanitary arrangements though quite good needed still more scientific

treatment then what they had. The method of the disposal of used water was

very primitive. 1 invite the Cawnpore people who are to have the honour of

holding the Congress Session of 1925 to study the most effective methods of

camp sanitation now and not leave this very important part to the eleventh hour.

Whilst, I am able to give ungrudging praise for the almost perfect

organisation that one could escape in the Congress camp, I cannot help

remarking that Gangadhar Rao could not the temptation of making the outside

look lavish and in following the traditional custom of going in for extravagant

luxuries for the people at the top. Take the presidential ' hut '. I had bargained

for a khaddar hut; but I was insulted with a khaddar palace. The floor space

reserved for the President was certainly quite necessary. The fence round the

‘palace'; was an absolute necessity for my protection from embarrassingly

admiring crowds. But I am sure that had I been contractor, I would have given

the same space and the same comfort to the President at half the expense. This

however is only one instance of the many I can quote of lavish expenditure. The

refreshments supplied to the members of the Subjects Committee and others

were unnecessarily lavish. There was no sense of proportion observed as to the

quantities served. I am finding fault with nobody· The extravagance came from

a generous heart. It was all well-meant. Forty years' tradition cannot be undone

in day, especially if no one likely to gain a hearing know, when I suggested to

Vallabhbhai in 1921 that he should make a beginning he retorted by saying that

whilst he would try to attain simplicity and avoid extravagance, he would not

allow his pet Gujarat to be considered miserly. I could not persuade him that if

he did not have a temporary fountain costing seven thousand rupees, he would

not be considered miserly. I told him too that whatever he did was bound to be

copied by bis successors. Vallabhbhai would not take the odium of being con

sincere miserly. I advise Cawnpore to lead the way. The miserliness of

Cawnpore may be considered the extravagance of tomorrow. There were many

things Vallabhbhai did discard. I did not hear any remarks about the

disappearance of things that were really not a felt want.

Let us remember, the Congress is intended to represent the poorest toilers

who are the salt of India. Our scale must be so far as possible adjusted to theirs.

We must therefore be progressively economical without being inefficient and

stingy.

In my opinion the charges for accommodation and food are much too

heavy. We may do worse than take a lesson from the book of Swami

Shraddhanandji. I remember the sheds he built for his guests who came for the

Gurukul anniversary in 1916. He built grass sheds for them at a cost (I think) of

about Rs. 2000. He invited contractors to open restaurants on the ground and

made no charge for the accommodation. No one could complain of the

arrangement. They knew what they were to expect. Nearly 40,000 people were

thus accommodated on the Gurukul ground without the slightest difficulty and

with Practically no expense. And what is more, each visitor received what he

wanted and was at liberty to live cheaply or extravagantly.

I do not say that the Swami's plan should be copied in its entirety. But I

do suggest that better and cheaper plans are imperatively necessary. The

reduction of the delegate's fees from Rs. 10 to 1 was universally acclaimed. The

reduction of lodging and dining charges would be, I am sure, still more

appreciated.

The source of income should be a small entrance fee levied from every

spectator. The Congress must be an annual fair where visitors may come and get

instruction with amusement. The deliberative part should be an item round

which the demonstrative programme should turn. It therefore should take place

in decent time, as this year, and the appointments must be religiously observed.

I am not sure that the packing of all other conferences into one week

serves any national purpose. In my opinion only those conferences should take

place during the Congress week that aid and strengthen the Congress. The

President and his cabinet must not be expected to give their attention to  

anything but Congress work, I know that, if there had been no other call upon

my time, I could have better attended to the charge entrusted to me. l had not a

moment left to me for contemplation. I was unable to frame the necessary

recommendations for making the franchise a success. The fact is that the

organisers of various conferences do not take their tasks seriously. They hold

them because it has become the fashion to do so. I would urge workers in

various directions to avoid the annual dissipation of energy.

The exhibition of indigenous arts and industries is an institution that

should grow from year to year. The musical concert was a treat that thousands

must have enjoyed. The lantern lectures tracing to be tragic history of the ruin

of the greatest National industry and the possibilities of its revival were

apposite, instructive and amusing, I tender my congratulations to Satish Babu

upon the thoughtful and thorough manner in which he organised these lectures.

The spinning competition must also be a permanent feature. Its popularity is

evinced by the number of competitors, the brilliance of results and the number

of donors. This spinning movement is bringing out women from their seclusion

as nothing else could have done. Of the 11 prize winners, 4 belonged to the

gentle sex. It has given them a dignity and self-confidence which no university

degree could give them. They are realising that their active assistance is just as

indispensable as that of men and what is more, such assistance can be as easily

rendered by them as if not more easily than, by men,

One thing I must not omit before I close these impressions. There were

nearly seventy-five volunteers, mostly Brahmins, who were engaged in

conservancy work in the Congress camp. The Municipal bhangis were indeed

taken, but it was thought necessary to have the volunteers also. Kaka Kalelkar

who was in charge of this corps tells me that this part of the work would not

have been done as satisfactorily as it was, if the corps had not been formed. He

tells me too that the volunteers worked most willingly. Not one of them shirked

the work which ordinarily very few would be prepared to undertake. And yet it

is the noblest of all from one point of view. Indeed, sanitary work must he

regarded as the foundation of all volunteer training,

Young India

1-1-1925