MAHATMA HANSRAJ, MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER
1. The first memory I have of my ancestors before my parents is of my grandmother, Beji – an honorific; I have forgotten her name. My mother was Swarna Puri. I recall Beji lying on the bed, probably in her 60s, with what I assume was severe arthritis. I recall my mother and her sister, Karuna Soni, sitting by her bedside, constantly massaging her body from head to toe. And gossiping throughout.
2. The sunny room was in an old, large colonial cottage, the driveway lined militantly with flowerpots, a car and a chauffeur under the portico – as befitted the British owners and senior employees of a major textile mill in Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh). An Indian tycoon took it over after the Brits sold out and departed. Karuna Soni’s husband, “ML” Soni, a Director, was allocated that Bungalow. The Soni children, Vineet and Shobhna, and I spent magical summer holidays playing in the expansive gardens and playing badminton.
3. Looking back, I wonder why my mother and I would be invited every summer. The most credible explanation is that, apart from helping to care for Beji, my mother was a slick and savvy player of Rummy and Bridge. She and ML Soni, both ruthlessly competitive at cards, along with his friends, would while away evenings gambling at relatively high stakes for those times. Vineet and I feared the loud arguments that often ensued, with her argumentative thin voice predominating. (Back in 1950 at the Dacca Club, I recall vividly my mother having no compunction in slapping a British diplomat for making an egregious error as her Bridge partner. The scandal that followed is another story.)
4. This is my only memory of the family generation preceding my parents’. And that brings me back to Mahatma Hansraj. His profile is attached below.
5. He was Beji’s father, in effect, my great-grandfather. We children had heard of him at family gatherings, but cared little. Interestingly, the adults, colonised in their outlook, caught up in post-Independence euphoria, intent on business deals and government service, were not asked and never elaborated. That is ironic, given that Hansraj was one of the prime movers in inculcating nationalist consciousness among the people (in the North). In effect, I and I am sure, my cousins, grew up knowing very little about our Great-Grandfather.
The Fiji Connection
6. I became conscious of my connection with Mahatma Hansraj only 50 years later, when I was a Visiting Fellow at the University of Fiji. When my hosts learnt that I was his great-grandson, much was made of it in academic, civic and Hindu religious circles.
7. This may sound surprising to Indians in India, where very few are likely to be aware of Mahatma Hansraj. The background is this:
8. Indian indentured labour to Fiji began in 1879. This migration was initiated by the first British Governor, Gordon, to address labour shortages following Britain’s abolition of slavery in 1833 and the Fijian government’s prohibition of commercial employment for indigenous Fijians. Some 65000 were ‘exported’ from India by 1916. They would have been aware of Hansraj’s Arya Samaj movement – see attachment – which advocated education, women’s emancipation, communal amity and the abolition of the caste system.
9. As the momentum gathered for Indian independence, political and social ideas of leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Mahatma Hansraj permeated among the indentured labour in Fiji. Hence, the recognition of a distant product of Hansraj’s genes. It is no wonder that while Gandhi is revered in Fiji, Hansraj is also warmly acknowledged there – unlike in India, where Gandhi is being serially defamed by the ruling Hindutva acolytes; Hansraj has not so far figured in their Hindu nationalist diatribes because he was never in the limelight.
Interculturalism
10. As a Cultural Intelligence (CQ) practitioner, another aspect of Mahatma Hansraj comes as a revelation. He was a pioneer Interculturalist, as distinct from Mahatma Gandhi, who was the first Multiculturalist. [See my talk on Gandhi Jayanti in 2024 at the ACT Legislative Assembly: https://dmm.downloadingmymind.com/gandhi-father-of-multiculturalism/ ]
11. It is noteworthy that in the aftermath of the British Government establishing Direct Rule after the 1857 Mutiny, and the emerging milieu of societal strains seeking British departure from India, Hansraj launched the first D.A.V. – Dayananda Anglo-Vedic School on 1 June 1886. He was its Headmaster for a quarter century.
12. Mahatma Hansraj wanted to integrate Western learning with Vedic principles. He sought to blend science-based Western education with Vedic and Arya Samaj cultural ideals. In effect, he was promoting, in CQ parlance, an intercultural understanding of Indian and Western values and methods. He was a practical integrationist.
13. Today, there is a vast network of some 800+ DAV schools across India and abroad. The primary language of instruction is English, while Hindi, Sanskrit and a regional language are compulsory. Hansraj College in the University of Delhi, established in 1948, commemorates his intercultural education legacy. See the text below of an in-house debate on whether Mahatma Hansraj was a “Revolutionary”. Also, a photo of a school marking his 160th birth anniversary.
14. Incidentally, despite ideologically driven attempts by today’s BJP-led Federal and State governments to sideline English in favour of Indian languages, the reality is that learning English is embedded in India’s societal DNA. Significant credit for this is attributable to Mahatma Hansraj’s DAV institutions, particularly their extensive rural reach today.
