Neither Memsahibs nor Missionaries: Western Women who Supported the

Indian Independence Movement

by

Sharon M. H. MacDonald

B.A. with distinction, Mount Saint Vincent University, 1988 M.A. Atlantic Canada Studies, Saint Mary's University, 1999

A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

In the Graduate Academic Unit of History, Faculty of Arts

Supervisor: Gail Campbell, Ph.D., History

Examining Board: Margaret Conrad, Ph.D., History, Chair Carey Watt, Ph.D., History Nancy Nason-Clark, Ph.D., Sociology

External Examiner: Barbara Ramusack, Ph.D., History, University of Cincinnati

This dissertation is accepted by the Dean of Graduate Studies

UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK

March 2010

© Sharon M. H. MacDonald, 2010

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication ii

Abstract iii

Acknowledgements v

Preface ix

Introduction 1

Chapter One: Setting the Historical and Historiographical Scene 28

Chapter Two: Mary/Polly/Tarabehn Chesley (1891-1936) 54

Chapter Three: From Missionaries to Revolutionaries 84

Chapter Four: Marjorie Sykes (1905-1995) 121

Chapter Five: Sarala Behn/Catherine Mary Heilemann (1901-1982) 148

Chapter Six: Mirabehn/Madeleine Slade (1892-1982) 169

Chapter Seven: Supporters in Britain: Muriel Lester (1883-1968) and

Agatha Harrison (1885-1954) 209

Conclusion 258

Bibliography 271

Appendices:

Appendix I: Web of women 281

Appendix II: Principal subjects 282

Appendix III: Gandhi's letters referring to Mary (Tarabehn) Chesley 283

Appendix IV: Exemplary behavior of the Police 293

Appendix V: Exchange of letters between Mirabehn and Gandhi 294

Appendix VI: Glossary 298

Curriculum Vitae

In loving memory of my mother and father,

Katherine (MacLeod) and Robert MacDonald

and my aunts,

Helen (MacDonald) Rand, Lilias (MacDonald) Toward and

Alison (Wood) MacLeod

ABSTRACT

In recent decades, historians of women and gender have been interrogating

Western women's involvement in India, exploring, for the most part, the roles that

memsahibs (wives of colonial administrators) and missionaries played in maintaining or

undermining the empire. Some have argued that even early Western feminists who took

up the cause of Indian women's rights maintained colonial blinders and an ethnocentric

bias that prevented them from recognizing their Indian "sisters" as equals. In

counterpoint, others have offered a more sympathetic view of particular Western women

engaged in the Indian story. This dissertation is a study of a group of anti-imperialist

Western women who supported the nonviolent movement for Indian independence. As

friends and associates of Mohandas K. Gandhi, these women were sometimes held

suspect by the British authorities—at worst, imprisoned for their involvement in the

independence movement, and, at best, considered misguided "bleeding hearts". Some

were subject to innuendo regarding the nature of their relationships with the charismatic

leader and dismissed as mere camp followers of the great man. This study argues that

these women, as autonomous individuals, brought their own intelligent agency to the

Indian movement and that their affinity with Gandhi was based on shared political, social

and spiritual values. Unquestionably, Gandhi played a significant role in their lives, but

the reverse can also be argued and, further, that without these women, Gandhi's cause

would have had less support internationally. Gandhi's philosophical and political ideas

were partially inspired by Western writers such as Tolstoy, Thoreau and Ruskin,

individuals who have been referred to as "the Other West". This study argues that the

women included in this collective biography should also be considered part of "the Other

West" and that, because of their connections to activist movements for civil rights and

peace across the globe, they played an important role in the cross-pollination of political

and social ideas among such movements. These women activists were fueled and

sustained by a radical and unconventional faith that gave them the courage to abandon

Western privilege and fully live their politics, even in the face of personal danger. By

example, they provided role models for younger generations of social activists, both in

India and elsewhere.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In any project that spans the amount of time I have been working on this

dissertation, inevitably there are many individuals and institutions to acknowledge. I

would not have been able to complete this project if it were not for the financial support I

received from a number of sources. I thank the University of New Brunswick and its

History Department for believing in my work enough to provide generous funding which

allowed me to pursue the doctoral program. To the Social Sciences and Humanities

Research Council (SSHRC), I extend gratitude for the fellowship they awarded me.

Pendle Hill, the Quaker Center for Study and Contemplation, provided me with a

scholarship and a rich environment in which to begin my writing. With the solitariness of

being a graduate student, participating in the community life at Pendle Hill was especially

meaningful. My thanks also to the Canadian Yearly Meeting and Halifax Monthly

Meeting of The Religious Society of Friends for their support. From 2008-2009,1 was

awarded a research fellowship at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau,

Quebec. While my work there did not relate to my dissertation topic, the fellowship

allowed me the financial freedom to complete the writing in a city where I did not have

the distractions and responsibilities of home life.

During the months of research in India and Britain during 2003-2004,1 met

countless people who helped in many ways. Regrettably, part way through the trip, the

theft of a backpack that held my journal, research notes, and address book has meant that

I cannot name all those I would like to thank. However, there are some individuals to

whom I am particularly indebted. Prior to going to India, I made contact with David

Hopkins, of the Lakshmi Ashram in Kausani, Uttarakhand. Through David, I was able to

V

meet with staff and children at the school and, fortuitously, I was there at the same time

as Radha Bhatt, the former principal of the school, a woman who has had a long and

distinguished career in India promoting women's and children's rights. Radhabehn had

been one of the early pupils of Saralabehn, one of the subjects of this study and she

graciously gave me precious time to share stories of her personal relationship with her

mentor. I visited Shobha Vidyarthi, another former student of Saralabehn's, at the small

ashram in Dharamghar, Uttarakhand, where Saralabehn spent her last years under the

care of Shobhabehn. David, who has now completed a translation of Saralabehn's

autobiography, generously shared his work with me, chapter by chapter, through email

correspondence.

Many of the people that I met in the course of my journey were inspired

community activists, often working in challenging situations with little financial help. I

will not forget the generosity of these individuals. Deena (whose last name I cannot

recall), worked with a leper colony in Rajasthan and had organized reforestation projects

in the foothills of the Himalayas. He introduced me to a number of social workers who

had known Saralabehn. At the Brahma Vidya Mandir (the Vinoba Bhave ashram in

Paunar), I met with a number of long-time residents. Thank you to Kusum Despande,

Previnabehn, Jotibehn Patankar, Goutam Bajaj, and Rambhau Maskar for sharing their

knowledge and insights. At the Gandhi Seva Sangh, Sevagram, Wardha, I met with

Kanakmal Gandhi, Dharampal, and Radha Krishna Bajaj. The welcome and very useful

leads I received while visiting the Institute of Gandhian Studies in Wardha will not be

forgotten. Thank you to Siby Joseph, Dr. Raman Modi, and Chandra Shekhar

Dharmadhikari. At the Friends Rural Centre in Rasulia, Hoshangabad, I met with Daniel

vi

Yakub and Jagdish Mishra. Words cannot convey my gratitude to Raju and Shalini Titus

of Hoshangabad who, with no advance warning of our arrival, hosted us overnight at their

Rishi Keti (natural) farm. To Lorry Benjamin of Kesla, who does remarkable work with

rural women and children, I extend my thanks for her hospitality and for sharing her

personal knowledge of one of my subjects, Marjorie Sykes. At the Magan Sangrahalaya,

Wardha, Dr. Vibha Gupta inspired me to put aside my preconceived notions about

another subject, Mirabehn, with the result that I came to view her with different eyes.

Birdichand Gothi of Betal, dropped any plans he might have had to drive us to Khedi, a

village in Central India where several of the women in this study lived and worked. We

met with villagers who shared their memories of the women. Thanks are extended Ruth

Rose, of Kotagiri, for her help in viewing the former homes of three of my subjects, and

to H.N. Kalla Gowder, President of the Tribal Solidarity, Nilgiri Chapter, Kotagiri for

sharing his insights on Marjorie Sykes. At the Sabarmati Ashram Archives in

Ahmedabad, Amruthbhai Modi and his staff, Viral Bhatt, Kinnari Bhatt, Bharat Modi and

Durgesh Trivedi, did everything possible to make my research both productive and

pleasant. Dr. Modi arranged for me to meet with Narayan Desai, a well-known peace

activist and writer in India whose father, Mahadev Desai, served as Gandhi's faithful

secretary. My appreciation to Desaiji knows no bounds. Quite apart from our productive

and delightful conversation, I will always appreciate that he was able to put me in touch

with Mahadevi Tai, the last living link to one of my subjects, Mary Chesley, who died in

Tai's arms in 1936. My meeting with Mahadevi Tai (who was almost 98) in Bangalore

was a highlight of the journey. To her great-nephew Siddharth Sharma, I owe so much. A

chance meeting with Divya Gandhi, a great-granddaughter of M.K. Gandhi, at the

vii

Sabarmati Archives, opened the door to my contacting her aunt, Tara Gandhi

Bhattacharjee, daughter of Gandhi's youngest son, Devadas. Her recollections but even

more so, her warm hospitality during winter in New Delhi, will not be forgotten. My

thanks also to her assistant, Makkad Sanjay. To Dr. Y.P. Anand and staff members at the

National Gandhi Museum, New Delhi, thank you for your time and assistance. Several

people not associated with my research made the journey in India so much brighter; my

heartfelt thanks to PK and Sukanya Belliappa in Bangalore, Minnie Boga and Robert

Grosskurth in New Delhi and Dhirendra and Nimmi Sharma in Dehradun. In London,

Heather Rowland and Josef Keith at the Library of the Religious Society of Friends were

very helpful, as was Tony Lucas, of the Muriel Lester Archives at Kingsley Hall,

Dagenham. Meeting with individuals who had known my subjects was always rewarding.

My thanks to N. (Ram) and Stephanie Ramamurthy and Hallam Tennyson in London and

to Geoffrey Carnall, who I met with in Birmingham at Woodbrooke, the Quaker Study

Centre. Geoffrey and I have had subsequent correspondence and I am grateful to him for

sharing with me relevant parts of his forthcoming biography of Horace Alexander, a

friend and associate of one of my subjects. To Wendy Chmielewski and Chris Densmore

at Swarthmore College Library, my thanks. To all unnamed staff at the many libraries

and archives consulted, further thanks.

Documents that originally inspired this project are housed at Nova Scotia

Archives and Records Management (NSARM). My appreciation is extended to the staff

there, most of whom I have known for many years and over the course of other research

projects. To those who contributed to this work, either through conversation or

correspondence, thank you: to Peter Ruhe and Herbert Fischer, Germany, Christine

viii

Easwaran and Martha Dart, California, Tine Elisabeth Larsen, Denmark, and Natalie

Corkum, Peter Haughn and Murray Forbes, Nova Scotia. Jackie Logan, of Saint Mary's

University, has been a good friend and colleague. Without her excellent formatting skills,

I could not have produced this dissertation, so, many thanks, Jackie. To Gail Campbell,

my supervisor at UNB, my appreciation for everything, and to the readers on the

examining board, Barbara Ramusack, Margaret Conrad, Nancy Nason-Clark and Carey

Watt, I thank you for your comments, suggestions, corrections and encouragement. I

thank all my family members and friends, regrettably too numerous to name in person,

who have provided love and support over the years. I am deeply grateful to my son and

daughter, Joel and Anna Plaskett, and their partners, Rebecca Kraatz and Myles Deck,

who, by their very existence, are rich blessings in my life. Finally, my appreciation goes

to Bill Plaskett, for his ongoing enthusiasm for my work as well as for his companionship

on the great adventure in India. Several informants and friends who I met while on this

journey have since died and I wish to extend my condolences to their families. I consider

it an honour and my good fortune to have met them when I did.

PREFACE

Sometimes a very small event can set in motion a major change in direction, taking

a person far beyond any place or experience previously imagined. A number of years ago,

when working on my Master's degree, in the hopes of finding extant papers of one Mary

Russell Chesley, a Nova Scotian suffragist and peace activist, I sought out the location of

her only descendant to survive into adulthood, a daughter, Mary Albee Chesley (known

familiarly as Polly). Polly had gone to reside in Britain and, while I knew that she would

no longer be alive (she was born in 1891), I had entertained the hope that she might have

made some arrangements for bequeathing family papers to an institution. Both the mother

and daughter had been active in various social movements in the early twentieth century,

so it seemed plausible to imagine that there might be some surviving records. A query

made to the Library for the Religious Society of Friends in London (I knew that Polly had

become a member of Quakers in England) turned up a surprising and tantalizing piece of

information—a memorial notice at the time of Chesley's death in India in 1936 (at age

44), contributed by none other than Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, most familiarly

known as Mahatma Gandhi or Bapu,1 the spiritual force and chief architect of the non­

violent struggle for Indian independence.

Discovering Gandhi's effusive words of praise for Chesley and her commitment to

the Indian independence movement aroused my curiosity. Barely resisting the temptation

to plunge headlong into an investigation of her life while in the midst of an incomplete

1. Mahatma means "Great Soul". Gandhi himself felt some ambivalence about this label, generally assumed to have been given to him by the poet Rabindranath Tagore. Bapu means "Father". Often, "ji" is added to the end of a name as a sign of respect, particularly for an older person, as in Gandhiji or Bapuji.

X

thesis, I harboured the hope that I could pursue the story later. Unable to push it aside

entirely, I made occasional research forays, keeping the project simmering on a back

burner. I began to accumulate information not only on Mary Chesley, but also on other

women from the Western Hemisphere who had been in India during this pre-

independence period and had come into Gandhi's circle of friends and coworkers. I

discovered yet others who did not live in India but nevertheless became part of larger

concentric circles of Westerners who lent their support to the Indian independence

movement in significant ways. The project steadily took on greater dimensions and

complexities. Here was a topic that centred around one of the most well-documented

individuals in human history, yet my focus was not Gandhi. Although I became more

intrigued by Gandhi and others around him, male and female, Indian and non-Indian, I

knew that the story I wanted to tell was only tangentially concerned with Gandhi. He

played a pivotal or catalytic role in the lives of my subjects and, partly as a result of

knowing Gandhi, a number of these women came into closer communion and community

with one another. Several questions interested me. How did these individuals differ from

other Western women living in India during British colonial rule? What experiences had

shaped their thinking and propelled them into active commitment to the independence

movement? What significance, if any, did their participation in India's freedom struggle

have?

I will confess that, until the discovery of Polly Chesley's early demise in India, my

knowledge of and curiosity about this great sub-continent was negligible. Unlike many

Westerners, I had not been drawn to India because of its rich history or spiritual

traditions. To my mind, India represented a daunting prospect. What little I knew—of the

xi

extreme poverty, the density of population, the tropical diseases and the communal

violence—did not entice me to want to go to India. Although I had an image of myself as

an adventurer of sorts, in the case of India, I was prepared to make a cowardly exception

and maintain my distance. Furthermore, I had never studied Indian history. My areas of

research, which included women's organizational culture and textile history in Nova

Scotia, hardly qualified me to pursue a topic that diverged so greatly from my apparent

focus. However, for some, as yet undefined, reason, and against more rational judgement,

I felt compelled to take up this story. And thus, the story unfolded.

INTRODUCTION

In film and literature the Western women most commonly portrayed during the

British Raj were memsahibs—women primarily in India as appendages to husbands

serving in the colonial government or the military.1 The stereotypical representation has

been one in which memsahibs enjoyed privileged lifestyles in the midst of seeming

disdain for and ignorance of the local Indian people. This is not the place to discuss the

accuracy or justice of how memsahibs have been represented in fact or fiction. Whether

fair or not, the very word memsahib conjures up a particular image that resists revision.

Inevitably, there were individuals who did not conform to the social norms of ruling

colonialism. Yet in recognizing the limitations of generalization, it is still reasonable to

assume that the majority of Western women (and men) living in India during the era of

colonial rule believed in "empire" and all or much of what it encompassed.2 Margaret

MacMillan's Women of the Raj, by no means an unsympathetic portrait, nevertheless

makes it clear that most British women in colonial India lived and behaved in ways that

would seem inexplicable or inexcusable today.3 Pat Barr has written two books on

memsahibs, one focussing on the nineteenth century and highlighting those who were

entertaining and witty writers. Her second book addresses the twentieth century and, with

only three exceptions, the women included in her study are colonial in their attitudes. By

1. Sahib was a term of respect for a European man, generally translated as "Master." Memsahib meant Madam Sahib.

2. For a useful critique of two studies that have argued for a reconsideration of the memsahib stereotype, see Jane Haggis, "Gendering Colonialism or Colonising Gender? Recent Women's Studies Approaches to White Women and the History of British Colonialism," Women's Studies International Forum, Vol. 13, Nos. 1/2 (1990): 105-115. A wealth of writing concerning white women and colonialism has emerged within the past couple of decades. For example, Mary A. Procida's fascinating article "Good Sports and Right Sorts: Guns, Gender and Imperialism in British India," Journal of British Studies, 40: 4 (October 2001), 454-488, provides an excellent guide to the literature through her extensive footnotes.

3. Margaret MacMillan, Women of the Raj (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1988).

2

and large, Barr defends these women of the Raj and views their lives as often challenging

and subject to more criticism than she believes they deserve.4 Another sympathetic

treatment of memsahibs is contained in Mary Ann Lind's The Compassionate

Memsahibs: The Welfare Activities of British Women in India, 1900-1947. As reviewer

Karen Tranberg Hansen perceptively commented, Lind's focus group fell philosophically

somewhere between typical memsahibs and missionaries, yet without the religious

commitment of missionaries. Furthermore, the women carried out their charitable

activities without questioning imperialism.5

Besides memsahibs, the preponderance of Western women who went to India in

the post-1850 period worked in, or were married to men who worked in, Christian

missions. Again, specific missionaries and their life stories defy stereotyping; however,

most Christian crusaders, initially at least, supported imperialism and shared the

widespread belief in the notion of India and its downtrodden people as constituting what

was commonly referred to as the "white man's burden." Adherence to belief in empire did

not mean that missionaries were always in partnership or agreement with the colonial

government. More interested in winning converts for the holy kingdom, missions

sometimes came into conflict with administrators of the British kingdom.6 Furthermore,

missionaries often underwent profound changes in perspective after living in India for

some years. Gandhi had his admirers and detractors among the missionary population.

4. Pat Barr, The Memsahibs: The Women of Victorian India (London: Seeker & Warburg, 1976), Pat Barr, The Dust in the Balance: British Women in India 1905-1945 (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1989. Interestingly, Marjorie Sykes is included as one of the three non-conformists. Barr had the opportunity to interview Sykes late in her life. Margaret Cousins is one of the other "odd" ones.

5. Mary Ann Lind, The Compassionate Memsahibs: Welfare Activities of British Women in India, 1900-1947 (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1988); Karen Tranberg Hansen, "Review," Signs Vol. 14, No. 4 (Summer, 1989), 930-934.

6. For one view of the relationship and tensions that sometimes existed between secular and religious authorities in India, see Andrew Porter's essay "Religion, Missionary Enthusiasm, and Empire," in The

3

There were some who recognized his spiritual leadership but disagreed with his politics.

Many Christians, not only in India but across the globe, hoped that Gandhi would join

their faith, believing him to be the embodiment of Christ's teachings. However, Gandhi's

outspoken criticism of conversion disturbed some missionaries. Leading Christian

Indians, even those who believed in his political message, did not always agree with his

7

method of non-cooperation.

For missionaries who began to doubt the Tightness of the colonial agenda in India

and open up dialogue with Indians, and, in particular, with Gandhi, the consequences

were often life-changing. The colonial government kept close watch on Gandhi and his

associates, so, if members of missions began to visit or correspond with Gandhi, pressure

was brought to bear. Missionary societies, anxious not to run afoul of the British

government, could not afford to have their missions jeopardized by individuals

sympathetic to Indian aspirations for independence. A few missionaries, forced to choose 8

sides, opted to leave their missions and join the Indian cause. Such examples are

represented in this study. Thus, it might be suggested that the phrase in my dissertation

title: "Neither Memsahibs nor Missionaries" is not entirely accurate. However, I have

made a decision to assign non-missionary status to those disaffected mission workers

who, through their questioning of British/Christian imperialism, made the radical choice

to join Indians in their non-violent struggle for autonomy. That there were missionaries

Oxford History of the British Empire, Vol. Ill,The Nineteenth Century, ed. Andrew Porter (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), pp. 76-95.

7. For more on this topic, see Susan Harper Billington, In the Shadow of the Mahatma: Bishop V.S. Azariah and the Travails of Christianity in British India (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Erdmans, 2000).

8. It is highly likely that there were many who supported Gandhi in limited ways and were not forced to make such a radical choice. Chapter 3 includes a letter from a retired Canadian missionary, written in 1948 to the then Premier of New Brunswick, which indicates as much.

4

who remained within the mission world and carried out worthwhile work that was not

solely evangelistic is certain. A sensitive study by Ruth Compton Brouwer focusses on

three professional women who served in missions overseas. They represented

Christianity and, to varying degrees, their work was fueled by spiritual fervour. However,

they eschewed the narrower confines of earlier female mission work by taking leading

roles as highly skilled professionals in their respective fields.9 In contrast, the women in

this study chose to give up whatever professional standing they had for the greater cause

of Indian independence.

Those Western women who committed themselves to Gandhi's ideal vision of a

new, independent country, free from caste and religious prejudice, differed in significant

ways from the memsahibs and more conventional missionaries. Whether or not they

articulated their decision to do so, these individuals adopted lives of voluntary poverty.

Living among the poorest of the poor, the women eschewed privileges normally accorded

to or expected by Westerners. As a result, recurring bouts of malaria, intestinal problems

and other tropical diseases dogged some of these women throughout their lives. In Polly

Chesley's case, her premature death undoubtedly was caused by her determination to

forego any special pampering in the face of a weakened immune system. A vigorous,

athletic woman in the West, she threw caution to the winds in her desire to embrace the

lifestyle of an Indian villager, unable, perhaps, to imagine her own vulnerability.

What were the defining differences between these women and those who retained

colonial thinking? Of note is the fact that, in contrast to memsahibs, all of the women in

9. Ruth Compton Brouwer, Modern Women Modernizing Men: The Changing Missions of Three Professional Women in Asia and Africa, 1902-69 (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2002).

5

this study came to India as single women, rather than as companions to men.10 Prior to

their time in India, some of the women had been exposed to, or involved in, social or

political activities such as the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

(WILPF), the Friends of India Society, the Independent Labour Party, and non­

conformist churches. Some had established friendships with Indian students studying

abroad. Either because of their family backgrounds or their formative educational

experiences, these women had been exposed to colleagues and mentors who inspired

critical thinking and high ideals.

Why carry out this particular study? It could be argued that the world hardly

needs yet another work concerned with Gandhi (although it appears that Gandhian topics

continue to engage researchers in various fields of study). When I began this work, I

discovered that there existed little critical examination of the Western women who were

in Gandhi's circle of associates, either as individuals or collectively, yet in the search for

Polly Chesley's story, I identified approximately twenty women of potential interest. The

depth of extant records varies greatly, with minimal surviving material on some

individuals and considerably more information on others. After careful deliberation, I

resisted the temptation to include something on all of the women I found. Nevertheless,

to ensure that they are not relegated to total obscurity, I have included Appendix I, which

depicts, in diagrammatic form, the known connections between the women. These lines

do not signify the depth of relationship between any of the individuals, but merely show

that the women met at some time. The diagram is not necessarily complete: there

10. One of the women, Margaret (Stay) Jones, a social activist in her own right, came to India to join George Jones in Gandhian village work and they were married soon after her arrival. However, George Jones died ten months later and Margaret remained single, spending most of her life in India working in health care.

6

may be missing lines of connection. The lines included merely signify what this

researcher has been able to establish from the records. However, in the case of some of

the women, the lines between them represent deep and enduring friendships. Based on

availability of sources, individual levels of engagement in the independence movement,

as well a number of other factors, approximately half the women named in the appendix

have been singled out for inclusion here.

I have chosen to call this a collective biography. In 1971, when Lawrence Stone

established the parameters for what constituted a "collective biography", or

"prosopography", it is apparent that he did not take into consideration the possibility of a

collective biography of women.11 However, he defined prosopography as an

"investigation of the common background characteristics of a group of actors in history

by means of a collective study of their lives."12 In broad terms, he distinguished two

schools of thought or approach to the collective biography - that of studying elites, and

that of studying mass groups. In the case of elites, often there is considerable personal

information available on the individuals included in the study, whereas in the mass

approach, more impersonal data, such as census, tax and property records help to create

profiles of groups where limited or no personal information is known. This collective

biography has more in common with the elite approach in that there are personal

biographical data available on the subjects included. However, in Stone's understanding

of elites, the actors in the group hold positions of power and influence, bolstered by their

network of connections, familial and otherwise. In contrast, the women who make up this

collective biography were not interested in personal or political power. The common

11. Lawrence Stone, "Prosopography," Daedalus, 100:1 (Winter 1971), 46-79. \2. Ibid., 46.

7

characteristics that bring this group together are as follows: all had non-conformist or

eccentric backgrounds and all were teachers, either by training or inclination. They were

altruistic, self-possessed but not self-obsessed (a characteristic more likely to be found

among memsahibs). All became anti-colonial and supported Indians' rights to

independence. They were political and/or social activists, grounded by faith and belief in

non-violence. One could define them as non-violent revolutionaries and in their post-

Independence activities, they continued to live up to this definition.

This collective biography has chapters devoted to specific individuals, as well as

chapters that include a number of women, some of whom are somewhat peripheral but

nevertheless connected to the story. Through a mutual contact, Gandhi scholar Thomas

Weber from Australia got in touch with me when he was in the process of completing his

own study about the Western women (including those in South Africa) associated with

Gandhi. His manuscript, ready for publication, focusses on some of the same women;

however, the emphasis in his text is on the relationship between Gandhi and these

women. In this study, Gandhi and discipleship to Gandhi is not the direction taken.

Instead, I will argue that, in spite of their strong attraction to Gandhi and his mission,

each woman came into contact and friendship with Gandhi because she already had

formed her own political and social ideas that dovetailed with Gandhi's vision. Gandhi

appealed to the women because of his adherence to non-violence and his spiritual

approach to social and political challenges. Furthermore, Gandhi honoured women's

work and their active participation in the movement for change. Recognizing the duality

associated with gender, Gandhi regarded himself as much as a mother figure as a father

figure and his adoption of the spinning wheel as a symbol of self-reliance, and, indeed,

8

the symbol for independence, gives concrete evidence of his valuing of traditional

women's work.

While Gandhi remains in the background in this study, some historical context is

appropriate in order to set the stage. Gandhi's return to India in 1915 after years of living

in South Africa marked a new chapter in his life and works. The women in this study

only knew Gandhi from this period onward; thus, the following very brief overview will

only address those events that followed from this time.

When Gandhi returned to India, he was 45 years old and had not even stepped on

native soil in 12 years.13 To familiarize himself with the country and its people, Gandhi

took the advice of his mentor, one of India's leading nationalists, Gopal Krishna

Gokhale, who urged him to take a year for observation before getting involved in any

active political work.14 During his years in South Africa, Gandhi had honed many of his

leadership skills and through experimentation had developed political and social ideas as

well as strategies that he would further refine in India. He had worked out the

philosophical and spiritual foundation for non-violent resistance in South Africa, calling

its practical application, Satyagraha (meaning truth-force or soul-force). The

underpinnings for non-violent resistance required that those engaged, satyagrahis, adopt

the principles ofahimsa (non-violence, love) and tapasya (willingness for self-sacrifice).

Using Satyagraha, Gandhi's basic objectives were Swaraj (self-governance or

independence) and Savodaya (social uplift for all).15

13. Rajmohan Gandhi, Gandhi: The Man, His People, and the Empire (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007), p. 177.

14. Indian leader, G. K. Gokale (1866-1915) was one of the early proponents of Indian nationalism and the founder of the Servants of India Society, an organization that was particularly interested in promoting higher education for Indians. A politician and social reformer, Gokhale greatly inspired Gandhi and Gandhi, in turn, impressed Gokhale.

15. Pratibha Jain, Gandhian Ideas, Social Movements and Creativity (Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 1985), p. 28.

9

Within a year of his arrival in India, Gandhi established Satyagraha Ashram with

the intention of training satyagrahis for the country's struggle for independence.

Relocated two years later alongside the Sabarmati River near Ahmedabad in Gandhi's

home province of Gujarat, it was renamed Sabarmati Ashram. Some of the women in this

study (the earlier arrivals) first met Gandhi at Sabarmati. They visited or lived there for

varying periods of time.

The dramatic events of Gandhi's first years back in the country will not be

addressed here because the primary subjects of this dissertation were not yet engaged

with Gandhi's movement. In the mid-1920s, Gandhi stepped back from the active protest

of the early post-World War One period and turned his focus to developing constructive

work and fighting prejudice against Untouchables.16 By 1930, however, Gandhi gauged

that the time had come for direct action once again and he initiated one of his most

memorable acts of non-violent civil disobedience, the great Salt March.

The British charged Indians a tax on the salt that was harvested from the country's

shores. Poor Indians could not to afford to pay for this essential. For Gandhi, the salt tax

forcefully highlighted the starkness and injustice of British imperial policy in India.

Therefore, on 12 March 1930, Gandhi and his fellow satyagrahis began a march of over

200 miles, from Sabarmati to Dandi, on the seashore.17 With the world press watching,

Gandhi, the brilliant strategist, gathered up salt from the shore, inspiring hundreds of

thousands of Indians across the country to do the same. Over the following year, the

crackdown by the British was severe; but police violence perpetrated on the peaceful

16. R. Gandhi, Gandhi, The Man, p. 311. 17. Richard Attenborough's film, Gandhi, released in 1983, can be criticized on a number of counts,

but its depiction of the 1930 Salt March did effectively capture the drama and visceral power of Gandhi's Satyagraha.

satyagrahis and imprisonment of Gandhi and approximately 90,000 other Indians only

served to galvanize the public. From this time onward, Gandhi gained increasing

sympathy internationally, but, more importantly, he built huge support among Indian

women and girls who entered into the spirit of swadeshi, depending on the resources and

manufactures of their own country rather than on foreign imports.18 By organizing

pickets against the sale of liquor and foreign cloth, women participated in public life, the

majority of them for the first time.19

In January 1931, after eight months in jail, Gandhi was released.20 Later that year,

he and his entourage sailed to England to attend the Second Round Table Conference, a

meeting to which the British authorities invited representatives of numerous Indian

interests and factions.21 The discussions to work out resolutions involving India's

political fate failed abysmally. But it was during his time in London that Gandhi's

friendships with a number of the women in this study were reestablished or initiated.22

Almost immediately upon return to India in early 1932, Gandhi and many

members of the National Indian Congress were arrested once again. Over the next few

years, Gandhi would spend time in and out of prison. He disbanded Sabarmati Ashram so

that the government could not confiscate the land and any more of its contents than had

already been seized, and moved the ashram community to Wardha in Central India. In

18. Meaning: made in or belonging to one's country. As early as his writing of Hind Swaraj in 1909, Gandhi promoted the idea of using only what one's own country makes. Ibid., p. 142.

19. Ibid., pp. 313,317. 20. C.B. Dalai, Gandhi: 1915-1948-A Detailed Chronology (New Delhi: Gandhi Peace Foundation,

1971), p. 86.1 have relied on this reference for some of the dating of Gandhi's activities. 21. Gandhi's group included Mirabehn, one of women in this study, who had been living in India

since 1925. 22. Gandhi also developed friendships with a number of women who have been included in Appendix

I but are not part of this study (e.g. Dorothy Hogg, Mildred Osterhout and Gladys Owen).

1936 Gandhi would establish another ashram in the village of Segaon outside of Wardha

and rename it Sevagram. This became and remained his home base.

Gandhi's involvement with the Indian National Congress had been constant since

his return to India in 1915. He had his detractors among Congress members, especially

those who did not approve of his civil disobedience tactics; nevertheless, he gained the

support and following of a growing number of new Indian nationalists. Gandhi

reorganized the party, transforming it from an elitist urban-based group to one that

represented Indians from all across the country. Furthermore, he ensured that leadership

within the Congress became more dependent on a member's social service work than on

their wealth or social standing. By the mid-1930s, although he remained a powerful

influence, Gandhi stepped down from direct leadership in the Congress to focus even

more of his energy on constructive work. This is the part of Gandhi's social platform that

the women in this study were primarily engaged in. The nature of their constructive

work, which involved building self-reliance in rural communities, will be discussed in

later chapters.

World War Two once again threw India's situation vis-a-vis its British rulers into

stark relief. Fed up with Britain's unwillingness to grant independence, even while the

colonial administration expected Indians to actively support and participate in the war

effort, Gandhi decided the time had come to take a position from which there would be

no return. In 1942, Gandhi sent Mirabehn, one of the women in this study, to present his

"Quit India" resolution to members of the All India Congress Committee of the Indian

National Congress. In essence, it spelled out India's non-compliance with Britain in the

execution of the war. After debate and compromises, the resolution was approved and

passed. Immediate incarceration of Gandhi and his colleagues followed and some of

Gandhi's greatest personal losses occurred shortly after. Mahadev Desai, his beloved

secretary, and Kasturba, Gandhi's wife of over sixty years, both died while in prison.

Gandhi never fully recovered from these blows and the subsequent heartbreak of

witnessing India's Partition and the communal violence that accompanied independence,

which was finally granted in August 1947. His assassination in early 1948, only months

after independence had been declared, brought an end to Gandhi's life, if not his legacy.

All of the prime subjects of this study began their associations with Gandhi

between the mid-1920s and 1930s. After the "Quit India" resolution was introduced, two

went to prison as a result of their involvement in the independence movement. Several

continued to live and work in India after independence and became Indian citizens. How

can the roles these women played in the movement best be characterized? In analyzing

these roles, and, in particular, the whole question of discipleship versus mentorship, it

will be necessary to acknowledge that among the study group there were a couple who

may have self-identified as disciples; however, in important ways, mentorship and

friendship would be more appropriate terms to describe their relations with Gandhi. The

fact that most of the women maintained their Christian faith lends support to this

contention.

This argument may be overly weighted by my own Western conceit of

individualism and leeriness of the notion of discipleship to a gum. To some degree, this

may be a problem of semantics. In the West, the idea of mentorship is more acceptable,

perhaps because it implies a secular, more business-like quality of guidance from an

older, experienced person. In India, discipleship to a spiritual guide or guru is a far more

accepted practice. In the West, certain religious or philosophical thinkers may inspire

those who are deeply spiritual, but, among Christians, it is more acceptable to claim to be

a follower of Christ rather than of a living person. Too often, charismatic religious

figures in the West who gain followings and form sects have proved to be false prophets

with questionable spiritual qualification and dubious intentions. While there have always

been Westerners drawn to Eastern religions where discipleship to a living guru is the

norm, I would argue that the women in this study were not typical of those who have

gone to the East for such an experience. Of their relationship with spirituality, more will

be said at a later point.

Of the women in this study, there are at least three whose names are still well

known within India among certain groups. In large measure, it is because of their work in

India since Independence and post-Gandhi as much as their actual association with

Gandhi. Each of these women has garnered some attention and accolades. Indian

associates of Mirabehn23 (Madeleine Slade), Gandhi's most famous Western "disciple,"

put out a commemorative volume in her honour on the centenary of her birth.24 Valuable

as this document is, there is little analysis and the book does not try to place Mirabehn

within a comparative context that includes the other Western women in this study. Of all

the women addressed in this dissertation, she is the most readily associated as a disciple

of Gandhi and that, perhaps, is why Mirabehn may be the least understood, from a

Western perspective. The fact that no one has attempted to write in depth about her

reflects the difficulty she presents to anyone trying to understand her place in the history

of Gandhi's independence struggle.

23. Variously written Mira Behn, Miraben, Meera Ben or Mirabai. Behn, meaning "sister" and bai, meaning a woman, are common honorifics used when addressing women in India. There is considerable flexibility in the way Indian words are spelled in English due to problems of transliteration.

24. Krishna Murti Gupta, Mira Behn: Gandhiji 's Daughter Disciple Birth Centenary Volume (New Delhi: Himalaya Seva Sangh, 1992).

14

Sarala Behn (Catherine Heilemann) has an almost mythic reputation in the hill

country of Uttarakhand (formerly part of Uttar Pradesh). Founder of the Lakshmi

Ashram, a school for girls and young women run on Gandhi's Basic Education principles

and still in operation, Sarala Behn inspired several generations of social activists in

Northern India. Again, a commemorative volume, containing personal reminiscences of

friends, associates and students, was published in her honour.25 Since most of the

contributions are written in Hindi, it limits the readership in the English-speaking world.

A recent translation into English (yet to be published) of Sarala Behn's autobiography26

is useful for filling in some details of her life, but there is a certain stiffness in the telling

that may stem from the fact that her Hindi might have been more functional than literary.

Sarala Behn's importance as a mentor among activists in Uttaranchal has been more

widely acknowledged through the writings of scientist and environmentalist, Vandana

Shiva, but placing her in the context of other Western women has not been attempted.27

In some ways, because she rejected the West so adamantly, it is challenging to situate her

in this group study. Nevertheless, she developed good friendships with some women in

this study and shared common ground with them in terms of her politics and commitment

to India.

The third person whose reputation in India stands out most significantly is

Marjorie Sykes. Her personal and professional connections included not only Gandhi, but

also other eminent figures in India such as Rabindranath Tagore, Vinoba Bhave,

Jayaprakash Narayan and Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (most commonly known as Rajaji

25. Sarala Bahana Smrti Grantha, ed. Santi Lala Trivedi (Kausani: Lakshmi Asrama, 1984). 26. Unpublished translation by David Hopkins, on staff at the Lakshmi Ashram. 27. Vandana Shiva, Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development (London: Zed Books, 1990).

or C.R.). She wrote extensively about India and translated the writings of Tagore,

Bhave and others from Bengali, Tamil and Hindi. She also wrote in Hindi. For her

literary contributions alone, she would be assured a place in the memory of India.

However, she is equally remembered among many for her commitment to Gandhian

simplicity, both in her own lifestyle and in her desire to teach the principles of living

holistically. Sykes has been the subject of an admiring and useful biography by an

American Quaker that includes references to friendships with other women in this

study.29 The goal of this dissertation is to situate her even more firmly within a larger

framework.

If these particular women have gained almost saintly status among many admirers,

it is not to say that they were without detractors. Even among the people who regarded

them with respect, the women were sometime considered formidable or challenging. Of

the three, Marjorie Sykes is the best known outside of India, for she travelled extensively

in her later years in her capacity as a lecturer and teacher of Gandhian non-violent

philosophy and action.

In addition to the aforementioned women, this study will include others who

participated in India's independence movement in more or less significant ways. For the

purposes of organization and management, I have chosen a number of the women as

major players in the drama and some as minor players, largely because of limited

information and the fact that their legacy is less clearly understood. Certain incidental

figures will be woven into the story to illustrate a number of points. First, they were

28. The other women in this study also knew some of these well-known Indian figures of whom more will be said in later chapters.

29. Martha Dart, Marjorie Sykes: Quaker-Gandhian (York: Sessions Book Trust, 1993).

friends or colleagues of the prime subjects of this collective biography and also had

connections with Gandhi. Because they spent significant periods of time in India and

dedicated themselves to promoting Gandhi's cause in the West, two women who did not

actually live in India have been included. Muriel Lester, an internationally known

Christian pacifist, first met and became friends with Gandhi in India in the 1920s. When

he came to England in 1931 for political meetings, Gandhi stayed at Kingsley Hall, a

community centre that Lester had established in one of London's poorest districts. A

staunch ally of Gandhi, Lester often spoke of his work when on speaking tours

throughout the world. The other woman, Agatha Harrison, was the secretary and key

figure in the India Conciliation Group, comprised of British supporters of Gandhi.

Remarkably, Harrison worked for many years without the benefit of a clear-cut job

description or salary but was financially supported in the work she did by the wealthy

Indian industrialist, G.D. Birla, a key benefactor in sustaining Gandhi's mission.

Although the subject of a memoir by her sister as well as a memorial volume published

by the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) following her

death in 1954, today, Harrison is, more or less, a forgotten figure in the West. The esteem

in which she was held in India is evidenced by the fact that the Government of India,

under Nehru, set up a prestigious fellowship in her name. To this day, the Agatha

Harrison Memorial Fellowship continues to be awarded to Indian post-doctoral students

for advanced research in Britain.

Mary Chesley, whose story began this research, did not have a long time in India

before her death. Nevertheless, her activism prior to arriving in India provides an

opportunity to explore the formation of a radical and independent woman of the period.

While each woman's story is unique, using Chesley's history helps to reveal some

17

important connecting points among the women. Two women (included in the diagram in

Appendix I) had brief associations with some of the women in this study while they lived

in Gandhi's ashram at Sabarmati. Margaret Spiegel, a German, and Nilla Cram Cook, an

American, stand out as the "wild cards". Tempting though it is to include them for high

drama, they do not fall into line with the others because of their unstable and somewhat

contradictory personalities. Creative and brilliant in certain areas (both were gifted

linguists and Cook had great talent in the performing arts), these women were more

problematic than helpful for Gandhi and the movement. Ultimately, they do not fall

within the parameters of this study because they did not have the qualities that distinguish

this collective of women as defined in my prosopographic outline. Spiegel was too

uncertain of herself to be particularly useful and Cook was too self-absorbed in her own

drama. Fascinating though Cook's story is, I leave it for someone else to address.30

Thomas Weber has included the two in his study.

This research, in focussing on Western women who supported Indian

independence, is not meant to inflate or over emphasize their importance to the struggle.

There is no question that the participation in the non-cooperation movement of countless

Indian women, both named and anonymous, many of whom had never taken any public

role before, had more significance politically and socially in the dying days of British

30. Nilla Cram Cook wrote an autobiographical account of her early life in My Road to India (New York: Lee Furman, Inc., 1939). Her exploits while in India were well covered by the American press. From 8 May 1933 to 27 March 1934, The New York Times carried fourteen news items about her. In the 1940s, Cram Cook went to Iran where she formed a national dance troupe. See Nilla Cram Cook, "The Theater and Ballet Arts of Iran," The Middle East Journal, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Oct. 1949): 406-420. One of Cram Cook's ballet students in Iran, Nesta Ramazani, gives personal impressions of her teacher in The Dance of the Rose and the Nightingale (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2002). According to Mirabehn, during the 1950s, she and Cook met again by chance when Cook was engaged in translating Kashmiri poetry, which contained "a unique blending of Hindu and Moslem thought and mysticism." Cook had not forgotten Gandhi's urging, years earlier, to use her art for better understanding between world religions. Madeleine Slade, Spirit's Pilgrimage (New York: Coward-McCann, Inc., 1960), p. 309.

18

colonial rule. The impact of colonialism on both subject peoples and the citizens of the

colonizing nation is varied and complex. The 1990s saw a surge of research addressing

Indian women and the independence movement,31 as well as important contributions to

historiography exploring Western women's involvement in the Indian story, particularly

with respect to their complicity in colonial rule. This dissertation will explore the part

that a small group of Western women played in rejecting not only colonialism but also

the status quo in terms of traditional expectations based on gender, race and class.

Western women's involvement in India in the decades prior to and following

independence has yet to be given much attention, with the exception of memorial

accounts concerning Madeleine Slade/Mirabehn, the English devotee who worked with

Gandhi for over twenty years, and Catherine Heilemann/Saralabehn.32 Certainly Slade

cannot be considered one of the anonymous. Because she was from an upper-class British

admiral's family, her decision to abandon all connections and comforts to join a "little

brown man" in his fight for Indian self-government placed her in the limelight and, as

Kumari Jayawardena states, she stood out particularly within the colonial context because

31. For a selection of works on Indian women's participation in the independence movement, see Manmohan Kaur, Women in India's Freedom Struggle (New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, 1985); Aparna Basu, "Feminism and Nationalism in India, 1917-1947," Journal of Women's History, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Winter 1995): 95-107; Madhu Kishwar, "Gandhi on Women," Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 20, No. 40 (Oct. 5, 1985): 1691-1702 and No. 41 (Oct. 12, 1985): 1753-1758; Joanna Liddle and Rama Joshi, "Gender and Colonialism: Women's Organisations Under the Raj," Women's Studies International Forum, Vol. 8, No. 3 (1985): 521-529; Suruchi Thapar, "Women as Activists; Women as Symbols: A Study of the Indian Nationalist Movement," Feminist Review, No. 44 (Summer 1993): 81-96.

32. Kumari Jayawardena includes a chapter on Slade in The White Woman's Other Burden: Western Women and South Asia During British Rule (New York: Routledge, 1995), p. 195-206. More hagiography than critical assessment, Krishna Murti Gupta's Mira Behn: Gandhiji 's Daughter Disciple Birth Centenary Volume, (New Delhi: Himalaya Seva Sangh, 1992) brings together personal reminiscences by Indians and Westerners who knew Slade. What is apparent is the place of honour Slade holds in the hearts of some Indians for her adoption of their country and its struggle. Ved Mehta, in Gandhi and his Apostles (NewYork: Viking Press, 1976) gives a very unflattering account of his meeting with Mirabehn in her elder years in Austria. Based on the fact that his book is totally anecdotal, Mehta's work is difficult to verify. Other interviews with Mirabehn from the same time period paint a somewhat different picture. As already noted, Saralabehn has also been memorialized in a volume of reminiscences, largely in Hindi.

she did not follow the gender, class and racial expectations held for white women.

Slade's decision to join Gandhi did not seem to arise from a highly developed political

understanding, and Gandhi himself, in the early years, was often disturbed by the

personal nature of her devotion. In her autobiography Mirabehn indicated that she felt a

calling to join Gandhi in his cause to free oppressed Indian through truth and non­

violence. She said that she sensed that his work, while focussed in India, was really for

all of humanity.34 I will argue that Slade was much more radical in some respects than

given credit for and she did become a political participant and eventually served terms in

prison for her support of the independence cause. At the outset neither overtly political

nor a feminist, Slade grew into her politics, but it is unlikely that she ever engaged with

feminism intellectually or concretely. She did, however, work with some of India's

leading feminist women in the independence movement and her life choices indicate an

independence of spirit that, at the very least, reflected one of the goals of feminism. Some

contend that she was simply someone who was willing to follow others, yet, as will be

discussed in a later chapter, Mirabehn was also an initiator with a mind of her own. A

complex personality—someone who inspired both praise and ridicule—Mirabehn, with

her long and deep association with Gandhi, warrants a significant place in this study.

Saralabehn, whose name is still widely known in the foothills of the Himalayas,

was politicized in Britain at an early age through her own painful personal experiences of

injustice and prejudice. She made friends with Indian nationalists in London and

supported the movement for independence. Although it is not known whether she

participated in feminist activities at that time, she ultimately provided an important, if

33. Jayawardena, White Woman's Other Burden, p. 105. 34. Slade, The Spirit's Pilgrimage, p. 60.

unstated, feminist model in India. Through her example and encouragement, the young

women who came under her influence found the courage to step out of the limited

traditional roles of their gender, caste and class and live lives that would not have been

imagined otherwise. Some of the leading women activists to emerge in the northern state

of Uttarakhand after independence gained their training through Saralabehn and the

women she mentored.

The motivations of other Westerners who supported the independence cause are

varied, but there are some common threads among a number of them. Thus far, the

historiography on Westerners and Gandhi has focussed primarily on men who became

friends and supporters of Gandhi during the years leading up to independence.35 Of the

women, what we know is mostly derived from personal memoirs, recollections of

friends36 or Gandhi's letters to these women.37 Among Gandhi's Western supporters, both

male and female, one finds a preponderance of individuals with strong spiritual and

pacifist convictions. For obvious reasons, Gandhi's promotion of non-violence attracted

35. Richard Symonds, "Recollections of Horace Alexander and Gandhi," Indo-British Review, Vol. 14, No. 2 (1988): 8-17; David M. Gracie, Gandhi and Charlie: The Story of a Friendship (Cambridge, MA: Cowley Publications, 1989); Kenton J. Clymer, "Samuel Evans Stokes, Mahatma Gandhi, and Indian Nationalism," Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 59, No. 1 (1990): 51-76; William W. Emilsen, Violence and Atonement: The Missionary Experiences of Mohandas Gandhi, Samuel Stokes and Verrier Elwin in India before 1935 (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1994).

36. Slade, The Spirit's Pilgrimage. Eleanor Morton, Women Behind Mahatma Gandhi (London: Max Reinhardt, 1954) wrote of a number of significant women in Gandhi's life; however, with the exception of Slade, the Western women she includes are those friends from his time in South Africa. Martha Dart's Marjorie Sykes: Quaker-Gandhian (Hyderabad: Academy of Gandhian Studies, 1993) and Marjorie Sykes's An Indian Tapestry: Quaker Threads in the History of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh from the Seventeenth Century to Independence (York, England: Sessions Book Trust, 1997) are useful starting points for tracing some of the women who had connections with Gandhi and supported independence. Irene Harrison, Agatha Harrison: An Impression by her Sister (London: Allen & Unwin, 1956) gives an account of her sister, based largely on their correspondence over the years.

37. The most complete compilation of Gandhi's letters is the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (New Delhi: Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt, of India, 1958-1984). Other published collections to individuals include Madeleine Slade, Bapu 's Letters to Mira (Ahmedabad: Navajivan Publishing House, 1949); F. Mary Barr, Bapu: Conversations and Correspondence with Mahatma Gandhi (Bombay: International Book House [Private] Ltd., 2nd edition, 1956); Alice Barnes, ed. (for letters to Esther Faering Menon) My Dear Child (Ahmedabad: Navajivan Publishing House, 1956).

21

Quakers who have traditionally espoused pacifism. What is interesting is that a number

of Westerners actually became Quakers while living in India. Among Gandhi's Western

men friends, several had originally been clergymen or missionaries (for example, Charles

Freer Andrews, Elwin Verrier and Samuel Stokes). As already stated, some of the women

came to India initially under the auspices of missions, but abandoned the mission field to

join the Indian cause.

To what extent were these women supporters of the Indian movement making

"atonement" for the wrongs of British imperialism such as has been suggested as

motivation for certain western male missionaries?39 Gandhi himself was a great believer

in atonement and, in a conversation with Mary Barr, a missionary who was on the verge

of "going native," he had this to say:

I have no objection to your 'becoming Indian' but I must warn you that you may sometimes meet opposition from others. But if you do, you must just regard it, as Father Elwin does, as penance for the sins that English people have done to India. I feel similarly that any sufferings which we have to bear at the hands of the British must be regarded as penance for our sins to the Harijans [Untouchables].40

Again, another reference to atonement comes from a Danish missionary, Esther Faering,

who arrived in India in 1915 and first met Gandhi in 1917. Because of her association

with Gandhi, Faering ran afoul of both British officialdom and the Danish Missionary

Society. She eventually married E. Kuhni Menon, an Indian doctor. The following was

written to Gandhi in 1926:

When I read about the treatment given to you in S.A., I wish I did not belong to the white race. I don't think the white race in this world can

38. There are distinctions to be made between Western pacifism and Gandhi's non-violence; however, for the purposes of this discussion, the differences are not critical.

39. Emilsen's Violence and Atonement addresses this issue. 40. Barr, Bapu Conversations and Correspondence, p. 57. Although undated, it appears to have been

written in 1933. Gandhi coined the term Harijan (translated as "child of God") for Untouchables. This is not a term that was widely adopted nor has it remained in usage (since the 1960s, the term Dalit has been used).

atone for all her crimes and sins against the other races.... I can only hope and pray, that my children will grow up as Indians being proud of India and giving her their best, because they have learnt to feel and think as Indians.41

In essence, Indian activist Hanna Sen was suggesting a similar notion when she

spoke of internationalist feminists being "motivated by a new spirit of partial guilt and

partial pain."42 Whether Polly Chesley was moved by a desire to atone for Western sins is

unknown. What is apparent is that she threw herself into Indian life completely, living

and working among villagers with, perhaps, a recklessness that may have cost Chesley

her life. It is difficult to know whether the undiagnosed illness that killed her could have

been avoided had she exercised more caution in exposing herself to conditions for which

she had built up no immunity. Possibly a more relevant question to ask in the context of

this chapter's exploration of women's activism is: what part, if any, did Polly Chesley's

feminism play in her decision to go to India and then subsequently engage in the

independence movement at the grass roots level? One cannot assume that all of the

Western women who adopted a pro-independence position considered themselves

feminist.43 They were independent women, mostly teachers, who came to live and work

in India. It is possible that, for some, conversion to the ideal of independence developed

through observing the injustices of colonial rule as well as finding an attraction to

Gandhi's charismatic message promoting political, spiritual and social reconstruction. In

contrast, Chesley did have a history of political and social activism. Based on her own

words, it appears that she found her way to India because of Indian women friends who

urged her to come and she had thought that she would find something worthwhile to do

41. Letter from Esther Faering Menon to Gandhi, 14 August 1926. S.N. 10985, Sabarmati Archives, Ahmedabad.

42. Mrinalini Sinha, "Suffragism and Internationalism: The Enfranchisement of British and Indian Women under an Imperial State," in Women's Suffrage in the British Empire, eds. Ian C. Fletcher et al, (London: Routledge, 2000), p. 233. Full quote is included in Chapter One.

43. With the exception of Chesley, Harrison and Lester, there are almost no explicit references to feminism in the records pertaining to these women. A letter from Faering Menon to Gandhi, dated 25 April 1933, tells of admiring E. Pankhurst's book The Suffragette Women's Movement and comparing it to the India's independence movement. S.N. 19032, Sabarmati Archives.

23

there. Once in India she did not attach herself to the Indian women's movement.

Nevertheless, Chesley lived in the Mahila (Women's) Ashram in Wardha and it may be

that her choice to engage at the village level and learn from the local people was, in fact,

a more radical stance for a Western feminist. The leaders of the women's movement were

from the elite classes in India and even Chesley's friends who urged her to join them in

India were wealthy, educated Indians who told her that she would "never have to spend

another penny" if she came there to live.44 Chesley and the other women in this study

chose to live among the poorest villagers, participating in Gandhi's social experiment, the

goals of which were to reform the caste system by eliminating untouchability and

develop viable community life at the village and rural level. Because of the briefness of

Chesley's engagement in India it is impossible to predict what her response would have

been to the changes that eventually would be wrought by Partition in 1947, independence

and Gandhi's assassination in 1948. Other "Gandhian" women45 who chose lives of

service in the emerging India did become committed citizens of the new nation. For

example, Mary Barr and Marjorie Sykes came to India to teach in 1920 and 1928

respectively. They spent the better part of their lives in the country (they were also

among those Westerners who joined the Society of Friends while living in India).

Mirabehn lived in India into the mid-1950s when health concerns and a shift in direction

led her to leave the country. Saralabehn lived in India until her death, never having

returned to Britain, even for a visit. Undoubtedly, there were other Western women

(whether colonialists or radicals who rejected Gandhi's path of non-violence) who stayed

on after Independence. The following chapters will explore how this particular collective

44. Letter from Polly Chesley to "Dear Friends," from Shahjehanpur, United Provinces, 24 December 1934. Private collection. I have a photocopy.

45. Martha Dart, the American Quaker friend who wrote the biography of Marjorie Sykes chose as her title Marjorie Sykes: Quaker Gandhian. Sykes, in a letter dated 19 July 1993, expressed the following: "Only now do I know the title you have chosen. I think if I had known I would have queried it, especially as Gandhi himself strongly objected to anything called Gandhi-ism or Gandhi-an." In Quaker Friendship: Letters from Marjorie Sykes, compiled and ed. Martha Dart (York: William Sessions Limited, 1999), p. 109. In spite of Gandhi's objections, over the years, the term "Gandhian" has been commonly adopted to refer to works or people associated with Gandhi.

24

participated as supporters of India's aspirations in the last years of the colonial empire

and beyond.

In style, this dissertation is clearly a biographical narrative. To make the argument

that these women moved in the world as active agents in their own right and not merely

as camp followers of Gandhi, it is critical to provide their background histories, limited

as those records are in some cases. The attempt to write a collective biography that would

shed light on this particular group of women has been challenging for a number of

reasons. Limited documentary evidence, the necessity of having to rely heavily on

laudatory memorials that speak mainly of the women's good qualities and works, and my

own admiration of these women have all been factors. Only two of the women left

strictly autobiographical accounts. Although some might argue to the contrary,

particularly in the current climate of "tell-all" confessionals, Carolyn Heibrun's Writing a

Woman's Life suggests that the inherent difficulty in writing female autobiography arises

from the conscious and unconscious constraints against women to expose emotions such

as anger or pain.46 Trained to be or appear docile, women have tended to mask their

desires and passion. Heilbrun cites Eudora Welty as an example of a writer whose own

autobiographical account, One Woman's Beginnings, though beautifully wrought,

portrays an almost idyllic world of her childhood. Heilbrun argues that it is the only way

a woman like Welty was able to write about herself. However, she believes that Welty's

fiction may have more "truth" in the way it reveals a deep understanding of the conflicted

nature in women's lives, knowledge that could only come from some personal

experience.47 Heilbrun also recounts how writer May Sarton came to the realization some

time later that her autobiographical account of a particular phase of her life was totally

46. Carol G. Heilbrun, Writing a Woman's Life (New York, London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1988), p. 12.

47. Ibid., pp. 14-15

25

void of the darker side of her experiences at the time. She proceeded to write a new book

chronicling the other half of the story.48

This dissertation grapples with similar questions of "honesty". Little is revealed

of the emotional or conflicted areas in these women's lives, in part, because they

themselves have not, by and large, disclosed or left a record of those aspects. Mirabehn's

autobiography is clearly an account that mutes the difficulties she encountered. Muriel

Lester's scattered diary jottings reveal that this charismatic speaker who could address

and inspire mass audiences experienced periods of self-recrimination and grief when she

felt that she had been too quick to judge or speak out of turn.49 It is through letters to her

sisters that Agatha Harrison comes closest to baring her soul. When Mary Barr died,

Marjorie Sykes used Barr's journals to help flesh out some details of Barr's thoughts and

activities in the memorial published in The Friendly Way. Since Barr had left clear

instructions for her papers to be destroyed, it is impossible to know what might have been

hidden from public view.50 Sykes, herself a prolific writer, did not leave personal

papers—only the research notes for her history of Quakers in India. According to one of

her closest associates, while living in Kotagiri, Sykes suffered a vicious home invasion in

which she was badly beaten.51 She chose not to discuss or write about this event.

I am not convinced that the tendency to gloss over hardship, as Heilbrun wrote

"in the old genre of female autobiography, which tends to find beauty even in pain and to

transform rage into spiritual acceptance"52 is necessarily a bad thing. This transformative

ability allows a person to make meaning of her or his life. This dissertation has not teased

out the inner lives of its subjects, largely because the information is scant. Instead the

focus has been on their actions, exploring what they were capable of facing and

4%. Ibid., pp. 12-13. 49. Muriel Lester papers, Muriel Lester Archives, Kingsley Hall, Dagenham. 50. "Frances Mary Barr (1895-1969 [sic]): A Memoir," Supplement to The Friendly Way, No. 87

(April 1969): 2. 51. Conversation with Ramamurthy, London, February 2003. 52. Heilbrun, Writing a Woman's Life, p. 12.

26

accomplishing, recognizing that within their chosen simplicity of living they had

extraordinary and even difficult lives. Each of the women must have encountered major

challenges and setbacks, but their personal trials are only hinted at.

While the women in this study group had distinctly different personalities, I have

brought them together to form a collective, based on shared ideals and many common

experiences that led to them holding such ideals. These women had professional lives

prior to meeting Gandhi and their choice to support the Indian independence movement

grew logically out of the development of their own intellectual and spiritual wrestling

with matters concerning social justice and equality, their questioning of imperialism and

their desire to contribute towards the eradication of social ills such as war, racism,

classism and poverty. Another major argument I want to stress in this dissertation is the

role these women played in the international cross-pollination of ideas among movements

for social change and the extent to which their personal and organizational

interconnectedness played a part in bridging sometimes huge gulfs that divided the East

and West, North and South.

On the larger geo-political stage, the standard establishment and protection of

empires has been through the employment of military might. Likewise, in the case of

subject peoples wishing to achieve their own independent nation states, violent

insurrection has been common. There have also been those relatively rare individuals that

have proposed and continue to propose non-violent solutions to conflict. They have been

called naive idealists, crackpots and/or saints. In the alternative universe that these people

inhabit, the flow of ideas has not been constrained by national boundaries, cultural or

religious differences. "Western thinkers" have borrowed from the East and, in turn,

Easterners such as Gandhi found inspiration in the West. Lloyd I. Rudolph and Susan

Hoeber Rudolph have employed the term "the other West" to describe people such as

Leo Tolstoy, John Ruskin, Henry Thoreau and Edwin Arnold, who profoundly influenced

27

Gandhi's philosophical and moral development.531 wish to extend the use of this term to

include women, particularly those in this study. Not only are these women part of the

"other West," but they took an active role in the cross-cultural dissemination of theories

and practices that have marked the Gandhian Independence Movement, the American

Civil Rights Movement, Nelson Mandela's South African implementation of the Truth

and Reconciliation process, and both national and international peace movements. These

experiments in non-violent revolution have not eradicated violence, poverty or injustice.

However, the world has seen, if only through a glimpse, another way to effect change,

one that is removed from the use of physical might and arms. This dissertation will

explore the interplay between the women of "the other West" and what might be

considered "the other East" as represented by Gandhi and his experiment with truth.

53. Lloyd I. Rudolph and Susanne Hoeber Rudolph, "Preface," Postmodern Gandhi and Other Essays: Gandhi in the World and at Home (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2006), p. ix.

CHAPTER ONE

SETTING THE HISTORICAL AND HISTORIOGRAPHICAL SCENE

A brief overview of both the history and the historiographical analysis of Western

women's engagement with political and social issues concerning India can serve to

situate the women in this study within a broader context. India, perhaps more than any

other part of the British Empire, captured the imagination of feminists and others

interested in social and educational uplift. While Westerners generally agreed that

outside intervention would be required to improve the conditions of the country's

women, they disagreed about whether the solutions should be imported or indigenous.

This chapter will look at the way in which mostly British women, and mostly feminist

women, approached the "challenge" of India.

In her introduction to Feminist Lives in Victorian England, Philippa Levine

articulated the debate among historians regarding the use of the word "feminist" to

describe those active in women's issues during the period before the word "feminist"

came into currency. According to the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, the term

"feminism" only gained the meaning, "advocacy of the claims and rights of women," in

1895.l Chronology aside, for justifiable reasons Levine opted to use the term "feminism"

to describe lifestyles and activities of those nineteenth-century women who pursued

various changes in law, custom and practice.2 Today it is more common to see the word

1. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, Vol. 1 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933), p. 688. A prior meaning (rare) dating from 1850 was "The qualities of women."

2. Philippa Levine, Feminist Lives in Victorian England: Private Roles and Public Commitment (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1990), p. 2.

29

"feminisms" used,3 for as academics and activists continue to expose the complexities of

women's struggles for rights across class, caste, religion, race, and ethnicity, it is

apparent that feminism is neither monolithic nor stable in its meaning. Furthermore, in

seeking allies to work with in the fight for women's rights, feminists have had to make

difficult and, at times, compromising choices. In the nineteenth century, many British

women lost faith in liberalism for, in spite of a rhetoric of support among some liberal

politicians, the demand for the franchise was refused time and again. Many feminists

turned to the socialists for support, but, as Levine stressed, socialists drew on the same

patriarchal roots and perspective as liberals and conservatives.4 Joan Scott contended

that, "political movements develop tactically not logically... from a melange... of

interpretations and programs."5 Indeed, at times feminists have had to choose strange

bedfellows when other ethical principles of importance have been at stake. Upon the

declaration of war in 1914, the suffrage movement was torn apart on the issue of pacifism

versus patriotic support for militarism. Probably the most public example of this political

divide was witnessed in the Pankhurst family when mother Emmeline and daughter

Christabel abandoned the suffrage campaign to support the war effort while daughter

Sylvia vehemently maintained an anti-war stance.6 Blanche Wiesen Cook noted how Jane

Addams, Lillian Wald and Crystal Eastman ended up supporting Woodrow Wilson in his

presidential campaign of 1916 based on his "peace-first strategy" even though he

3. See Mrinalini Sinha, Donna Guy and Angela Woollacott, eds. Feminisms and Internationalism (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd., 1999); Barbara Caine, "Afterword: From Feminism to Feminisms," English Feminism 1780-1980 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), pp. 255-271.

4. Levine, Feminist Lives, p. 6. 5. Scott, cited in Levine, p. 177. 6. It should be noted that socialism rather than pacifism informed Sylvia's anti-war position. Also of

note: the political split in the family included the lesser known Adela Pankhurst, youngest child of Emmeline, who moved to Australia in 1914. Active in radical politics, she was "a leader of the Women's Peace Army during the War, which combined feminism, antimilitarism and socialism." Encyclopedia of Marxism, www.marxists.org/glossary/people/p/a.htm.

opposed suffrage, whereas other feminists supported Republican Charles Evans Hughes

who ran on a platform of suffrage and war.7

If the issue of war divided feminists both ethically and strategically, the

imperialism versus nationalism/internationalism debate was no less contentious. Neither

British nor Indian women were unified in their approach to women's issues, but through

the 1920s and 1930s it became increasingly apparent to Indian feminists that strategically

they had to place their faith in the national independence struggle and hope that in the

new nation their demands on women's issues would be met. Some British women active

in issues concerning India maintained an imperialist stance while others conceded that

subject nations had a right to self-determination. In terms of understanding the racism

inherent in imperialism, few were as outspoken as Sylvia Pankhurst. Pankhurst's India

and the Earthly Paradise was published in 1926 and Mary Davis contended that this

book has received less attention from historians than it should because because of the

rarity of English writers of the time capable of examining Indian culture, traditions and

history from an anti-imperialist and anti-racist perspective.8

One of the questions that arose in carrying out this research was whether all of the

women in this study could be considered or would consider themselves feminists. For

some, the connection with feminism is clear. Their association with women's

organizations prior to involvement in India is known. For others, there is little or no

evidence that they engaged in feminist activity. My conclusion is that, as inheritors of the

gains made by the late nineteenth and early twentieth century feminists who preceded

them, they pursued their goals without appearing to be constrained by traditional gender

7. Blanche Wiesen Cook, Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume One 1884-1933 (New York: Viking, 1992), pp. 213-214.

8. Mary Davis, Sylvia Pankhurst: A Life in Radical Politics (London: Pluto Press, 1999), p. 106.

expectations and, that, at the very least, their life choices indicate an independence of

spirit that reflected one of the goals of feminism. Unquestionably, in India, they focussed

on providing education to and improving the social and economic conditions of women

and girls. In certain respects, they defied any easy categorization that might have applied

in the West, choosing, instead, to participate in Gandhi's "alternative modernity".9

Nevertheless, a historical overview can help to identify the qualities and actions that

distinguished the women in this collective biography from other Westerners who had

some political or social investment in India.

As already indicated, India had captured the interest and imagination of social

reformers and feminists, both British and Indian, for some considerable time prior to the

arrival in India of the women in this study. A number of key issues concerning Indian

women preoccupied both colonial and anti-colonial forces and, while women in Britain

still lacked many rights, it was easier for the British authorities to turn their attention to

those less fortunate in India. As Joanna Liddle and Rama Joshi suggest, the British in

India regarded themselves as an enlightening influence, particularly for women.10 From

as early as 1772 until the time of Independence in 1947, the British introduced major

reform bills which included laws forbidding female infanticide, sati and child marriage,

raising the age of consent, allowing widow remarriage, and improving women's

inheritance rights.11 Suruchi Thapar-Bjorkert outlines how, at the centre of discussions on

colonialism and nationalism, women's issues came to the fore on both sides. While the

British used Indian women's degraded position as justification for continued imperial

9. See David Hardiman, Gandhi in His Time and Ours: The Global Legacy of his Ideas (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003), Chapter 4 "Alternative Modernity", pp. 66-93.

10. Joanna Liddle and Rama Joshi, "Gender and Colonialism: Women's Organisation Under the Raj," Women's Studies International Forum, Vol. 8, No. 5 (1985): 522.

U.Ibid.

rule, Indian male social reformers held the hope that their efforts to influence

improvements in women's position would serve as proof of the nation's progress and

ability to govern itself.12

Clearly, it would be a misconstruction to imply that the earliest British efforts

concerning Indian women's welfare came primarily from women or even that the earliest

women's involvement arose from a feminist perspective. The first Western women who

worked towards the "betterment" of Indian women were wives of missionaries and those

at home who supported mission work. Jane Haggis recounts how a Mrs. Mault, upon her

arrival in India in 1819, established a school and lace industry for convert girls and

women.13 Through this "mission of domesticity", convert women acquired new skills, a

new religion, and also new agency, while at the same time missionary women themselves

underwent unexpected changes.14 Andrew Porter, while not writing expressly about

women, corroborates the argument that this engagement between missionaries and Indian

converts involved conscious and unconscious motivations and agendas and that both

parties changed in ways not necessarily anticipated.15

Education became a key area of Western women's engagement with women in

India, through missionary endeavours, and later inspired by Indian male reformers in

England who were able to call on the sympathies of reform-minded English women. For

12. Suruchi Thapar-Bjorkert, "The Domestic Sphere as a Political Site: A Study of Women in the Indian Nationalist Movement," Women's Studies International Forum, Vol. 20, No. 4 (1997): 494. See also Vijay Agnew's comments on Indian women as subjects of male discourse in "The West in Indian Feminist Discourse and Practice," Women's Studies International Forum, Vol. 20, No. 1 (1997): 5.

13. Jane Haggis, "Ironies of Emancipation: Changing Configurations of'Women's Work' in the 'Mission of Sisterhood' to Indian Women," Feminist Review, No. 65 (Summer 2000): 108. Florence Hamilton states that the first British school set up for Indian girls was opened in 1818 and run by the London Missionary Society. See Florence Hamilton, "Some of Us are Imperialists, Some of Us are Not," in Women, Migration, Empire, ed. J. Grant (London: Trentham, 1996), pp. 105-06.

14. Haggis, "Ironies of Emancipation," 108. 15. Andrew Porter, "Religion, Missionary Enthusiasm, and Empire," in The Oxford History of the

British Empire, Vol. 3 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), p. 239.

example, Mary Carpenter, a single woman who was the daughter of a Unitarian minister

and involved in philanthropy and social reform in England, first met reform leader Raja

Rammuhan Roy in 1833 when he came to visit her father. In her twenties at the time,

Carpenter was much impressed with the founder of the Brahmo Samaj, a rationalist

Hindu reform group in Bengal.16 However, Roy's death later the same year forestalled

further engagement with Indian matters on the part of Carpenter until the 1860s when she

made contact with other Indian male social reformers.17 These educated men who came

to Britain for professional and political reasons sought support from British reformers to

change the social condition of women, particularly those of their own class. Radha

Kumar points out that such men came largely from Bengal and Maharashtra where the

British had an early toehold.18 Influenced by a colonial economy with an expanding

administrative structure, an Indian bourgeois society began to develop and adopt Western

liberal ideas and, in the process, initiated campaigns against the various traditional

restrictions imposed on women.19 However, Kumar also points to the fact that the reform

impulse did not spring from British influence alone. Even the reformer Roy was

influenced by eighteenth-century Sufi arguments as much as by English rationalism.20

Other indigenous Indian movements for change also had an impact. As Gail Omvedt

asserted: "[A]ny serious cultural revolt required an attack on the subordination of women

16. Kumari Jayawardena, in her book Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World (London: Zed Books Ltd., 1986), describes the Brahmo Samaj as one a number of reformist groups dedicated to "[cleansing] Hinduism of certain corrupt and decadent practices and to counteract[ing] missionary propaganda by presenting the Hindu religion as one that was compatible with progress and change," p. 77.

17. Barbara N. Ramusack, "Cultural Missionaries, Maternal Imperialists, Feminist Allies: British Women Activists in India, 1865-1945," Women's Studies International Forum, Vol. 13, No. 4 (1990): 310.

18. It has been pointed out by scholar Barbara Ramusack that the earliest toehold was in Madras where the British established a small political as well as economic presence in 1639. They did not get established in Bombay until the 1660s and in Calcutta in 1693. Correspondence, February 2010.

19. Radha Kumar, The History of Doing: An Illustrated Account of Movements for Women's Rights and Feminism in India, 1800-1990, (London: Verso, 1993), pp. 7-8.

20. Ibid.

[and] any serious nationalist struggle required concessions to and linkages with

movements of cultural revolt, including that for women's emancipation."21

If Indian male reformers and British female reformers found a mutual project in

promoting education for "down-trodden Indian sisters," there was not always agreement

on what kind of education was suitable and for what purposes. Even among women

missionaries and reformers, there was no unanimity and, once Indian women began to

gain access to higher education, they did not always remain within the confines of their

educators' notions of appropriate "place." This is most graphically illustrated through the

story of Pandita Ramabai and her involvement with English women during her stay in

Britain where she had hoped to pursue a medical education. Already an educator and

social reformer, as a Christianized Indian Ramabai straddled two worlds. Antoinette

Burton and Meera Kosambi address different aspects of Ramabai's emergence as an

independent thinker. She found herself at odds with both her British "sisters" and Indian

compatriots who objected to her having converted to the Christian faith. Both historians

reflect on the ways in which a form of maternal authority rather than sisterly solidarity

shaped the relationships possible between Indian and English women in the imperial

context.22 This imbalance, as Burton and others have emphasized, informed much of the

discourse even among well-meaning feminists who believed wholeheartedly (if from an

unconsciously ethno-centric perspective) in internationalism.

21. Ibid. Quoted from Gail Omvedt, "Caste, Class, and Women's Liberation in India," Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, Vol. 7 (1975): 45—50.

22. Antoinette Burton, "Colonial Encounters in Late-Victorian England: Pandita Ramabai at Cheltenham and Wantage 1883-6," Feminist Review, 49 (Spring 1995): 29-49; Meera Kosambi, "Motherhood in the East-West Encounter: Pandita Ramabai's Negotiation o f Daughterhood' and Motherhood," Feminist Review 65 (Summer 2000): 49-67.

35

On a superficial level the issues facing women in Britain and India were similar.

Activists sought to expand women's rights to education, sexual autonomy, and social and

political participation. However, in spite of their desire to make the connections and

effect changes for women in both places, few Britons were able to incorporate the added

complexities of race, class, caste, religion, colonization and nationalism into their

understanding of Indian women. In the early days of feminist engagement with issues in

India (1865-1915), few British women had any long-standing and intimate knowledge of

India itself or the Indian women with whom they professed identification. The majority

of women reformers in Britain who supported the women's cause in India never actually

visited the subcontinent. Others, such as Mary Carpenter and Annette Akroyd Beveridge,

did go to India to establish schools for girls; however, because of their own cultural

values and prejudices, they failed to identify with Indian women. Partly as a

consequence, their educational reform efforts were largely unsuccessful. Carpenter

eventually accomplished more in Britain through her founding of the National Indian

Association that had the dual purpose of introducing Britons to India and Indians to

Britain.23

Padma Anagol, in an article on Indian women converts to Christianity, argues that,

while in recent years women's and gender studies have contributed to greater knowledge

of women's lives in India, too great an emphasis has been placed on the roles male social

reformers and the colonial state played in improving the status of Indian women, not

taking into account Indian women's own agency in the struggle for autonomy.24 She

focusses on Indian Christian women, a group that has been doubly ignored in colonialist

23. Ramusack, "Cultural Missionaries," 310-313. 24. Padma Anagol, "Indian Christian Women and Indigenous Feminism, c 1850-C.1920," in Gender

and Imperialism, ed. Clare Midgley (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1998), pp. 79-103.

and nationalist discourse because these women have been regarded as "sell outs" to

missionary influence or as mere appendages to converted husbands. Anagol makes a

strong case for a far more complex reading of the situation, suggesting that the decision

by women to convert was not taken lightly and usually happened after years of

deliberation. In the end, the critical factor persuading women to convert was a belief that

Christianity allowed them greater self-determination and autonomy than Hinduism. In

contrast to male converts who debated the abstract principles of theology, women were

less engaged in the religious issues but instead came down on the side of Christianity

over the issue of treatment of women.26 Furthermore, Anagol suggests not only that such

a choice gave empowerment to individual women, but also that conversion involved the

creation of an indigenous feminism that led to more collective action in support of

women's rights.27 As in the case of Pandita Ramabai, Christian Indian women often ran

afoul of both colonial missions and their Indian communities. Conversion often meant

being cut off from family and Indian society. However, having taken the courageous step

towards a way of life that promised freedom from an entrenched inferior status, Christian

women were not ready to subject themselves to some of the constraints that Western

missionaries might have wanted to impose on their lives. Such women, Anagol argues,

chose their own interpretations of the Christian message and refused to be chained to the

conventions of denominational affiliation or the Victorian values which were invariably

25. Jeffrey Cox's article "Audience and Exclusion at the Margins of Imperial History," Women's History Review, Vol. 3 No. 4 (1994) addresses a similar concern with the marginalizing of the history of Christian missions in India. He argues that mission history has been equally ignored in imperial and subaltern studies and that mission histories produced by male missionaries almost totally ignore missionary women (who by 1900 made up two-thirds of Protestant missions) as well as the South Asian Christians. Cox states that based on reading histories of India from any standpoint, "you would never know that Christianity is the third largest religion in India and the second largest in Pakistan, or that there are twice as many Christians as Sikhs in India," 509.

26. Anagol, "Indian Christian Women," 82. 27. Ibid., 80, 98-99.

wrapped up in the Western presentation of Christianity. Indian Christian women

maintained their independent thinking, their "Indian-ness" and a distinctive way of

working within their communities in spite of pressure to conform and to toe a line

established by Westerners who thought they knew what was best.28 Kumari Jayawardena

suggests that female missionaries, mostly single women, had their own challenges with

male church hierarchies and that their work of providing modern schools and a liberal

education for local girls resulted in an "unintentional creation of a 'feminist'

consciousness." Teachers in mission schools and convents encouraged higher education

among their students and thus spawned many South Asian feminists.

One of the findings of my research is that spiritual faith played a large role in the

lives of all the women in this study; however, they did not conform to traditional

denominational affiliation or adherence to a single religious tradition. While she had been

raised within the Christian tradition, Sarala Behn (Catherine Heilemann), who founded

the Lakshmi Ashram for girls and young women, incorporated aspects of Hinduism and

perhaps other religious traditions into her own spiritual framework. Sarala Behn used as a

model for her ashram Gandhi's twice-daily prayer sessions that included hymns and

chants, drawn from Christian, Muslim and Hindu traditions.30 Mirabehn studied Eastern

and Western religious texts and integrated various traditions within her spiritual

framework. She was often asked to lead in the singing of Christian hymns during prayer

sessions.

28. Ibid., 94-98. 29. Kumari Jayawardena, The White Woman's Other Burden — Western Women and South Asia

During British Rule (New York: Routledge, 1995), p. 26. 30. This incorporation of multi-faith practices continues today at the ashram.

38

A number of the women came to India under the auspices of Christian church

organizations that they eventually left in order to identify more fully with the Indian

cause. Choosing to leave such organizations did not mean that they were abandoning

their Christian faith. It became increasingly more difficult to live their faith within

institutionalized Christianity in India, largely because the British colonial powers wanted

to deny these women the right to engage in either discussing or acting on political and

social questions. For example, Esther Faering and Mary Barr were asked by their

missions to discontinue any communication with Gandhi.31 The colonial government

monitored their mail and brought pressure to bear on the missionary societies to bring

their staff into line. Conscience dictated to these women where their allegiances lay. They

left their missions without abandoning their faith. As in the case of Barr and a number of

others in this study, they studied texts from the major world religions but remained

Christian. Interestingly, for several, their spiritual journeys eventually led them to the

Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), a faith tradition that more emphatically embraced

the idea of acting upon issues of conscience. Like Gandhi, many Quakers believed that

spiritual faith and discipline applied to issues of social justice had the power to transform

political and social life. While Gandhi was firmly in favour of a secular political system

for an independent India, his political views and actions were intertwined with and

influenced by his spiritual faith. The women in this study aligned themselves with Gandhi

precisely because his ideals, his eclectic religion and his methods for achieving the goals

of independence and social autonomy resonated with them. For comparative purposes,

the following section will explore how some other British women (mostly forerunners to

31. See Chapter Three.

39

the women in this study) understood and participated in political debates concerning

India.

Antoinette Burton's Burdens of History has been regarded as something of a

landmark work in its critical view of early British feminists and their relationship with

imperialism in the period prior to World War One.32 Burton exposed the contradictions

inherent in feminist responses to Britain's position as a colonial power in India. However,

in her determination to expose the prejudices and failures of Victorian feminists, Burton

has been criticized for tipping the scales entirely in one direction. In developing her

argument that British feminists were imperialists, she has ignored those who might have

spoken from more moderate or even contrary positions. Kumari Jayawardena, in her

book, The White Woman's Other Burden, presents a more diverse picture of feminist

engagement on the Asian subcontinent.33 Barbara Ramusack compares the different

approaches of three British feminists to India during the years leading up to

independence.34 One of the women she analyzes is Agatha Harrison, who is a subject of

this dissertation. Similarly, Catherine Candy suggests that "Padma Anagol and Jane

Haggis both offer more inclusive historiographical methodologies to combat the narration

of the 'Indian woman' as a cipher in the stories of white women."35 In a review article,

Mala Mathrani comments that "[Burton's] emphasis on imperialism runs the risk of

essentializing British feminists, in much the same way they essentialized Indian

32. Antoinette Burton, Burdens of History: British Feminists, Indian Women, and Imperial Culture, 1865-1915 (Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 1994).

33. Jayawardena, The White Woman's Other Burden, pp. 109-150. 34. Barbara N. Ramusack, "Catalysts or Helpers? British Feminists, Indian Women's Rights, and

Indian Independence" in The Extended Family: Women and Political Participation in Indian and Pakistan (Delhi: Chanakya Publications, 1981), pp. 109-150.

35. Catherine Candy, "Competing Transnational Representations of the 1930s Indian Franchise Question" in Women's Suffrage in the British Empire, eds. Ian Christopher Fletcher, Laura E. Nym Mayhall and Philippa Levine (London: Routledge, 2000), p. 191.

40

women."36 Candy also cites Florence Hamilton's article, "Some of Us are Imperialists

and Some of Us are Not" as an example of divergence from the essentialist argument.37

In fairness to Burton, it might be added that in the period she covers, there was, no doubt,

less consciousness on the part of British women of the ways in which imperialism

informed relationships between "sisters" across the great divides of race and culture. By

the twentieth century socialist feminists, in particular, were more sensitive to the desire of

subject peoples to overthrow imperialist regimes.

Considering that women's sexuality has been (and continues to be) a favoured

topic for public debate, it is not surprising that such a preoccupation should occur within

the context of British-Indian relations. As Western women in the latter part of the

nineteenth century attempted to assert their rights, a certain backlash was inevitable. The

majority of men regarded women's desire and determination to enter public space as a

threat to their exercise of power (whether physical, psychological or legal). Depending on

their class and demeanor, women in public risked being treated as unsexed viragos,

helpless victims, or sexual temptresses. As Judith Walkowitz demonstrates in City of

Dreadful Delight, the melodramatic and sensational literature of the day, which both

exposed and inflated the dangers lurking on the streets and in doorways of the "evil" city,

preyed on people's anxieties in a changing society.38 Nineteenth-century public panic

over issues of sexual danger and commerce brought about, among other measures,

legislation such as the Contagious Diseases Acts under which prostitutes and any woman

36. Mala Mathrani, "East-West Encounters and Making of Feminists," Journal of Women's History, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Autumn 1997): 217.

37. Candy, "Competing Transnational," 191, citing Florence Hamilton's article: "Some of Us are Imperialists, Some of Us are Not," in Women, Migration, Empire, ed. J. Grant (London: Trentham, 1996). I found this article to be of uneven quality, nevertheless, with some useful information.

38. Judith R. Walkowitz, City of Dreadful Delight: Narratives of Sexual Danger in Late-Victorian London (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992).

presumed to be a prostitute could be arrested, physically examined and incarcerated.

Feminists were especially outraged by these regulations and protested the double

standard that penalized women at the same time as allowing men who consorted with

prostitutes to remain free of restrictions. The battleground upon which feminists fought

for repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts was not restricted to British soil. Enforcement

of the Acts in colonial India aroused strong feminist protest in Britain. While this issue

was not the first one to capture the sympathy of British feminists for the "poor,

downtrodden women" of India, it quickly assumed importance as a rallying point for

justifying more involvement in colonial matters. Increasingly, British feminists saw India

and the plight of its women as materiel in their arsenal of reasons for greater political

participation. Their sympathy for Indian women may have been sincere, but, as

Antoinette Burton has forcefully pointed out, British feminists failed to recognize their

Indian "sisters" as equals and a feminist critique of gender inequalities did not always

extend to a critique of imperialism and racial inequalities.39 Well into the twentieth

century, British authorities continued to impose regulatory control over prostitutes in

India; nevertheless, and while there is little evidence to connect the women included in

this study as having a preoccupation with issues regarding women's sexuality, Polly

Chesley, in an anti-war speech given in Halifax in 1921, referred to the menace of a

standing army in India and blamed the British handling of prostitutes as a cause of unrest

in the colony.40

39. Burton, Burdens of History. Philippa Levine's article "Orientalist Sociology and the Creation of Colonial Sexualities" Feminist Review, No 65, (Summer 2000): 5-21 does not really fit within this brief discussion of Victorian feminist views on colonial sexual matters; however, it is useful for its articulation of the hierarchy of race in its relationship to sexuality within imperial India.

40. Evening Mail, 12 October 1921,16.

42

The historical analysis of British women vis-a-vis their relationship with India and

its politics has, more often than not, come from those with a Western and/or feminist

perspective. In India today, among "ordinary" Indians themselves, the Western women

most likely to be singled out as historical figures of significance and early sympathizers

of an India free from colonial rule are Sister Nivedita, Annie Besant and Margaret

Cousins. One Indian woman I met while researching in India insisted that I could not

write this story without including these figures. Although they do not fall within the

purview of this study, they share some common ground with those who will be included.

Therefore, a brief discussion of their activities will help to situate my subjects within a

broader context.

Born in Ireland in 1867, Margaret Noble, better known as Sister Nivedita, holds a

legendary position in Indian history and, as Jayawardena describes, "As befits a

legendary figure, there is more than one version of the life of Margaret Noble." A convert

to Hinduism, Nivedita is variously remembered as a devotee of Kali, disciple of Swami

Vivekananda, an Irish revolutionary, an Indian nationalist, and a woman considered to

have been an important influence in India in the areas of women's education and local art

promotion.41 Brilliant and controversial, Nivedita died before the period covered in this

dissertation. Furthermore, Gandhi had a very limited acquaintance with Sister Nivedita. It

appears that they may have met only a couple of times prior to her death in 1911.42

41. Jayawardena, The White Woman's Other Burden,-p. 183. 42. In The Diary ofMahadev Desai, Vol. 1 Yeravda-Pact Eve, 1932 (Ahmedabad: Navajivan

Publishing House, 1953), p. 143, Desai writes: "As we were talking about Sister Nivedita, Bapu said, 'I can never forget that when I first met her, she gave expression to a deep hatred and contempt for English people. I had felt that she was living in a grand style, but many others have testified that she lived in the most squalid of scavengers' quarters and I accept their testimony. We met once again at Padshah's house. His mother made a remark which I still remember. She said, 'Tell her that having abandoned her own faith she is not in a position to expound my faith to me.'"

43

Undoubtedly, Annie Besant (1847-1933) and Margaret Gillespie Cousins (1878-

1954) were the two most well known and influential British women among those who

played political roles in India in the first decades of the twentieth century. As subjects of

numerous studies, they have been well covered elsewhere.43 However, it is useful for

purposes of comparison to consider how these women differed from the women in this

study in their attitudes and approaches to India as well to compare them with other

British feminists who had an intense interest in India and have been critically assessed by

historians. With regard to other British feminists, the most definitive difference is found

in the fact that Besant and Cousins adopted India as their home and each lived over

thirty-five years in the country. Another factor that distinguished them from some other

British feminists was their commitment, in the case of Besant, to Indian Home Rule or, in

Cousins' case, complete independence.44 Yet while they do not fit Burton's model of

British feminist views, it has to be acknowledged that the period of their active political

involvement in India was largely beyond the time frame of Burton's purview and that the

rise of nationalist sentiment in colonial territories had gained momentum by the time of

43. On Besant, see Nancy L. Paxton, "Feminism Under the Raj: Complicity and Resistance in the Writings of Flora Annie Steel and Annie Besant," Women's Studies International Forum, Vol 13, No. 4 (1990): 333-346; Joy Dixon, "Ancient Wisdom, Modern Motherhood: Theosophy and the Colonial Syncretic," Gender, Sexuality and Colonial Modernities, ed. Antoinette Burton (London: Routledge, 1999), pp. 193-206; AparnaBasu, "Feminism and Nationalism in India, 1917-1947," Journal of Women's History, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Winter 1995): 95-107; Mark Bevir, "A Theosophist in India," Imperial Objects: Essays on Victorian Women's Emigration and the Unauthorized Imperial Experience, ed. Rita S. Kranidis (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1998), p. 211-227; Nancy Fix Anderson, "Bridging Cross-cultural Feminisms: Annie Besant and Women's Rights in England and India, 1874-1933," Women's History Review, Vol. 3 No. 4 (1994): 563-580. On Cousins, see Ramusack, "Cultural Missionaries..."; Catherine Candy, "Competing Transnational..." and also "Relating Feminisms, Nationalisms and Imperialisms: Ireland, India and Margaret Cousins's Sexual Politics," Women's History Review, Vol. 3 No. 4 (1994): 581— 594. On both women, see Jayawardena, The White Woman's Other Burden and Kumar, The History of Doing.

44. Along with several other Indian nationalists, Besant led the charge for Home Rule, in which India would obtain self-government under Dominion status rather than complete independence, the goal of Gandhi.

44

the First World War and into the next couple of decades. Among many internationalists

world wide, imperialism could no longer be justified.

Besant and Cousins might be considered transitional figures in the story of women

and Indian politics, and, while they shared some common ground, their paths in India

diverged more significantly over time. Both women had a history of political radicalism

in Britain, yet ironically what drew them to India was their involvement with Theosophy.

By the time of Besant's arrival in 1893, the once-fiery feminist agitator and iconoclast

had shed much of her radical edge, possibly due to her conversion to Theosophy, an

esoteric religion influenced by Eastern philosophies, founded in New York City by a

charismatic Russian, Helena Blavatsky and an American, Colonel Olcott. Upon

Blavatsky's death in 1891, Besant assumed a leadership role in the society. Once in India

her initial intention had been to concentrate on the education of girls; however, she

backed away from this project when "thoughtful Indians" suggested a more conservative

route in order to win the trust of Hindus.45 Instead she started a boys' school and her

once-trenchant critique of gender relations seemed to dissolve into a cultural relativism in

which she promoted the idea of Indian women remaining in firmly traditional domestic

roles. While Besant abandoned her feminism in India, she did resume some political

activity in support of Indian Home Rule. Her critical stand against the colonial

government eventually led to her arrest, winning her great support and admiration among

Indians. As a result she was the first woman elected president of the National Congress in

1917. In the same year Besant also became the president of the Women's Indian

Association (initiated by Margaret Cousins) only to distance herself from her feminist

cohorts by refusing to include women's enfranchisement in the Home Rule League's

45. Jayawardena, The White Woman's Other Burden, pp. 128-29.

platform. Besant's resistance to the non-cooperation and civil disobedience campaigns

ultimately resulted in her diminished relevance on the political scene after 1918.

Although Gandhi claimed to hold great respect for the old radical Besant, the feeling was

not mutual. Besant was out of step with the emerging politics and she retreated to her

spiritual concerns.46

As Jayawardena and others have suggested, Besant developed an entirely different

code of thought for India, believing that traditional Hindu practices should be adhered to,

whereas throughout this period, within the context of Britain, she maintained a strong

belief in women's emancipation.47 Quoting fromNethercot's The Last Four Lives of

Annie Besant, in which he suggested that Annie Besant knew how "to wear sandals in

India and shoes in the rest of the world," Jayawardena ponders whether Besant and the

Theosophists had two standards—one for the East and one for the West.48 Nancy Fix

Anderson offers a more sympathetic reading of Besant and her politics, suggesting that

Besant's approach to Indian women's issues changed over time and that she was

"ultimately able to achieve remarkable success in bridging cross-cultural feminisms,

without imposing new oppressions in the form of cultural imperialism."49 However one

interprets Besant's actions, her example highlights the difficulties in working across the

huge divides of gender, race and culture.

Fellow Theosophists Margaret and James Cousins went to India in 1915 where

James took on the position of literary sub-editor for New India, the newspaper Annie

Besant had taken charge of the previous year. Margaret, an Irish radical who could

46. Ibid., pp. 131-32. 47. Ibid, p. 131. 4S.Ibid, p. 134. 49. Anderson, "Bridging Cross-cultural Feminisms," 576.

46

readily identify with the independence movement, focused her energies on women's

issues in India and remained politically active until the late 1930s when she recognized

the need to step back from the front lines in order for Indian women to lead the fight for

their own independence. Unlike Besant, Cousins held on to her feminism and felt no

compulsion to take a relativist position with regard to women's status in India. As well,

Cousins supported Gandhi and her participation in civil disobedience earned her a year's

jail sentence and the esteem of her Indian "brothers and sisters." Cousins truly adopted

India as her homeland and in her support of both the movement for independence and

women's rights, she provides a counter-example to the imperialism found in many British

feminists of the period.50 Jayawardena also notes other such Western women

sympathizers and activists who joined the Indian cause.

If the preceding brief accounts of Besant and Cousins mainly focus on their work

in India and as counterpoints to Burton's examination of earlier feminists, it would be

remiss not to point out that during the inter-war period of intense feminist and nationalist

activity in India, women across the globe were grappling with similar social and political

issues and India was one among a number of countries struggling for independence from

colonial rule. For political women, the issues of women's emancipation and national

independence were closely intertwined. The move towards establishing a women's

international collective identity began as early as the founding of the International

Council of Women in 1888 and was further encouraged through the International Woman

Suffrage Alliance (founded in 1904 and later renamed the International Alliance of

Women). Nevertheless, it was in the post-First World War period, particularly through

50. Catherine Candy in her article "Relating Feminisms, Nationalisms and Imperialisms," suggests a more complex reading of Cousins' politics and "attempts to sketch some of the ways in which Cousins' class and imperial situation provoked and limited her feminist ideology," 581.

47

the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), that many feminists

seriously tried to address the complex and often conflicting realities of nationalist,

socialist, pacifist and feminist agendas across the borders of race, class, nations and

colonies seeking to free themselves of imperial powers. Leila J. Rupp's study, Worlds of

Women: The Making of an International Women's Movement, outlines the challenges

women faced in their attempts to attain global sisterhood and, in the case of many British

feminists in particular, Burton's assertion that they held an imperial blind spot is

corroborated by Rupp. She recounts that in 1930 the British section of the WILPF

"argued that British imperialism was wrong but not particularly cruel, an affront to those

who could not forget the Amritsar incident of 1919, in which British troops fired on and

killed nearly four hundred unarmed Indians celebrating a Hindu festival."51 It would be

inaccurate, however, to assume that all members of WILPF were insensitive to India's

sufferings under imperialism. A number of the women in this study held membership in

WILPF and also cared deeply about the injustices inflicted upon Indians. Polly Chesley

was a charter member of the organization. Muriel Lester was also an early member. By

the late 1920s, Agatha Harrison was an active member and others associated with India

and Gandhi had involvement with the organization.

From 1919 onward, Indian women were outspoken about their desire not to have

British women organizing an Indian section of WILPF. As already mentioned, by the

51. Leila J. Rupp, Worlds of Women: The Making of an International Women's Movement (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1997), pp. 78-79.

52. WILPF archives at the London School of Economics (LSE), Files, WILPF 4/2. The early WILPF records are incomplete, so it is difficult to know when Harrison joined. Millie Polak, one of Gandhi's faithful supporters from his days in South Africa, held the position of secretary of the India Committee in WILPF during the 1930s. WILPF gave funding to Hilda Cashmore, another Quaker woman, for her work in India during the 1930s. She had connections with Gandhi and other Quakers more closely associated with Gandhi. Effie Heath, wife of Carl Heath, the Chairman of the India Conciliation Group, was also on the membership list.

1930s Margaret Cousins recognized that as a Westerner she needed to step back from

playing a leadership role in the women's movement. As someone connected to the

international scene, she reiterated this realization, writing in 1942 that "Indian national

consciousness is much more touchy nowadays about non-Asians like myself taking any

initiative or prominent part in Indian progressive movements."53 At the time, Indian

activists had more or less put aside working on some of the specifically women-centred

issues in order to focus support for the nationalist cause, participating in civil

disobedience, non-cooperation and boycott of foreign goods.

British women who recognized the need to be supportive without taking charge

worked through such groups as the British Commonwealth League, The St. Joan's Social

and Political Alliance and the Indo-British Mutual Welfare League to publicize the aims

of Indian nationalism.54

In 1929 [Indian activist] Hanna Sen helped form the Indo-British Mutual Welfare League to build on this 'new orientation' in the attitude of some British women toward India. Sen spoke of the dawn of a 'novel phase' in the relation between British and India women as the former overcame the spirit of 'patronage' to be motivated by a new spirit of 'partial guilt and partial pain, characterized by a willingness to learn rather than a readiness to dictate.'55

British feminists were often connected to a number of non-gendered organizations

focussed on promoting the Indian cause, such as the Friends of India Association, the

India League, and the India Conciliation Group. During a four-week period in 1931,

Polly Chesley was one of three speakers who toured 18 towns throughout Britain and

gave 34 addresses on behalf of the Friends of India. Muriel Lester spoke at other

53. Rupp, Worlds of Women, p. 79. Quoted from a letter to Alice Paul, World Woman's Party papers. 54. Mrinalini Sinha, "Suffragism and Internationalism: The Enfranchisement of British and Indian

Women under an Imperial State," in Women's Suffrage in the British Empire, eds. Ian C. Fletcher et al (London: Routledge, 2000), p. 233.

55. Ibid.

meetings organized by the Friends of India. Agatha Harrison was a key member of the

India Conciliation Group and maintained contact with the India League. As Ramusack

has stated, "By the time Agatha Harrison met Indian feminists in the early 1930s, she

shrewdly realized that the Indian women's movement did not need advisers or organizers

but only sympathetic sisters in other lands."57 Harrison, whose experiences in China had

greatly broadened her understanding of East/West power dynamics, understood that

Indian women had to define their own struggle, one that took into account not only

feminism, but nationalism as well.

If the above examples illustrate the weakness in pronouncing British feminists as

uniform in their approach to questions of imperialism and the women's movement in

India, Catherine Candy also reminds us that it would be a mistake to assume that Indian

women spoke with one voice on the same issues.58 Both Candy and Mrinalini Sinha

discuss the competing alliances formed, in which Western feminists, in collaboration

with Indian activists, played on competing sides of the franchise question within the

imperialist/nationalist debate.59 Each side claimed to be the mouthpiece for Indian

womanhood, hoping to gain what they considered would be the best outcome for their

"constituents." In large measure, however, Indian feminists were high-caste, educated

women who, like their Western counterparts, presumed to speak for all women while

maintaining class privilege. While it might be argued that women made some gains

during the period, it could be said that ultimately neither side's strategy won women the

victories they had hoped for. Whether feminists placed their faith in the colonial powers

or the forces for independence, in the end, their rights were compromised by male

56. British Library: IOR: L/P&J/12/428/Subj: Friends of India Association. 57. Ramusack, "Catalysts or Helpers?" 143. 58. Candy, "Competing Transnational Representations," 192. 59. Mrinalini Sinha, "Suffragism and Internationalism: The Enfranchisement of British and Indian

Women under an Imperial State," in Women's Suffrage in the British Empire, ed. Ian C. Fletcher et al., (London: Routledge, 2000), p. 233.

50

political tacticians who always found compelling reasons to trade off women's demands

for equity in exchange for other interests or concessions.

Margaret Cousins sided with the ardent nationalists.60 On the other side of the

debate stood Eleanor Rathbone, British feminist and one of the earliest women Members

of Parliament in England. She worked in partnership with Indian feminists who felt that

changes in women's position might be brought about within the colonial regime. Strongly

influenced by reading Katherine Mayo's Mother India (published in 1927), Rathbone

believed that British women had a leading role to play on behalf of Indian women.

Mrinalini Sinha, in her article on the controversies that arose out of the publication of

Mother India discusses the difficulties that Indian women faced when dealing on an

international level with concerned American and British feminists and others who felt

they were in a position to speak for them.61 Mayo's indictment of India and its men

concerning the treatment of women alienated almost all Indians, including the women she

was supposedly championing. Underlying Mayo's overt "championing" of Indian women

was a far more covert and racist message in defense of imperialism. While Indian women

acknowledged that some of what Mayo wrote about the condition of women was correct,

most had to distance themselves from her message because of her stance of anti-

independence and lack of understanding of or sympathy for Indian culture.

Cousins might be regarded as a spiritual predecessor to Polly Chesley and the

other women whose arrival in India over the last decades of colonial rule heralded a

different form of involvement in India's emerging independence. Nevertheless, there are

differences between Cousins and some of the Western women, like Chesley, who joined

Gandhi and the independence movement. It would be foolhardy to suggest that all

Westerners sympathetic to independence operated from the same perspective or

60. Ibid., 233. 61. Mrinalini Sinha, "Reading Mother India: Empire, Nation, and the Female Voice," Journal of

Women's History, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Summer 1994): 6-44.

51

motivation; there are factors that place some of these individuals apart from Cousins.

While Cousins appears to have been wise enough to recognize when her active leadership

in the Indian women's movement was no longer useful or appropriate, she nevertheless

did assume a high profile for a considerable period of time. Perhaps a natural leader and

certainly a well-seasoned rabble-rouser, Cousins no doubt stepped back from active

participation with some reluctance. Catherine Candy's perceptive exploration of Cousins'

"sexual politics" reveals a complex story suggesting that a certain anti-modernism and

class-bound feminism informed the Irish woman's politics. Charges of condescension

and elitism were sometimes leveled at Cousins and her Indian feminist cohorts and it

would seem that they had little real understanding of how fundamental the caste and

labour systems were to the functioning of Indian society as they experienced it from their

positions of privilege.62 What one is struck by in the case of the Western women who

participated more directly in support of Indian independence rather than specifically

getting involved with the women's movement is that they operated at a level that reflects

what Sen referred to as a "willingness to learn rather than a readiness to dictate."

Undoubtedly, their readiness to take a more humble role in the unfolding drama of

India's struggle has rendered them less visible. In recent years the research on Indian

women's agency and participation in the independence movement has brought to light the

work of countless women, often unknown by name. Any mass movement depends on

such supporters. Too often, historians have focussed on the vocal leaders and

underestimated the importance of the anonymous thousands (especially if they are

women) who make such movements possible.

Contemporary analysis of early British feminist responses to the issues of empire

have highlighted some of the ways in which Western women with a brilliant critique of

gender relations often failed to make the larger connections on questions of class and

62. Candy, "Relating Feminisms," 589.

race. Levine suggested that Victorian feminist theory was not found so much in books,

but through "doing" and that feminists assessed, developed and changed their tactical and

theoretical approach as required.63 Recovering more about the relatively anonymous

women, like Polly Chesley, who committed themselves to "learning by doing" in India,

provides a more expansive picture of the ways in which some put their

feminist/internationalist politics into action. What was Chesley's real thinking and

motivation when she embarked on her journey to India? Based on evidence, albeit scant,

it is apparent that Chesley was well aware of the various strains of discourse on India

from her earliest days in Britain.64 Was she familiar with the writings and opinions of

Rathbone, Besant or Pankhurst? It seems highly likely, considering her involvement with

the Friends of India Society, her active participation as a member of the Independent

Labour Party and, apparently, some acquaintance with Sylvia Pankhurst.65 If so, how

were the attitudes and thoughts of these British women balanced against what she knew

of India from her Indian friends? Whatever her preconceptions might have been, it is

apparent that Chesley lived her politics by plunging into Indian life and gaining Gandhi's

admiration for her social commitment as well as for her intellectual and spiritual

qualities. Referring to her in a letter to his son, Gandhi described Chesley as a

"benevolent" and "learned person, living an exceedingly simple life."66 In Harijan, the

weekly newspaper he published in the 1930s, Gandhi wrote:

[Mary Chesley's] charity was boundless, she had great faith in the goodness of human nature...She was a devout Christian ...but had no narrowness about her. She did not believe in converting others to her own faith...she realized at once that she must learn Hindi and was regularly studying it...In her love for India's villages she was not to be excelled by anybody. Her passion for India's

63. Levine, Feminist Lives, 11. 64. Chesley refers to various conversations on political and social issues with Indian students during

her university days at Oxford and the LSE. Letters published in Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, 10 May 1916,4 October 1916.

65. While studying in Paris, Chesley made reference in correspondence to her parents of receiving a letter from Pankhurst. Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, 1 August 1917.

66. Government of India. Collected Works ofMahatma Gandhi, Volume 63, p. 411, #478. Letter to Narandas Gandhi, 16 May 1936.

53

independence was equal to that of the best among us...She mixed with poor women and children with the greatest freedom. There was nothing of the patron about her.67

Gandhi's tribute at the time of Chesley's death may bear the stamp of idealization

and it is possible that he was offering to Westerners a catalogue of admirable qualities to

which they might aspire if they felt inclined to support the Indian struggle.68

Nevertheless, the surviving evidence of Chesley's brief life does point to a woman

passionately committed to putting theory into practice. Parental influence helped to put

her on an unconventional path, but the direction she ultimately chose was her own. Using

Chesley as a point of departure, this study explores various aspects of Western women's

engagement in India during the years leading up to independence and thereby broadens

our understanding of the diverse choices and contributions made by feminists and those

who may not have called themselves feminists but nevertheless benefitted from the

women's movement.

67. "In Memoriam," Harijan, 23 May 1936. 68. Based on Gandhi's references to Chesley at the time of her death in his correspondence with other

associates, his admiration was not just window dressing for the Western public. See Appendix III for excerpts from letters regarding Chesley.

CHAPTER TWO

MARY/POLLY/TARABEHN CHESLEY (1891-1936)

In May of 1936 at Hardwar, one of India's holiest Hindu sites, the cremation of

Mary Albee Chesley, a Canadian of Christian faith, took place during the most intense

heat of summer. Chesley had died in Rishikesh while on a pilgrimage to the Himalayas

with Indian female friends. After taking her body to the Gurukul Kangri (an institution

for scholarly religious study)1, her friends laid her out in a new piece of white khaddar

(homespun cotton). With the accompaniment of ghee and sweet scents and surrounded by

a large number of boys and young men of the Gurukul chanting and waving incense over

the flaming pyre, Chesley's mortal remains burned in a "beautiful" and "impressive"

ceremony.2 Her obituary, written by M.K. Gandhi, stated that, among her many

attributes, Tarabehn's "passion for India's Independence was equal to the best among

us."3

Chesley's sudden death less than two years after her arrival in India cut short a

future that she intended to dedicate to social reconstruction in rural India. At 44, Chesley

appeared to be entering a third major phase in a life that loosely might be divided into

"North American," "British" and "Indian" segments. Born in 1891 in Lunenburg, a major

fishing port on the south shore of Nova Scotia, Mary Chesley (known familiarly as Polly)

1. The Gurukul (literal meaning: community of the guru) was an experimental educational institution run by the Arya Samaj, a Hindu social reform and social service organization. As Carey Watt has pointed out, Gandhi had visited the Gurukul a number of times since returning to India in 1915 and commented that "it is significant that Chesley was cremated there...because it highlights Gandhi's on-going connections to the Arya Samaj and their common interest in social service and innovative educational initiatives." Written commentary, March 2010.

2. "I never saw a more beautiful cremation ceremony. It was most impressive." Eyewitness account of Mahadevi Amma as transcribed and translated through Mohandas Gandhi.

3. Harijan, Vol. IV, No. 15, Sat. 23 May 1936. Chesley's death made international news with coverage in several Indian papers and the New York Times.

55

escaped the potentially limiting horizons of a largely conservative culture through the

stimulus of parents actively engaged in some of the major intellectual and political issues

of the times (in fact, the seeds of Chesley's radicalism were sown in childhood by her

parents).

This collective biography begins with Mary Albee Chesley, not because she

played a large or longstanding role in the Indian Independence Movement, but because

the birth of this research project began with the discovery of Chesley's dramatic death in

India. From this starting point, the construction of the story began, working backwards in

time to assemble the disparate strands of information that now come together to create a

partial portrait of this unusual woman. Furthermore, this research sparked my curiosity to

explore the lives and works of the other women included in the study. In making the case

that the Western women associated with Gandhi were not merely starry-eyed disciples of

a charismatic figure, Chesley's life is particularly useful, as most of the information

known about her concerns her activities prior to her friendship with Gandhi. Not only

does Chesley's engagement with a broad range of social causes allow for an examination

of the some of the radical political and social influences at play during the period, her

story opens up an avenue to discussing the common ground shared by the Western

women in this study.

Chesley's social activism began long before she arrived in India. Born to a mother

who herself had radical ideas, Chesley was a participant during and after the First World

War in a number of leftist organizations and activities in Britain and North America and

was associated with those whose names are better known. Not unlike many other

committed workers in social movements, Chesley and her activities have faded into

obscurity. Because she was the last in her family line, there are no descendents to keep

her memory alive. Furthermore, Chesley died far away from her native land and appears

to have left no personal papers. What is known of her life comes from period newspaper

accounts, organizational records, the odd references made by those who knew her and the

rare extant letter. It is from these that a composite picture has been built, not entirely

satisfying, yet enough to suggest how and why Chesley might have been drawn to India.

Because of her vital engagement in early twentieth century political, social and religious

movements, Chesley's life offers up a number of opportunities to examine how such

strands as feminism, pacifism, internationalism, and colonialism intersected. Of all the

women in this study, she had the most overt association with early feminism through a

mother who was a pioneer in the suffrage movement in Nova Scotia.

In 1847, Chesley's mother, Mary Rebecca Russell, entered the world, the third of

six children born to Nathaniel Russell of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Mary's brother,

Benjamin, wrote that their grandfather, also named Nathaniel, had arrived from Boston in

1776 and was "compelled by conscientious scruples against the taking up of arms, quite

as much if not more than he was prompted by want of sympathy with the Revolutionary

cause." Nathaniel's mother had been the daughter of a Quaker preacher from New

England who ministered to the Religious Society of Friends in Dartmouth.4 For a time,

whalers from Nantucket, Massachusetts had settled in the area. The small Quaker

community declined when some of their number returned to the United States and those

who remained were absorbed into other churches. The Russell family became active in

the Methodist Church; however, Mary Sr., while a faithful attendee throughout her life,

4. Benjamin Russell, Autobiography of Benjamin Russell (Halifax: Royal Print & Litho Ltd, 1932), p. 15.

57

never actually became a member and in various biographical references, she is listed as

"of Quaker descent," presumably a matter of some import to her own self-identity.

Mary Russell chose a good future husband in Samuel Chesley. Born in 1849,

Chesley had strong Methodist roots. When Samuel was only seven, his father, Robert

Ainsley Chesley, a Methodist minister, died at age 40 during an epidemic in St John's,

Newfoundland. Nothing is known of Samuel's early years; however, he and Mary's

brother, Benjamin Russell, met and became friends while studying at Mount Allison

University. According to the university records, Mary Russell attended the Mount

Allison Ladies' Academy in 18685, just a few years prior to the university becoming the

first institution in the British Empire to grant a degree to a woman.6 That Mary's parents

supported higher education for their daughter at this early date, coupled with the fact that

Mount Allison was in the vanguard of support for women's education, undoubtedly had

an impact on her. As well, Mary Russell found, in Samuel Chesley, a partner who shared

(or perhaps came to share) common principles and ideals. Prior to marriage, Samuel

taught for a period at the Wesleyan Academy in St. John's, Newfoundland before

entering law with a firm in Halifax. After being admitted to the Bar in 1873, Chesley,

along with his future brother-in-law, Benjamin Russell and another lawyer named

Geldert formed a partnership in Halifax. In addition, Chesley and his partners served for

a number of years as recorders of proceedings for the Provincial Legislature. The

Chesleys married in 1874, their son Robert was born in 1875 and Agnes followed a little

5. "Circular and Catalogue of the Mount Allison Wesleyan College and Academy, 1868-9," 26. MtA Archives, Sackville, NB. She is listed as Mary Russel [sic], of Dartmouth, NS.

6. John G. Reid, "The Education of Women at Mount Allison, 1854-1914", Acadiensis, Vol. 12 No. 2, 1983: 3-33.

7. The obituary, written by Benjamin Russell, says that Samuel "became naturally a convert to [his wife's] views." "Judge Chesley, Former Lunenburg Citizen Dies Suddenly At Sea," Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, 30 July 1930, 1.

58

more than a year later. In 1879, the Chesleys moved to Lunenburg, where, soon after

starting his law practice, Samuel was appointed Judge of Probate Court, a position he

held until retirement. In 1891, when Mary was almost 42 years old, she gave birth to

Polly, her third child.

In October of 1895, tragedy struck the Chesley family. Robert, just short of 20,

and Agnes, almost 19, were lost in a boating accident. They had sailed their small boat

from Lunenburg to Feltzen South where Agnes taught piano to a number of young

students. While his sister taught, Robert passed the time visiting friends. On their return

journey to Lunenburg in the late afternoon, the siblings got caught in a squall. Their boat

capsized and the following day, Agnes' body washed ashore.8 Two days later, Robert's

body was found. Robert had been working as an assistant engineer for the new water

works in Lunenburg and Agnes attended Mount Allison University. According to The

Wesleyan, Robert and Agnes "were two of the most popular young people in town."9 It is

not difficult to imagine how devastated both the townsfolk and the parents, in particular,

must have been to lose these two promising teenagers.10

There is no record to chronicle Samuel or Mary Chesley's grief. What seems

apparent is that they subsumed their grief in dedicated service to church and public life as

well as devoting themselves to the nurturance of their remaining child, the four-year-old

Polly. According to Henry James Morgan's 1898 volume of The Canadian Men and

Women of the Time, Mary Russell Chesley's public activism only began around 1893 or

8. "The Lunenburg Drowning Tragedy," Halifax Herald, 12 October 1895. 9. The Wesleyan, 13 November 1895. 10. Soon after the deaths, Mary's older sister, Alma Russell, moved in with the Chesleys, an

indication, perhaps, that the family pulled together in support. Alma lived in the Chesley household until her death, even outliving her sister Mary. Polly's memorial tribute to her aunt spoke of her kindness, intellect and humour. She recounted her aunt's love of nature and outdoor sport (swimming and boating almost up until her death at age 83). Polly's own love of nature and sport was undoubtedly influenced by her aunt's example. "In Memoriam" notice for Alma Russell, The Wesleyan, 12 November 1924: 14.

59

1894—before the death of her older children but after the birth of her youngest. Morgan

stated that, "up to that time her life [had been] an extremely domestic one."11 That

Chesley is listed in Morgan's "who's who" gives a clear indication that she had a public

profile at the time. Another reference is found in an 1896 article on Canadian women

writers:

As a writer of strong and vigorous articles in support of the demands of women for a wider enfranchisement Mary Russell Chesley, of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, stands at the head of the Canadian women of to-day. Mrs. Chesley is of Quaker descent, and possesses all a true Quaker's unbending resolve and high sense of freedom and equality. This clever controversialist in defence of her views has broken a lance with some of the leading minds of the United States and Canada, and in every instance has done credit to her sex and the cause she has espoused.12

Like many of her contemporaries who supported the women's suffrage cause,

Chesley entered public life through her involvement with the Woman's Christian

1 "̂

Temperance Union (WCTU). The WCTU, especially in Nova Scotia, spawned some of

the most vocal advocates of suffrage—Mary Russell Chesley being one of the leading

voices. In retaining the use of her birth name, Russell, along with her married name,

Chesley went that one step further than most in asserting her feminism. While Mary

worked on political and social issues within the WCTU, Samuel found his metier largely

within the Methodist Church. Records reveal that he was particularly vocal in supporting

the enfranchisement of women in the church. The WCTU Minutes of Convention for

1895 attest to this: It was unanimously resolved...that the members of this Convention desire to express their sincere appreciation of Judge Chesley's efforts at the last General

11. Henry James Morgan, The Canadian Men and Women of the Time: A hand-book of Canadian Biography (Toronto: William Briggs, 1898), p. 183.

12. Thomas O'Hagan, "Some Canadian Women Writers," Catholic World, Vol. 63, No. 378, (September 1896): 787. To give further proof of Chesley's standing in North American circles of important women, she is also listed in Woman's Who's Who of America, 1914-1915, ed. John William Leonard (New York: The American Commonwealth Co., 1914), p. 175.

13. Ernest Forbes "Battles in Another War" Atlantis, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Spring 1985): 119-126.

60

Conference of Methodist Church in Canada in behalf of the ecclesiastical enfranchisement of Women.14

Reading the numerous reports that Chesley wrote on suffrage, temperance and

peace and arbitration, one gains an impression of an extremely bright, articulate woman

who carried out extensive research, understood parliamentary procedure and policies and

had a remarkable grasp of international affairs. No doubt Mary Chesley's belief in

women's right to equality had a deep impact on her daughter. However, the two shared

even more common ground concerning another social issue. In the Report of the 1908

Convention of the Nova Scotia WCTU, the senior Chesley wrote:

At our Convention last year it was decided to take up again the work of the Peace and Arbitration Department, and I was appointed Superintendent. I accepted the appointment with some misgiving, but with the hope that a younger and abler woman would be willing to take charge of the Franchise work. Now I find myself in a similar position to that of a young lady who is undecided between two suitors, and who finds herself compromised, and almost captivated with number two before she is by any means free from number one, the earliest and first love. I trust some solution of this rather difficult position may be found during this present Convention.15

As it would turn out, Chesley continued to retain both suitors. Even after the vote

was granted and the WCTU Department of Franchise was renamed Christian Citizenship,

she kept up her efforts to inform women of the issues and to encourage them to exercise

their voting rights. Her peace promotion also continued until her death in 1923. It is

through her annual reports in the WCTU records that one gains an appreciation of

Chesley's prescient thinking on war and peace and it is this area of concern that largely

engaged her daughter. It was a common concern shared by Samuel Chesley as well.

14. 13th Annual Maritime Convention of WCTU, 1895, NSARM MG20 Vol. 357. 15. WCTU records, NSARM MG 20, Vo.356 #8: 67.

61

The international peace and arbitration movement had emerged as a response to

the violence and devastation wrought by the many nationalist and civil wars throughout

the nineteenth century. With the growing sophistication of weaponry, and the realization

that wars tended to exacerbate rather than resolve conflicts, political idealists hoped that

humanity had reached a new level of maturity and that conflicts between nations could be

resolved at the negotiating table rather than on the field of battle. While there were men

prominent in the movement, especially in Europe, women formed the majority in peace

advocacy work. In Canada, the Canadian Peace and Arbitration Society was formed in

1905 and Samuel Chesley served as a vice-president. The society, although founded by a

Quaker, was the first national secular peace organization in Canada. It appears as though

it had an exclusively male membership, was not particularly active and had ceased to

exist by the time of the First World War.16

Meanwhile, Mary Chesley's annual reports to the WCTU on the work being

carried out under her department of peace and arbitration included international news of

relevance and gave a vivid picture of her breadth of knowledge and research into political

affairs of the time. Chesley's political radicalism is revealed in the following excerpt in

which she expressed her pleasure at the gains made in Germany by the Socialists.

Referring to a Peace Conference in Copenhagen in 1910 Chesley wrote:

It was seriously proposed and finally submitted for study to the bodies of Socialists in different countries, that, in case of a declaration of war between two nations, a general strike of all workers in the government shops should be declared in order to make war impossible. This would be a far more effective measure than that which Ruskin proposed many years since—the adopting of mourning by all the women of any country upon the declaration of war.17

16. Thomas P. Socknat, Witness Against War: Pacifism in Canada 1900-1945 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1987), p. 29; Canadian Peace and Arbitration Society files, Courtice Family Papers, Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library.

17. WCTU Convention 1912, NSARM MG 20 Vol. 356 #12: 75.

62

Some years later, after war had broken out, women from both neutral and belligerent

countries met to discuss peace at the Hague Conference in 1915. Chesley wrote reports

on the conference, giving full approval of this initiative, which most media reports

roundly criticized.18 Polly, living in Britain by this time, was in accord with her mother.

She became a charter member of the Women's International League (later WILPF) that

grew out of the women's peace conference.

When the senior Chesley took on the mantle of peace and arbitration work with

the WCTU in 1907, Polly had been in her late teens and attending the family alma mater,

Mount Allison. An active sportswoman, Polly played varsity basketball, field hockey and

tennis in addition to excelling academically.19 She graduated with a B.A. in 1910, which

was followed by a year of teacher training at the Truro Normal School. Records indicate

that Chesley quickly moved from a "B" Class to an "A" Superior First Rank licence in

teaching. Between 1911 and 1914, she taught in Digby, Bridgewater (serving as vice-

principal of the high school) and San Diego, California.20 The peripatetic life must have

suited her, for by 1914 Chesley had moved to Britain. She divided her academic time

between reading at the Bodleian Library at Oxford (i.e., taking a series of courses) and

working towards a B.Sc. in Political Economy from the London School of Economics.

Upon graduation from the LSE, she went to Paris to study French at the Sorbonne.

Based on the documentary evidence, it is obvious that, from very early on,

Chesley held views that questioned imperialism. In addition to whatever politicization

18. WCTU Convention 1915, 62. NSARM MG 20 Vol. 356 #15. The Saturday Press and Prairie Farm, July 1,1916, "Our Welfare Page".

19. Mount Allison University's student journal Allisonia, January 1909: 35; April 1909: 62-3; June 1909: 92, 96; November 1909: 11; January 1910: 47; March 1910: 75; May 1910: 115.

20. Registry of Teachers'Licenses, 1910-1913, NSARM, RG 14, Vol. 224,225, 226: 16, 51; Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, 18 Sep 1912; The Friend, 26 June 1936: 601.

63

she acquired from her mother, Chesley's coursework and associations at Oxford, and

particularly at the London School of Economics (LSE) put her in touch with a world of

new ideas and international friendships. Opened in 1895 and from the very outset

coeducational, the LSE must have been a most exciting place for academic women of the

period. As Maxine Berg notes in her biography of economic historian, Eileen Power,

"The LSE had a buzz about it; it was somewhere that engagement with the issues of the

day mattered, and where all kinds of intellectual initiatives were afoot."21 In 1900 women

made up 50% of the student body, as opposed to Oxford and Cambridge with only 9.4

and 10.4% women respectively.22 The subjects of political economy and economic

history were of special interest at the school and women eagerly sought to apply feminist

theory and practice within these fields. Berg comments that "women were an important

presence in [this] new and exciting institution." Historian Billie Melman agrees:

The LSE was identified with the study of history as a science with a social purpose and as a laboratory of social reform with a particular investment in women's higher education, as well as in the scholarly investigation of the experience of women. It also fostered a special interest in colonial economics and education.24

It is within this environment that Polly Chesley immersed herself during the

period of the First World War, earning her degree in political economy in 1916. The

parallel interests that she shared with other feminists who had affiliations with the LSE

resurface time and again in the historiography. In her article "The First Women

Economic Historians" Berg profiles women who attended the LSE during the same

21. Maxine Berg, A Woman in History: Eileen Power 1889-1940 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), p. 9.

22. Ibid.; Carol Dyhouse, No Distinction of Sex? Women in British Universities, 1870-1939 (London, Bristol, PA: UCL Press, 1995) Appendix 1, p. 248.

23. Berg, A Woman in History, p. 9. 24. Billie Melman, "Under the Western Historian's Eyes: Eileen Power and the Early Feminist

Encounter with Colonialism," History Workshop Journal, Issue 42, (1996): 151-2.

period as Chesley. So many of these early women academics and activists shared not

only intellectual but also social and political concerns—socialism, pacifism,

internationalism and a commitment to the establishment of the League of Nations. They

participated in many of the same social and political organizations. Studies by Beryl

Haslam, Johanna Alberti and Anne Wiltsher on feminists who actively pursued a pacifist

stance during the First World War attest to the remarkable interconnections between

radical and intellectual women and their organizational affiliations, connections that

extended beyond Britain to the international context. Some of the women associated

with Gandhi also belonged to the same organizations as Chesley. Unfortunately, it is

unknown whether Chesley knew any of them in England, but it would seem highly

probable.

Obviously Chesley was bright and intellectually curious but it can only be

assumed that without the blessing and financial backing of her parents, she would not

have been able to pursue her studies and adventures so readily. Almost no surviving

record of Chesley's life during this time would exist, were it not for the publication, in

the Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, of a series of Polly's letters home to her parents

during the war. That the Chesleys shared Polly's letters with their fellow townspeople

through the newspaper indicates more than their pride in their daughter's activities and

accomplishments. Polly's letters are full of her political views as well as her social life,

25. Maxine Berg, "The First Women Economic Historians," Economic History Review, XLV, 2 (1992): 308-329.

26. Beryl Haslam, From Suffrage to Internationalism: The Political Evolution of Three British Feminists 1908-1939 (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 1999); Johanna Alberti, Beyond Suffrage: Feminists in War and Peace, 1914-28 (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989); Anne Wiltsher, Most Dangerous Women: Feminist Peace Campaigners of the Great War (London: Pandora Press, 1985).

65

so the Chesleys, in sharing her firsthand accounts of events in England and France, were

providing an alternative view to the patriotic rhetoric that inevitably dominated the press.

Throughout her time in Europe, Polly, an inveterate walker and cyclist, took

advantage of holiday periods to hike and bike, often solo, in England, Scotland and

France.27 A number of references to walking trips both in Nova Scotia and in Britain

clearly indicate that Chesley was a vigorous, athletic person with a zest for adventure.

Natalie Corkum, an informant from Lunenburg whose mother, Lena Bachman, had been

Polly's close friend, recalled that Polly was a great walker, swimmer and rower as well as

knowledgeable about the natural world and the constellations. Corkum recalled that Polly

was a woman "ahead of her time" and unrestricted by social conventions. Once, when

walking home from downtown, Polly got a nail in her shoe. She removed her shoes and

stockings and walked home barefoot, rather than have the discomfort of the nail—

something no "proper lady" would have dared to do. Another recollection is of Chesley,

sitting under a tree at the summer cottage, studying Esperanto.28 This interest in an

international language that was created with the goal of breaking down communication

barriers between people of different countries fits with Chesley's passion for and

participation in a number of organizations espousing pacifism, internationalism and left-

wing politics. In Britain, Chesley became a member of the Union for Democratic Control

(UDC), and the Independent Labour Party (ILP), both opposed to war and, as previously

stated, Chesley was a charter member of the Women's International League (later

WILPF) that grew out of the 1915 International Women's Peace Conference at The

27. A series of letters, written to Chesley's parents between 1915 and 1918 appeared in the Lunenburg Progress Enterprise. A complete run of the newspaper has not survived and it is apparent that at least one, if not more of Polly's letters have been lost as a result.

28. Conversation with Natalie Corkum, 1 May 1998.

66

Hague. References to Esperanto can be found within the WILPF records, indicating that

Chesley shared this interest with other feminist pacifists of the period.

Whether Chesley was one of the one hundred and eighty women in Britain who

had hoped to go to the 1915 peace conference in The Hague is unknown, but she might

easily have been among the group. In a restrictive move, the British government required

dossiers from each applicant and then made a selection limited to 25. However, at the last

minute, when the women were waiting on the docks at Tilbury to embark, the North Sea

was declared closed to shipping. Only three delegates from Britain attended the

conference and this was only possible because they were already outside the country.29

Women from other nations also experienced challenges in travelling to their destination;

the sheer audacity of women from both belligerent and non-belligerent nations coming

together to discuss peace at a time of war aroused the ire of patriotic forces everywhere.

Pacifism during wartime almost bordered on treason as far as the authorities and general

public were concerned.

Excerpts from Chesley's letters reveal her personality, politics and pacifist

thinking. While studying at the Bodleian Library at Oxford, she wrote to her parents of a

sermon she heard at the University Church:

It was a very scholarly sermon, but I think the minister was hitting the wrong dog. He condemned, very sensibly, the way in which, while we are fighting for liberty abroad, we are taking it away at home. He spoke of the arbitrary proceeding the Cabinet had taken under the Defence of the Realms Act, especially the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. And he said one of the worst signs was that the people seemed perfectly indifferent in regard to the loss of their safeguard to liberty, with the exceptions of a few eminent lawyers (and, he might have added, a large body of suffragettes and labour people). He spoke too of the tyranny which is practiced in the name of the majority, as in the case of the conscientious objectors whom the majority of the people wish to force to fight. Then too of the false economy which starts by closing the Museums and turning

29. Jo Vellacott, "Anti-War Suffragists," History, 62 (1977): 411-25. http://www.worc.ac.xjk/CHIC/suffrage/document/antiwara.htiri

67

from 150,000 to 200,000 school children from 11 to 13 out of school. Now he blamed all these things to the fact that England had a democratic government instead of an aristocratic one. I don't agree with him there at all. I think it is because affairs have been—and still are—so much in the hands of the aristocracy who don't think that the common people need to know more than the three Rs and therefore have not taken the trouble to ensure an educated democracy. However, no one can blame this war on democracy, for foreign policy is the one department of government which democracy has been wholly unable to influence. Also, as the Cabinet has been in complete command (and, according to Lowe and others of the best writers, is always—either Liberal or Tory—an aristocratic body) ever since the war, the House of Commons being even more subservient than usual because afraid to appear unpatriotic, we cannot blame the loss of liberties in England since to democracy, except the democracy that had, because of its ignorance, been hoodwinked by a press, owned by the aristocracy into accepting and even applauding. The only papers that have stood out for liberty have been labour papers.30

In another letter later the same year, Polly described a walking holiday in

Scotland. She met two other young women and told of their lodgings and supper in a

farmhouse. "[We] sat around the grate fire until 12. Unfortunately the talk turned on the

war—unfortunately, for Marjorie thinks war a purgative and something that will clear the

nations, etc., and May takes the orthodox view of considering the Germans something

outside the human species, etc. However we got to bed without quarrelling... ."31

Chesley's interest in politics and her association with some of the leading leftists

in Britain are revealed in her letters. After returning from her Scottish holiday, "I called

on Lady Courtney only to find that she had been out of town for five weeks, so I

concluded to go to the House of Commons and I succeeded, after a time in finding Mr.

MacDonald (Ramsay MacDonald, M.P., future leader of the Labor Party) who got me a

ticket and took me to the lift for the ladies' gallery."32 She proceeded to describe the

debates in great detail, knowing full well that her mother would have as great an interest

30. "Oxford in Wartime," Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, 10 May 1916. 31. "Miss Chesley in Scotland," Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, 4 October 1916. 32. "Highland Manners and a House of Commons Debate," Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, 15

November 1916.

68

in them as she herself did. When in Paris, Chesley mentioned receiving a letter from

Sylvia Pankhurst, another indication that she travelled in radical circles.33

Chesley's antipathy to war is keenly reflected in a letter, written in January of

1917 from Paris. In addition to her distress at the state of the world, her sense of being

homesick for family and familiar surroundings is palpable:

I see everything black today. I am sick at heart. I am afraid to look at a newspaper. If America enters the war it will seem to me that civilization is lost. I will feel like Elijah, that I only am left. But I know that you feel as I do on this subject. I hope I am not going to turn pessimist. Certainly I have seen too much of the goodness of the human heart for that. But just now, if one is not willing to become brutal and barbarous like the rest, it is very difficult to keep from growing pessimistic....It was snowing again today and again there is no coal. Paris has not experienced a winter like this for many a year. At times I wish to be where there is no lack of coal or of love. But Lunenburg also is in the war and I would feel badly about that. But enough of this. I shall probably feel differently next week. I embrace you with all my heart.—Polly.34

Although it is impossible to track all of Chesley's movements over the years,

newspaper references to her whereabouts and activities indicate that in the immediate

post-war period she returned to North America and volunteered in a hospital during the

influenza epidemic.35 For a period of time she taught in Vancouver.36 Throughout the

early 1920s, she made periodic trips to the Maritimes where she gave lectures on

international peace, reconciliation and disarmament as well as fundraised for the relief of

child victims of war in Russia, France and Germany.37 Like her mother, Chesley had a

33. "More Letters from Paris," Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, 1 August 1917. 34. "Miss Chesley in Paris," Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, 14 February 1917. 35. "Trying Experiences of Mary A. Chesley in Hospital," Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, 25

December 1918. The location of the hospital is unknown because an earlier letter was obviously printed in one of the Lunenburg Progress Enterprise editions that has not survived.

36. The Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, 27 July 1921, mentioned that Polly was home from Vancouver visiting her parents. Further reference to teaching in Vancouver is found in "Mary A. Chesley, The Friend, 26 June 1936.

37. "Address on Peace and Disarmament" Saint John Standard, 14 October 1921; "Miss Chesley Lectures," Bridgewater Bulletin, 18 October 1921; "Appeal for Relief For Starving Russia," The Sydney Record, 1 May 1922; "Interesting Meeting," Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, 21 February 1923; "Kings County Favored by Visit from Miss Chesley," Berwick Register, 20 June 1923.

broad grasp of international affairs and included examples of issues spanning the globe.

According to a newspaper report, Chesley, in response to a question from one member of

the large mixed audience in attendance at a lecture at the Women's Council House in

Halifax, stated "that the troubles in Mexico were not of their own making but were

largely caused by the oil interests and their agitators." Chesley also cited a number of

problems caused by British interests in India.38 Her knowledge of India and its conditions

under imperialism certainly predated her eventual move there; letters home during her

time at Oxford and the London School of Economics speak of friendships with Indian as

well as other international students and an awareness of social and political issues there.

There was a very interesting Indian boy there, who told about the desire of the educated Indians for independence... .They are not allowed to have their patriotic Societies in India, they have them in the States, especially in San Francisco. They resent the fact that Englishmen with not nearly the education they have are put over Indians.39

When Polly Chesley went to Philadelphia in 1923 to volunteer with a Quaker

relief organization, she participated in a peace demonstration on Armistice Day.

According to newspaper reports, she was among a group of prominent speakers who

spoke at open-air meetings organized by the Women's International League for Peace

and Freedom and she was one of three whose words were broadcast on national radio.40

Bessie Hall, a friend of Polly's from Lunenburg County, went to Bryn Mawr to begin her

Ph.D. during the time that Polly was in Philadelphia. Only eleven miles outside

38. "Miss Chesley's Lecture A Striking One," Evening Mail, 12 October 1921: 16. Chesley's addresses no doubt had supporters and detractors. One member of the Saint John audience asserted her view that the Canadian soldiers had sacrificed their lives for a just and righteous cause.

39. Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, 10 May 1916. It is noteworthy that the revolutionary Prithvi Singh, whose life intersected with Mirabehn's (see later chapter), spent some years in San Francisco.

40. "Armistice Day Marked by Appeals for Peace," The Philadelphia Record, 11 November 1923. One of the other speakers was the radical pacifist Bishop Paul Jones of the Episcopal Church. "Lunenburg Lady Heard on the Radio," Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, 21 November 1923.

70

Philadelphia, Bryn Mawr became a frequent weekend retreat for Polly. As well, Bessie

joined Polly in the city for cultural events. Excerpts from Bessie's letters home help to

flesh out a portrait of Polly:

Oh, I must tell you—Polly Chesley has been out here twice already! In fact the girls are getting quite habituated to her appearance. She is my chief scout in town to buy cheap opera tickets, or tickets for good plays. She can scent a bargain in that line just about as quickly as anyone I ever knew and I see where under her judicious supervision I shall be able to indulge in a whole galaxy of perfectly gorgeous things for the price of just one or two of the prodigal "Hall" purchases. P.S. Polly came out yesterday afternoon and played tennis, and then a couple of us went off and made a "campfire" and had tea outdoors. Polly has got cheap seats to "Faust".... Isn't that grand!41

And, again:

Polly was out to see me on Sunday. She usually runs out here once a week to get the advantage of our plentiful supply of hot water... as the hot water where she boards is apt to be a minus quantity. Today she is giving some street addresses in Philadelphia on the world peace movement. Good old Pol!42

These brief references give an indication of Chesley's vitality and interest in a range of

activities. In her letters home to her parents, Chesley's sense of humour and the breadth

of her reading in literature as well as political matters come to light. Chesley seemed to

embrace both the lighter and more serious aspects of life with passionate enthusiasm.

How long she planned to stay in Philadelphia is unknown, but the death of her mother in

late December precipitated a move home.43

For close to two years, it appears that Polly remained in Canada, for a time

replacing her mother as national WCTU peace and arbitration superintendent. In 1925, in

41. McGrigor-Miller Collection, NSARM, MG 1 Vol. 662, #3, letter dated 25 October 1923. 42. Ibid., letter 10 November 1923. 43. "Wife of Judge Chesley Dead," Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, 26 December 1923. Obituaries

appeared in several newspapers, including a front-page article in the Halifax Morning Chronicle, 26 December 1923.

71

her annual report, Chesley revealed the conflicting post-war attitudes among women in

Canadian society:

Over a year ago my mother received a letter telling her that the unions [in British Columbia] had joined with the Parent Teachers' Associates, University Women's Club, and others in protesting against the war pictures presented to the schools by the Imperial Daughters of the Empire as calculated to glorify war in the minds of the children and nourish, rather than destroy, the spirit of hate.44

Reminding her audience of the legacy of that spirit, Chesley enlisted the help of WCTU

chapters throughout the Maritimes in fundraising for victims of war.45 Support for

suffering Germans was not, however, considered a popular cause at this time. A Truro

newspaper questioned her portrayal of Germany's condition. Chesley's response, in a

letter to the Editor, reveals that she had studied the situation in depth and had strong data

to support her arguments. Countering the adage used by the reporter, "charity begins at

home," Chesley wrote, "Let us not neglect the children who are suffering at home, but let

us not make these little ones an excuse for hardening our hearts to the sufferings of

children across the sea.46 Nova Scotia's provincial WCTU Peace and Arbitration

superintendent reported that Chesley spoke at several schools in Halifax on the cost of

war and how money might be better used.47 The relentless efforts of both Chesleys,

mother and daughter, to promote reconciliation rather than militarism through circulation

of literature, lantern slide talks, peace sermons in churches, articles in newspapers and

petitions reveal the commitment they shared in an uphill "battle" towards world peace.

And an uphill struggle it was: based on the number of young boys enrolled in school

cadet programs, it seemed that militarism was enjoying a growing rather than diminishing

44. Canadian WCTU 1925 Convention Report, NSARM MG 20 Vol. 367: 135-137. 45. Ibid. 46. "Speaking in Truro Church for Germany's Starving People," Berwick Register 28 May 1924;

"German Children Relief," Berwick Register, 18 June 1924. 47. NS WCTU Annual Report 1924, NSARM MG20, Vol. 356: 68.

72

popularity. In 1909, when the Dominion WCTU passed its first resolution (initiated by

Mary Chesley) against military training in schools, there were only about 10,000 cadets.

By 1925, Polly reported that there were well over 100,000 cadets in school programs.

Samuel Chesley, maintaining, in his own way, the family penchant for activism, put

forward a resolution that same year within the newly formed United Church of Canada,48

to propose that the church take a stand against military training in schools.49

Another precipitous event occurred in 1925. Polly's aunt died, leaving Samuel as

the lone occupant of the household. Samuel Chesley joined his daughter, who had

decided to return to Britain, and he lived with her there for several years. He maintained

contact with his church community in Canada through an article he wrote on a Peace

Conference near Paris that he attended with Polly in 1926.50 Around the same time, in

partnership with Olive Warner, a Quaker friend and fellow teacher, Polly established a

small private school in Potters Bar, London,51 no doubt, with financial help from her

father. Samuel surely must have enjoyed being close to his daughter and providing the

wherewithal for the purchase of a house, but the challenge of building a new life in

Britain must have been difficult for him at his advanced age. In 1930 Samuel sailed for

Nova Scotia, accompanied by Polly, with the intention of returning to live his final days

in Canada. However, Samuel died on the journey and was buried at sea.52 With his death,

Polly became the lone survivor of the family; after settling affairs, she returned to Britain

and her teaching. By this time Polly's colleague, Olive Warner, had moved to South

48. The United Church of Canada formed in 1925, bringing together Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational church congregations under one body. Not all Presbyterian churches joined, however, so there is still a separate Presbyterian Church.

49. Editorial, New Outlook, 13 January 1926. 50. "An International Peace Month in France" by S.A. Chesley, New Outlook, 29 September 1926. 51. "Change of Address," The Friend, 24 December 1926. 52. "Judge Chesley, Former Lunenburg Citizen Dies Suddenly At Sea," Lunenburg Progress

Enterprise, 30 July 1930: 1.

73

Africa but another teacher, Martha (Pat) Blyth, joined in the running of the school. They

worked together until Chesley left for India in 1934.53

Between 1925 and 1934, there are only scattered records of Chesley's activities.

In addition to running her school, she continued to involve herself in political and social

action. While she did not formally join the Religious Society of Friends until 1931,

Chesley's interest in Quakers is revealed in earlier letters. Her first mention is attendance

at a Quaker meeting in Paris during the war, yet there is an implication that she had

frequented prior meetings in Britain.54 It is not surprising that she would have been

drawn to Friends with its testimonies to peace, equality and simplicity. She also travelled

in intellectual circles concerned with national and international Christian economics and

joined a group known as The Neighbours, organized by J.R. Bellerby, a professor of

economics at Oxford. The members of the group were committed to simple living,

operating within a budget comparable to those at the lower end of the economic scale.

Individuals with private income in excess of that amount gave the remainder away to

charity.55

Chesley and all the women in this study operated from a place of deep faith. As

well, all were pacifists. By looking at Chesley's experience and connecting it with the

historiography that traces the crosscurrents between feminism, religion, pacifism and

other forms of social action, certain patterns emerge. Historically, churches, along with

other patriarchal institutions have played an instrumental role in keeping women "in their

place". It is worthwhile pondering to what extent religious belief has figured in either

53. Interestingly, Warner became politically engaged in the Black struggle in South Africa and coincidentally taught one of Gandhi's granddaughters in her school.

54. "Miss Chesley's Letter From France," Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, 18 July 1917. 55. "Mary A. Chesley, The Friend, 26 June 1936.

74

constraining or freeing women to act in the world. Historian Martha Vicinus and others

suggest that, for the period from 1850 to 1920, religious commitment was the foundation

for much of women's work and often gave women courage to move out into the

community and beyond prescriptive social norms.56 The first forays into the world of

volunteer and paid work often were fueled by religious motivation. For women like

Chesley, and her mother before her, spiritual faith was more important than church

affiliation. A number of the other women in this study went to India under the auspices of

a church organization, yet none of them remained affiliated with her host church. The

fact that such a significant percentage of the women either became Quakers or had strong

affiliations with Quakers and that Gandhi had so many Quaker friends is worth noting.

Polly Chesley only became a member of the Religious Society of Friends at the

age of forty. Because her mother was "of Quaker descent," one could read this as a desire

to return to the faith of her ancestors; however, such an interpretation would overlook

Polly Chesley's personal agency and active embrace of Quaker principles, process and

the testimonies of Quaker faith, particularly the Peace Testimony. Other factors

undoubtedly played a part in her decision to become a Quaker. First of all, the

opportunities for joining a Friends' Meeting were far greater in Britain than in Canada.

While Quakers formed a minority sect among religious groups in the country, they were a

significant minority with a prominent history, particularly regarding their stance on issues

of social justice. Quakers "by birth" constituted an important segment of early feminist

activism, but leading up to and following the First World War, some feminists of

combined Christian, socialist and pacifist bent found Quakerism compatible with their

56. Martha Vicinus, Independent Women: Work and Community for Single Women 1850-1920 (Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1985), pp. 22, 37.

75

principles and became Friends "by convincement". Polly Chesley's decision to become

a Quaker is mirrored in the actions of other feminists. Theodora Wilson Wilson (1865-

1941), a writer and radical pacifist of the period, is just one example. Born into an old

Cumbrian family with strong ties to the Liberal party, she eventually shifted her political

allegiances to Labour and also joined the Society of Friends in 1913 or 1914. Although

prevented by British authorities from attending the 1915 Hague Congress, Wilson was

one of the five British women who participated in the planning of the women's peace

C O

congress. As previously mentioned, out of the meeting in The Hague, a new

international organization of women, Women's International League (eventually

WILPF), formed and Chesley became a founding member. Wilson, too, became a

member of the Independent Labour Party. Wilson and Chesley, both comfortably middle-

class, had several common interests and organizational affiliations; however, feminists

from less privileged circumstances also found Quakers and the more nonconformist

Christian sects appealing. Letters and diaries, spanning the years 1897-1917, of two

lower middle-class working women in London offer a remarkable record of the

feminist/political/spiritual journeys of childhood friends whose activities and affiliations

often corresponded with those of Chesley, Wilson and other women of the time.59 As

Tierl Thompson, the editor of the diaries, observes: One of the striking phenomena in the diaries is the presence of religion in the 'new' politics; the links between religion and feminism, or religion

57. The term "convincement" is used by Quakers to indicate a spiritual "leading" that convinces an individual to seek formal membership with the Society of Friends. People apply for membership with a local monthly meeting (such groups meet weekly for worship and monthly for business). Non-members who attend Quaker meetings for worship are referred to as "attenders." No one is required to become a member and there are many active participants in local groups who remain attenders indefinitely.

58. Angela Ingram, '"In Christ's Name—Peace!': Theodora Wilson Wilson and Radical Pacifism," Rediscovering Forgotten Radicals: British Women Writers 1889-1939, ed. Angela Ingram and Daphne Patai (Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 1993), pp. 178-179.

59. Tierl Thompson, ed., Dear Girl: The Diaries and Letters of Two Working Women 1897-1917 (London: The Women's Press, 1987).

76

and socialism which are absent from present-day movements...[There was a belief that] spiritual as well as material change was necessary to transform society [and] often formed a part of radical politics.60

In Britain, pacifist feminists whether or not they were Quakers inevitably had

affiliations with the Society of Friends, both as individuals and collectively within

organizations such as the Independent Labour Party, the Women's International League,

The National Peace Council, the Union for Democratic Control, Save the Children Fund,

and other women's groups, especially in the post-war period. The interconnections

between feminists and Quakers committed to peace, internationalism, and post-war

famine relief is revealed a number of studies.61

Whether or not all the women in this study held feminist or pacifist views prior to

going to India is not certain, but the fact that they all had some form of post-secondary

education, became employed outside the home62 and remained single indicates that they

did not see themselves as settling into conventional female-gendered domesticity.

Considering these factors, they were, perhaps, ripe for further radicalization in India. In

all likelihood the women in this study had been exposed to feminist teachers but they

probably held different views than their teachers concerning some issues. Vicinus, who

suggests a generational difference with regard to the feminist stance on war and pacifism,

observes that this division was seen in the response to the First World War. She states

that many of the most thoughtful students became pacifists, whereas their teachers took

an ardently patriotic stance.63 This generational difference also suggests that younger

60. Ibid., p. 8. Undoubtedly, it was this combined belief in spiritual and material change that eventually led Christian socialists and particularly Quakers to support Gandhi's political struggle in India.

61. Haslam, From Suffrage to Internationalism; Berg, A Woman in History; Alberti, Beyond Suffrage. 62. Madeleine Slade might be considered an exception. Although she did not have post-secondary

education, she engaged in French, German, Urdu and Hindi language study on her own. 63. Vicinus, Independent Women, p. 147.

77

women in the post-war period may have been less committed to a belief in the rightness

of British imperialism in the wake of internationalism as a socio-political goal of the left.

In the post-war period, Chesley vigorously agitated for the cause of peace and

disarmament. Eunice Buchanan, a good friend and fellow pacifist WCTU member in

Nova Scotia, gave the following update in her 1926 report, "Miss Chesley is devoting

much of her time to peace work in England, speaking before audiences in Hyde Park, or

on other London platforms once a week."64 In 1928 at the Labour Party Conference in

Birmingham, Chesley, as a delegate from St. Albans and also representing 60 divisions in

the party, made a spirited plea for the adoption of a policy of total disarmament, locking

horns with Ramsay MacDonald, who was no longer willing to commit to such a position

for the party.65

It is evident from Polly's earlier letters to her parents that she had made friends in

university with a number of Indian students and that she had some familiarity with and

sympathy for India's desire for independence. While almost nothing is known about

Chesley's connections with Indians during the intervening years, one piece of evidence

points to more than a passing interest in Indian politics. Chesley's activities came under

the surveillance of British intelligence. The Public and Judicial Department under the

India Office kept a file on the Friends of India Association. Founded in 1930 by Reginald

Reynolds after he had visited India and met Gandhi, the organization obviously was

64. "Report of Peace and Arbitration," 1926 WCTU Convention Report, NSARM MG 20 Vol. 356 #26.

65. The Labour Party Report, 28th Annual Conference (Birmingham, October 1928), pp. 159, 192, 193,263-266. Kenneth E. Miller, Socialism and Foreign Policy: Theory and Practice in Britain to 1931 (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1968), p. 221; "Labour Party Report," The Times, 6 October 1928: 6; Birmingham Gazette, 6 October 1928; Birmingham Mail, 5 October 1928.

considered a threat by the authorities and Chesley's involvement did not go unobserved.

According to the record:

The Indian Caravan came into being to distribute the literature of the .. .Society and to prosecute a more vigorous and direct propaganda throughout the country by means of speakers working from a motor van.. .A tour of four weeks was completed in February and March, 1931, some 34 meetings being held in 18 towns.. .The speakers included Atma Kamlani, Miss Mary Chesley and the Rev. Will Hayes.66

When the idea of going to India took root in Polly Chesley's mind is unknown. It

is highly possible that she met and was inspired by Mirabehn when the latter was on her

speaking tour in Britain.67 What is known is that, in 1934, she left the home she owned in

Potters Bar, which also housed the school she ran, to the care of her teaching partner, Pat

Blyth. When Chesley arrived in India, she initially stayed with two Indian sisters, Bagi

and Bibi (Nur Jehan, Ph.D.), women she had known in England who had been urging her

to come to India ever since their return nearly four years earlier.68 The only extant letter

from Chesley in India described her first few months in the country. Her friends came

from a very wealthy "traditional" Muslim family; however, their time in England had

provided them with an education and a taste for independence, so they chose to strike out

on their own rather than go back into purdah, as the family desired. An inspector of girls'

schools throughout the United Provinces, Bibi travelled extensively and Polly joined her

on a tour soon after her arrival, giving a description of life as she first found it in India.

Although the sisters wanted to provide for Polly's needs in India, she was not

prepared to live a life of ease and began exploring possibilities for meaningful

66. India Office Records, British Library, IOR: L/P&J/12/428: 17, 11 November 1931. 67. "In Memoriam," Harijan, 23 May 1936,113. 68. Letter from Polly Chesley, 2 December 1934 to a cousin. Written with an address c/o Nur Jehan,

Ph.D., Inspectress of Schools, Shahjehanpur, United Provinces, India, this is the only known extant letter from Chesley in India. Private collection.

79

community involvement. Polly began making her own way around India, beginning with

nine days in Bombay, attending the meetings of the Indian National Congress. As a

political person used to attending sessions of parliament and labour party conferences, it

is not surprising that she would want to observe firsthand the political activities in the

country. After leaving Bombay, she visited Christa Seva Sangh ashram, a Christian

ashram in Pune and from there went to the Quaker Mission in Itarsi. At the mission,

someone told her about Mary Barr who was working in a village not far away. Polly

walked into the village unannounced and Mary Barr invited her to stay for a time. Barr,

already a friend of Gandhi and working in village uplift according to Gandhi's ideals,

brought Chesley with her when she went to visit Gandhi at his ashram in Wardha. Polly

spent over two weeks there, getting to know Gandhi and it was at this time that she felt

that she had found her spiritual and political soul mates among those working towards

independence according to Gandhi's principles. Having already experimented with living

frugally and giving away any income that she did not need, Polly found that she did not

require major adjustment to the rigours of ashram life. Her eventual downfall came,

perhaps, from what some would call the rashness of embracing the standard of living of

poor Indian villagers without regard for the possible transition time needed to have the

body build up some natural immunity to diseases with which she would have had no

previous contact.

If Chesley immediately related to Gandhi and his ideas, the reverse can also be

said. Gandhi found in Chesley an inquiring mind and a knowledgeable person on a wide-

ranging number of topics, philosophical, religious and political. Gandhi often gave Indian

names to his Western friends. Chesley became Tara, meaning "star," perhaps an

appropriate name for someone who was a star pupil, eager to inquire and learn. A couple

80

of conversations between Polly and Gandhi were deemed worthy enough to be recorded

by scribes and are included in the Collected Works ofMahatma Gandhi.69 Chesley and

Gandhi did not always share the same point of view, but a sense of respect as well as

humour is revealed in their exchanges. For some time, Polly went to Khedi, a small

village on the outskirts of Betul, in Madhya Pradesh (central India) to work with Mary

Barr and others engaged in village projects. The following excerpt, printed in Gandhi's

newspaper, Harijan, records something of her work and how thoroughly she embraced

Indian village life. In a letter to Gandhi describing some extensive physical labour,

Chesley wrote:

I like the physical exercise in the cool of morning and evening. I have carried over 100 basketsfull of mud on my head from the pit about 11 yards away where I dig it, to the back of our house where I am making a verandah. .. .This verandah is a bit of selfishness, but there is a beautiful view from the back of the house.. .and it seemed foolish to me to only be able to enjoy it from two little windows, so the verandah.. .is to be our chief living and sleeping room.

M.B. (Mary Barr) and I had our first and only real disagreement about this as she wrote to you. She felt that I was likely to go wrong and do a lot of unnecessary work and that, therefore, we should have a coolie to tell me what to do. I thought that I enjoyed the work, that I did not want a coolie, that one should not have help for things one could do oneself and that in a village, where most people did their own building, one should be able to get enough free information not to go wrong.70

Gandhi agreed with Chesley. He felt that by doing physical labour, in addition to having

a good scheme of work and displaying selfless commitment to the wellbeing of the

villagers, much good could be accomplished.71 Chesley, with her social-democratic,

egalitarian approach, avoided taking advantage of any "white" privilege. This quality

must surely have been one that appealed to Gandhi. However, after Tarabehn died,

69. See Appendix III. 70. "Well Begun," Harijan, 8 March 1935: 26. 71. Ibid.

81

Gandhi modified his position somewhat, realizing the toll that sudden immersion could

take on those whose immune systems were not acclimatized to Indian conditions.

In her final months, Tarabehn took, what she had imagined would be, a temporary

leave of absence from her work in Khedi. In keeping with her interest in languages and

desire to communicate with native speakers, Tarabehn went to the Mahila Ashram at

Wardha in order to improve her Hindi. It was during this period that she decided to join

her newfound women friends at the ashram when they set off for a pilgrimage to the

Hindu holy sites, little realizing that this fateful journey would be her last. Gandhi had

warned her against such an undertaking; however, Chesley couldn't resist the adventure.

Chesley's early death leaves one wondering what she might have been able to

accomplish as her enthusiasm for and commitment to social and political reformation

seemed to know no bounds.72 Pat Blyth, Chesley's friend with whom she taught in

England, in correspondence with Gandhi at the time of her death wrote of Chesley's

kindness and simple living. She also revealed something more in the following words:

May I thank you for the happiness your work brought to Mary who was always a lonely and a little understood person here in England. Her letters from India have been full of deep spiritual peace and contentment so that I have envied instead of pitying [sic] her.

I am sure too that her accounts of the work in India have brought to some few here at least a little more understanding of the sufferings of India and of your plans for it.73

Regrettably, any accounts that Chesley may have sent either as letters or possible articles

have not been discovered.

72. The cause of Chesley's death was undetermined. There is no record of a definitive diagnosis. 73. Quoted from a letter dated 2 June 1936 in correspondence from Mahadev Desai to Rev. E.W.

Forbes, a cousin of Mary Chesley. Letter is in private collection.

82

Until Chesley landed in India, she had led quite a wandering life. It does seem

that, in India, she found her spiritual home and a mission. While it is difficult to say that

Chesley contributed in any large way to the Indian independence movement, for those

with whom she came into contact during her brief time in India, her commitment meant

much. The regard that nationalist Indians held for anti-colonial Westerners who so

concretely supported their cause cannot be underestimated. A 2003 conversation with

ninety-seven-year-old Mahadevi Tai, the friend in whose arms Chesley died in 1936,

gave testimony to the feelings that were still held for Chesley sixty-seven years after her

death. Tai, who had been a child widow from a high-caste family, would have had a grim

future, had it not been for Gandhi's visit with her family when she was in her early

twenties. Tai joined Gandhi's ashram in 1930, and became a close associate and an

adoptive "daughter" to Vinoba Bhave. Considered a national hero by Indians, she served

terms in prison several times during the country's struggle for freedom. After

independence, in the 1950s, when Vinoba Bhave initiated the Bhoodan (land gift)

movement in which he walked thousands of miles throughout India to persuade large

landowners to give away land to the poor, Tai worked and travelled with him. She later

began an orphanage for street children and a home for the aged in Bangalore.

In 2003, Tai's short-term memory was gone, but upon seeing a photograph of

herself with Chesley taken at the time of the death, Tai's eyes began to water as she told

the story of the loss of her didi (older sister). With her acute long-term memory, the sense

of loss was still fresh.74 While anecdotal, it remains a testament to Chesley's impact on

Tai, probably the last person living to have a personal memory of this almost-forgotten

74. Conversation with Mahadevi Tai, Bangalore, India, 14 November 2003.

83

Westerner who threw in her lot with the Indian freedom and social uplift movements. The

story also provides evidence of Chesley's continuing commitment to sisterhood. Chesley

may have been developing a growing friendship with Gandhi and obviously believed that

he was an important figure from whom she could learn; however, she did not hesitate to

go her own way. And while feminism was not the struggle at the forefront of Chesley's

life, it provided a backdrop. Guided by a synthesis of social, political and spiritual ideals

and principles, Chesley, though her time in India was short-lived, had all the requisite

qualities for inclusion in this collective of Western women.

CHAPTER THREE

FROM MISSIONARIES TO REVOLUTIONARIES

Unlike some of the women in this study, Polly Chesley arrived in India as a free

agent, with independent means. As well, Chesley had, perhaps, the most overtly radical

history prior to arriving in the country. Nevertheless, the group of women discussed in

the chapter would come to share more common ground than difference with Chesley as

their ideas, both political and spiritual, evolved. The majority of these women came to

India to work under the auspices of Christian missions, but their growing sensitivity to

Indian aspirations for independence and their recognition of Gandhi as the country's

potential saviour placed them in tenuous circumstances vis-a-vis their employers. By

associating with Britain's "arch enemy" the women ran afoul of church and government

authorities and eventually they chose a more radical path and left their missions. That

Gandhi provided inspiration for their movement to the "other side" is undoubted;

however, each woman made her decisions based on conscience and personal integrity, as

an agent in her own right. For the purposes of organization, this chapter will introduce

the women according to their chronological order of entry into the Indian story.

In 1916, only a year and a half after returning to India from his years in South

Africa, Gandhi received two Danish visitors to his ashram at Sabarmati near Ahmedabad.

This visit ushered in the beginning of a friendship and correspondence with Anne Marie

Petersen "and Esther Faering (later Menon) that would continue for the next three decades.

Of the Western women in this study, Anne Marie Petersen (1878-1951) was the earliest

to arrive in India. In 1909, Petersen took up her mission work in South India, first with

the Loeventhal Mission, and then the Danish Missionary Society (DMS). Petersen was

strongly influenced in her thinking by the Grundtvigian movement. Biographer Tine

Larsen has described this movement as connected to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in

Denmark and "characterized by its freedom regarding personal faith, by its Christian and

popular enlightenment, cultural openness and its folkliege tradition."2 Free schools and

folk high schools in Denmark had been established on these principles. Petersen began

her teaching career in Denmark's free schools and was committed to working under their

principles in India. For her, this meant providing a Christian-based education, yet

incorporating all aspects of the local culture, teaching both practical and academic skills,

and using the local language, rather than English or some other foreign language. After

several years of working in India, Petersen was determined to open a new school based

on her developing philosophy of education, merging Danish and Indian approaches. In

1915, she met another DMS colleague, Esther Faering (1889-1962) who had been

teaching in India since 1912. In 1916, the two women travelled around India to visit

schools and gather information about conditions in the country and different approaches

to education. It was during this time that they met Gandhi. As Faering would later write,

"My discontent and uneasiness about being a part of an organized [missionary] society

originate[d] from this meeting [with Gandhi]. He utterly fascinated me and his ideal was

mine too from my very youth."

1. Most of the information on Petersen has been gleaned from a biography by Tine Elisabeth Larsen, Anne Marie Petersen A Danish Woman in South India: A Missionary Story 1909-1951 (Chennai: Lutheran Heritage Archives, 2000).

2. Ibid., p. 5. 3. Larsen, Anne Marie Petersen, fn 1: 28. Porto Novo Newsletter, Vol 21, No. 9 (1929): 212.

Gandhi immediately embraced both Petersen and Faering as "family" members.

Because of the extensive correspondence that ensued between Faering and Gandhi, it was

Faering who first began to have difficulties within the Danish Missionary Society.

Faering, in supporting Indian aspirations for independence, adopting vegetarianism and

dressing in khadi, drew fire from fellow missionaries. When she planned to spend

Christmas of 1917 at Gandhi's ashram, members of the DMS denied her permission to

go. Over the next couple of years, Faering teetered on the verge of resigning from her

teaching post. Had it not been for Gandhi urging patience and caution, she might have

been much more impetuous. Finally, however, Faering's waywardness took on an even

more pronounced form when she decided to marry an Indian medical student, E. Kuhni

Menon. When Faering submitted her letter of resignation in 1919, her one supporter

among the DMS recognized that this engagement to a Hindu would be the last straw as

far as the Danish church board was concerned. With personal regret, Johan Bittman, the

chairman of the DMS conference, felt obliged to send Faering's letter of resignation

home to Denmark.4

Once Faering was no longer under the auspices of the missionary society, her

status in the country was under question and the threat of deportation loomed. Gandhi

worked through various channels to enable her to remain in India. Faering would not be

the only mission worker to come under scrutiny. Increasingly, British authorities were

monitoring missionaries, particularly if they had sympathies with Gandhi and the

independence movement. Mail to and from Gandhi or other Indian National Congress

members was opened by British intelligence. Missionary societies, anxious not to incur

the wrath of officials or jeopardize their future mission work in the country, brought

4. Larsen, Anne Marie Petersen, p. 36.

87

pressure to bear on any of their staff members who did not toe the line in terms of

allegiance to the imperial power.

In August 1919, only two weeks after Faering's resignation, Anne Marie Petersen

returned to India, having spent the previous two years in Denmark. In 1917, Petersen had

made the first trip home since the beginning of her work in India in 1909. During her

furlough, she spoke to groups throughout Denmark about India and promoted her idea for

a new school. As well, she wrote and published a number of articles on India and mission

work. When Petersen landed back in India, she was disturbed by the news of Faering's

departure from the Danish Missionary Society, for she had planned to work with her

closest friend in the running of her future school. Petersen herself was becoming

increasingly unhappy with attitudes in the DMS and disagreed with the society on a

number of critical issues. Petersen had given support to Faering in her decision to marry

Menon. As well, she, too, believed in India's right to independence. The decisive moment

for Petersen came in early 1920, when a vote was taken at the annual DMS conference

not to allow Indians to be employed on equal status with Danish workers within the

missionary society. Soon after this decision, Petersen handed in her resignation to the

board.

No longer attached to the DMS, Petersen nevertheless had supporters in Denmark.

The Loeventhal's Mission Continued (an offshoot of the original Loeventhal Mission)

backed Petersen, both in her commitment to the acceptance of Indian workers as equals

and also in her school plans. Petersen selected Porto Novo, a coastal town south of

Madras (now Chennai), for the location of her project and, in 1921, Gandhi laid the

cornerstone for a new Christian national school. While some within mission circles

questioned the choice of a non-Christian for this honour, others recognized that Gandhi's

acceptance of the task showed that "he on behalf of India approved that a Christian

mission [could] help India, if the mission [had] the will to do so."5

Both women maintained close contact with one another and with Gandhi through

the years. Faering and Gandhi kept up extensive correspondence for periods of time.

Faering and her husband, Dr. Menon, and their two children lived for a number of years

in Great Britain and Denmark and, during this time, Faering published, in Danish, a book

on Gandhi. After Gandhi's death, upon the urgings and with the editorial help of Alice

Barnes, a collection of Gandhi's letters to Faering was published.6 Faering, in her role as

mother and wife, fell away from active engagement in the independence movement and

one senses that her marriage may have been fraught with challenges. While this

dissertation does not attempt to delve into the lives of Petersen and Faering in detail, it is,

nevertheless, worth noting that they, like the other women in this study, became friends

with Gandhi because of shared values, rather than mere adulation of a charismatic leader.

It is, perhaps, not surprising that Gandhi's friendships with Western women

aroused a certain amount of surmise and idle gossip. Petersen's biographer states that, in

1921, Petersen received letters insinuating that she was falling in love with Gandhi and

was about to "become a half-pagan." Writing in the Porto Novo Newsletter, she asserted

that such letters "do nothing but wound and sadden me. How can anyone have such low

thoughts...[?]"7 On Gandhi's side there was nothing to suggest that he had any interest

other than friendship with Petersen, a committed supporter of the Indian cause. Nor was

5. Quoted in Larseti from Porto Novo Newsletter, Vol. 28, No. 9 (1936): 15. 6. "My Dear Child" Letters from M.K. Gandhi to Esther Faering, ed. Alice M. Barnes (Ahmedabad:

Navajivan Publishing House, 1956). 7. Larsen, Anne Marie Petersen, p. 119.

such gossip about Gandhi's friendships with women limited to contemporaries. In a

recent book on Gandhi, Stanley Wolpert claims that, ".. .Gandhi experienced an intensely

personal passion for a young, golden-haired, blue-eyed Danish beauty, Esther Faering."8

Undoubtedly Gandhi was fond of Faering, but Wolpert's interpretation of their

relationship leans heavily on the assumption of sexual attraction. Taking a Freudian

approach, Wolpert asserts that Gandhi "was virtually unaware of his own sexual passions

toward a number of Western women."9 Such an assumption does not allow for a more

encompassing and nuanced understanding of Gandhi. Gandhi's attitudes toward sex were

complex, based on his own personal history and his adoption of brahmacharya, the

Hindu practice of celibacy.10 Nevertheless, it would seem that Westerners, in particular,

have been prone to believe that sexual tension or repressed desire was inevitable in

Gandhi's relationships with women. Gandhi had a remarkable capacity for intense

friendships with both men and women but his relationships with men have not excited the

same scrutinizing curiosity. Racism and sexism played a part in the interpretations of

Gandhi's relationships with women. The idea that a non-Western man might be

consorting or friends with Western women aroused a different kind of concern than that

which might be raised if a "Western" man associated with "Eastern" women.

Possibly the closest Gandhi came to pursuing a relationship with a woman other

than his wife Kasturba happened when he met Sarala Devi Chaudhurani in 1919.

8. Stanley Wolpert, Gandhi's Passion: The Life and Legacy ofMahatma Gandhi (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 104. This book by an Emeritus Distinguished Professor of South Asian History garnered much attention when it was published. Unfortunately it is riddled with errors and hyperbole.

9. Ibid, p. 105. 10. Brahmacharya is a spiritual practice, one in which celibacy is merely the beginning, a form of self-

discipline in which total non-desire is the goal in order that that sexual energy (vital force) can be transformed into pure spiritual energy (or godliness). Gandhi first adopted the practice in South Africa in 1906.

Chaudhurani was a leading feminist and founder of the first women's organization in

India. Gandhi, by this time sworn to celibacy but drawn to Chaudhurani's intellect,

fleetingly imagined a "spiritual marriage"; however, he came to the realization, with the

urging of close friends, that such a relationship was too controversial. At a later point in

his life, he would go through a period of testing himself to see whether he had achieved

total absence of sexual desire by sleeping naked with a couple of the young Indian

women in his immediate circle. These experiments aroused much discomfort for many of

his friends and fellow workers. And while Gandhi's motives were in keeping with his

overall search for truth and neither woman felt threatened sexually, his use of the women

in his experiment raises questions.

It is appropriate here to recognize that among Christian workers in India as well

as among Christians throughout the world,.Gandhi had many admirers. Moreover,

Petersen, among others, hoped that, one day, Gandhi would be converted to the Christian

faith. Gandhi was well versed in the Bible and held the ethical teachings of Jesus in high

esteem. He was particularly drawn both to Christ's example of sacrifice for the sins of

others and to the notion of atonement. Certainly the idea of atonement comes up in a

number of exchanges between Gandhi and his Western friends. The introductory chapter

includes excerpts from a letter written to Mary Barr, revealing Gandhi's thoughts on the

subject, as well a letter excerpt from Esther Faering to Gandhi.11

11. See Introduction, p. 19. F. Mary Barr, Bapu Conversations and Correspondence with Mahatma Gandhi (Bombay: International House [Private] Ltd., 1956), p. 57. Esther Faering to Gandhi, 14 August 1926, Sabarmati Ashram, S.N. 10985. For a much more extensive study of the theme as it relates to the dialogues between Gandhi and Christians, see William W. Emilsen, Violence and Atonement: The Missionary Experiences of Mohandas Gandhi, Samuel Stokes and Verrier Elwin in India before 1935 (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1994).

As a young man, Gandhi had been profoundly moved by the Sermon on the

Mount and, for a time, contemplated conversion; however, he ultimately decided that if

individuals could fully live the faith of their upbringing, whatever that faith may be, they

could accomplish equal good in the world. In principle, Gandhi was against the idea of

conversion and he had seen the hypocrisy of so-called Christian forces at work in India

through the British imperial regime. Nevertheless, Gandhi also recognized the genuine

commitment that some Christians had to both living their faith and recognizing India's

right to autonomy. He found common ground with some missionaries, based on mutual

concerns. For example, Dr. Chone Oliver (1875-1947), a medical missionary and one of

the women in Ruth Compton Brouwer's study, made an effort to meet with Gandhi in

1935, for she recognized that they shared a common interest in public health issues.12

Gandhi's social programs appealed to some missionaries, particularly the

campaign against liquor, promotion of education for the masses and the inclusion of

women in the political process. Mabel Evangeline Archibald (1871-1955) was one such

missionary. Daughter of a Baptist minister and a graduate of Acadia (1895), she spent her

working life in India.13 In a letter written in 1948, Archibald, by then retired from the

mission field, offered both congratulations and advice to the recently re-elected Liberal

Premier for the province of New Brunswick. A prohibitionist and a feminist, Archibald

pulled no punches as to what she thought Premier John McNair should try to accomplish

while in office.

12. Brouwer, Modern Women Modernizing Men: The Changing Missions of Three Professional Women in Asia and Africa, 1902-69 (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2002), p. 126.

13. A brief biographical sketch of Archibald is included in Anne Innis Dagg, The Feminine Gaze: A Compendium of Non-fiction Women Authors and their Books, 1836-1945 (Waterloo, ON: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2001), p. 29. Archibald co-wrote with Louise May Mitchell, Glimpses and Gleams of India and Bolivia: The Jubilee Book for Mission Bands (Toronto: Baptist Women's Missionary Societies, 1923). A revised edition by Archibald, including only India, was published in 1932.

I hope the Liberal party will be the first to have a woman member of parliament.... Now, may I say that I lived 40 years in India and was always a Nationalist there and knew Gandhi personally and have cooperated with the present Governor-General, Rajagopalachariar .. .in the Temperance Campaign and when I left in 1938 ... under the prohibition law... in the place of the shops they introduced Night schools, adult literacy, Cinemas and coffee shops, etc. In 1935 the people got the Vote (women too) and would you believe it? In Madras Presidency with 40 million people nine women were elected and the Deputy Speaker of the Madras Legislative Assembly (250 members) was a woman and in the Punjab Premier Nehru's sister was a cabinet member and now the Poetess Mrs. Sarojini Naidu, is a Governor of a Province. So you see how appalled I was to find that in Canada Provinces, Municipalities Federal etc do not honor women.. ..14

Archibald's letter provides a glimpse into the thinking of one woman who, though she

remained with her Christian mission, had sympathy for Indian nationalism. Undoubtedly

there were many others like Archibald who lauded Gandhi's leadership and message, yet,

because they were relatively invisible or discreet in such support, managed to remain

underneath the radar of British intelligence.

Another letter, written to Gandhi by Pearl Madden (1876-1948), also a Canadian-

born missionary,15 who would, in retirement, join in Gandhi's village uplift program, is

revealing in more than one way. At the time of writing in 1924, Madden was committed

to the promotion of unity among Indians of all faiths, yet fully convinced that such unity

would be brought to the country through acceptance of Christ "as King."

While the eyes of India have been turned upon you and upon the Unity Conference in Delhi, I wish you to know that we as Missionaries have been praying very earnestly for India... I am impressed by the words of the Rt. Hon. V.S.S. Sastri—'[Unity] cannot be effected without the co-operation of the European community, official as well as non-official'. Now I as a Missionary come under the head of non-officials. .. .1 am not writing as representative of our Mission, but as a citizen of India, who is most anxious to do her best for the good

14. Mabel Archibald to Premier J.B. McNair, 30 June 1948, J.B. McNair Papers, Public Archives of New Brunswick, RS414, B6a. I thank Corey Slumkowski, a fellow student at UNB for sharing this with me. Archibald's reference to a woman Member of Parliament is confusing because it is unclear whether she meant to refer to a national or provincial representative. On the provincial level, an elected person would be called a Member of the Legislative Assembly.

15. Although Canadian, Madden worked for an American missionary society under the Methodist Episcopal Church.

of India... Nobody knows better than I do, Mr. Gandhi, that our Christian community is far from perfect in the matter of manifesting the 'Spirit of Christ— the spirit of Love' but it is most gratifying to observe what the power of Christ has done in the way of uniting Hindu and Mahommedan, High caste and low caste, in our Christian Church... .There is power in Christ to unite all peoples and races, and again I say my prayer for India is that she may be united in Christ.16

Whether Madden, ten years later, held the same proselytizing view is unknown but,

judging from the fact that she chose to join directly in Gandhi's village work, it seems

likely that she went through some shift in her thinking. While her 1924 letter, typed on

Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church letterhead,

provides another example of missionary support for Gandhi and his work, a post script,

written in hand, is even more revealing: "This is strictly personal and not to be made

public in any way." Such a caveat hints at the potential trouble Madden thought might

accrue if it were known that she, as a missionary, had any sympathy with Gandhi and the

nationalist cause. As witnessed in the case of Faering and Petersen (and later Mary Barr),

Madden's fears were not unwarranted. Like Mabel Archibald, Madden managed to keep

her "subversive" thoughts at a low enough volume so as not to alert the authorities.

Mary Barr (1892-1968), in terms of chronological arrival in India, was the next

Western woman who would develop a longstanding friendship with Gandhi, although she

did not meet him until 1931. Like Petersen and Faering, Barr came to India to teach in a

mission school. Born in 1895 in Yorkshire, Barr recounted at one time that her parents

were "unusually advanced for their day." Like several other women in this study (Mary

Chesley, Agatha Harrison and Pearl Madden), Barr grew up in a Methodist family—her

16. Pearl Madden to Gandhi, 8 October 1924, Sabarmati Archives, S.N. 15891. 17. "Frances Mary Barr (1895-1969 [sic]): A Memoir," Supplement to The Friendly Way, No. 87

(April 1969), p. 2. Marjorie Sykes, one of Mary Barr's close friends and associates, wrote this memorial. The date of death is a typo; Barr, in fact, died on 4 December 1968.

parents were active church members, yet considered unconventional in their thinking

according to fellow parishioners.18 It would appear that unconventional family life, a

common thread among the women in this study, helped Barr and the others to take less

conformist or conservative paths.

In 1920, Barr arrived in India under the auspices of the Methodist Missionary

Society to work in Hyderabad State. After studying Telegu, the local language, she

worked in a number of remote towns and eventually was placed in charge of a boarding

school for girls in Aler. Barr had studied under the Froebel system for teaching. Friedrich

Wilhelm Froebel is best known as the founder of "kindergarten" (the German word

meaning literally "child garden"). The basic principles of his philosophy of education

centred on a child's free self-expression, the encouragement of creativity, social

interaction and expressive motor skills. He also believed in a spiritual component in

children's early learning.19 That Barr chose to take this particular form of educational

training is telling and it would seem that, in important ways, the Froebel approach was

similar to the Danish folk school approach which had informed Anne Marie Petersen's

philosophy of education. It is not surprising that these women would become good

friends.

Apparently Barr was physically slight and considered somewhat frail, yet she was

determinedly adventurous and participated in activities such as camping and hiking

through all sorts of terrain. Relatively unaware of Gandhi and his politics in her first

years in India, Barr nevertheless found herself attracted to the ascetic life and hoped that

one day she might be able to fulfill her ideals of giving simple service in a village.

IS. Ibid, 3. 19. Allison Dewey, "Friedrich Wilelm Froebel," http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/froebel.html

95

According to Barr's memorialist, Marjorie Sykes, who had access to diaries and other

papers after Barr's death, Mary must have been following some of Gandhi's movements,

for she occasionally wrote of his fasts and her own experiments with fasting. At some

point in her teaching career, Barr adopted an Indian baby girl with whom she remained

close until her death.

With the exception of Esther Faering Menon, none of the women discussed in this

study had birth children. However, Barr was not the only one to adopt a child.

Independently of one another, Marjorie Sykes and Alice Barnes, who eventually became

Barr's close friends, also had adopted daughters. Anne Marie Petersen had a foster

daughter and, she and Saralabehn, in their establishment of boarding schools for girls,

essentially became the "mothers" of numerous children. It is worth noting that all the

women adopted female rather than male children. It may have been because of the

surplus of girls due to India's tendency to privilege male children over females. It could

also be an indication of feminist thinking and a desire to provide a better life for girls

who would otherwise have few chances in life. Information on this aspect of the women's

lives is scant so it is unclear whether or not any of the adopted children became Christian.

In the case of Sarala Behn, while she had been raised within the Christian tradition, in

India, she incorporated aspects of Hinduism and perhaps other religious traditions into

her own spiritual framework. Similar in approach to Gandhi, Sarala Behn initiated twice-

daily prayer sessions in her ashram that included hymns and chants drawn from several

traditions. Agatha Harrison was, perhaps, not a maternal type; however, she functioned in

the "auntie" role for numerous young Indian students who needed moral support or

concrete assistance while living in Europe. Mirabehn tended to serve as a spiritual

96

mother/mentor figure mainly for young Indian men who worked under her tutelage in

agricultural and environmental projects, although, in some of her early correspondence

with Gandhi, she talked of working with the women and girls in her village projects.20

Through remaining single, these women found a way of nurturing children and young

people without the social constraints that marriage would have imposed.

Because of their single status and childlessness, the women in this study were

willing and able to take personal risks that a woman like Esther Menon could not. For

Western women, a commitment to the independence movement and to marriage or

conventional motherhood at the same time would have been extremely difficult, if not

impossible.21 It is, perhaps, ironic that, in spite of marrying an Indian, Esther Menon's

active involvement in the Indian cause more or less waned after she became increasingly

tied up in the care of and concern for her own children's health and welfare. The Menons

spent several years abroad in Britain and Denmark. In a letter from Britain, Esther Menon

wrote: "I cannot hide from you Bapujee, that I am anxious... of the effect... the extreme

hot climate in S.I. will have upon my two dearest little companions.... How could I bear

to see them fade away.... A mother's love is both selfish and unselfish, but I believe I

would rather suffer anything myself than [have] them suffer."22 When the Menons

returned to India, due to the heat and recurring risk of malaria, the family lived apart most

20. Letter from Mirabehn to Gandhi, 14 October 1928. S.N. 26812, Sabarmati Ashram Archiives. While on tour to encourage villagers to take up khadi production, Mirabehn's presence helped to bring forward the women. "Prabhundas was very much pleased and said that owing to my being there the women were much braver, and it enabled us to reach the family in a way that would otherwise have been impossible."

21. In all likelihood, for Indian women, some of the same constraints applied. Because of Gandhi's promotion of brahmacharya, some of his closest women followers did not marry. Likewise, child widows, who would have been condemned to misery in conventional Hindu culture, were able to lead purposeful lives in service to village uplift and the independence movement.

22. Esther Menon to Gandhi, 25 April 1933, National Gandhi Museum Library, New Delhi, S.N. 19042.

of the time, with Esther and the children in the cooler hill country and Kuhni Menon

working elsewhere. As for the risk of illness, all the women in this study who lived in

India inevitably suffered from bouts of malaria and other tropical diseases.

Barr's interest in Gandhi emerged, to some extent, out of a growing personal

concern regarding international peace and conflict issues. In 1931 she took a furlough in

Britain and during that year had visited the Rhineland and observed the rising tensions

there. She envisioned that some sort of "international brotherhood" of non-partisan peace

makers should be formed to "prevent the parties fighting if possible, and if not, should

get into the midst of the fight, as buffers.. .1 was thinking of that specially for France and

Germany."23 However, she then realized that her real calling was to return to the simple

life in India. "[With] my natural advantages, such as lack of squeamishness, love of

walking and ability to sleep on hard floors, I feel ought to be used to help preach

peace."24

It was on the return journey from Britain that she first met and entered into a

lifelong friendship with Gandhi. He and his entourage were travelling home to India after

the failed Second Round Table Conference in London in which any hopes for an early

and satisfactory withdrawal of British colonial rule from India had been completely

dashed. By chance, Barr boarded the S.S. Pilsna, in Venice, and discovered that Gandhi

was on the same ship. It was propitious, for, in her words:

Some weeks previously I had made up my mind that I would spend my first Indian holiday in exploring Gandhism, or if a short period did not satisfy, even to go the length of resigning from the Mission in order to find out what this man meant to India....25

23. "Frances Mary Barr," 6. Excerpts quoted from Barr's 1931 journal. 24. Ibid. 25. Barr, Bapu, p. 2.

98

Almost immediately after the arrival of the S.S. Pilsna in India, British authorities

arrested Gandhi, but not before Barr had the opportunity to meet some of Gandhi's

friends at the home of one of his supporters. Anne Marie Petersen was among the group

and from then on, a friendship developed between the two women.

During his time in prison, Gandhi maintained contact with Barr through letters,

the content of which largely concerned questions of a spiritual nature or ideas on social

reconstruction. Barr's correspondence with Gandhi quickly came to the attention of the

British authorities and, soon thereafter, Barr received a visit from a senior cleric in the

church who had been called before the British government's representative, the Resident,

in Hyderabad. Subsequently Barr herself underwent an intimidating audience with the

Resident. In retrospect, Barr believed that the veiled threats that she would be deported or

that the mission would suffer as a result of her connection with Gandhi were probably

overblown; however, she chose "as a temporary compromise.. .of [her] own free

will.. .not to write [to Gandhi] for three months."26 Barr then resumed her correspondence

with no repercussions other than that the censor scrutinized her mail. Her visit to the

Residency cemented her decision to leave the mission once another worker returned from

furlough to take her place at the school. When she left in November of 1932, she chose to

visit a couple of Christian ashrams, one of them being Anne Marie Petersen's school.

The web of friendship that developed among the various Western women is

significant and indicative of shared political and spiritual ideals. As has been noted, the

two Danes, Petersen and Faering, met early on and were supportive friends with one

another as well as with Gandhi. Faering's friendship with Alice Barnes began in 1916,

26. Barr, Bapu, p. 16.

99

when Faering first arrived in India. Faering lived with Barnes (then Varley) while

studying Tamil, and Barnes would later edit Faering's collection of letters from Gandhi.

Marjorie Sykes also formed her lasting friendship with Barnes when she first arrived to

teach at the school where Barnes was principal. Mary Barr and Petersen met through

Gandhi, and, in later years, Barnes, Barr and Sykes formed a strong bond, living as

neighbours in the Nilgiri Hills. All three had, by this time, become Quakers. Proximity

may have been planned at this point in their lives but, during their earlier years, huge

physical distances often separated such friends. In spite of the rigours of travel in India, it

seems that the people in this study travelled remarkable distances and relatively often,

either to visit, to conduct business or for health reasons. And while some of the

interconnections among the women developed in their early years as teachers in missions,

in other cases, they met through Gandhi. That all of the women in this study gravitated to

identification with India's struggle for independence no doubt cemented these

overlapping circles of friendship.

After Barr's tour of Christian ashrams (which she confessed was in part "a sop to

some Christian friends who thought it rather terrible to be going to a Hindu Ashram"),27

Barr began her training, which included learning Hindi (Telegu having been the language

she had so far used in India), spinning and other useful skills, at Gandhi's Sabarmati

Ashram in Ahmedabad, Gujarat Province. At the time, Gandhi was in prison. After his

21-day fast in May 1933, the authorities released Gandhi, but he soon returned to prison

and at this time made the decision to hand over the ashram in Ahmedabad to the

government. Barr and about thirty other members of the community then moved to

27. Ban, Bapu, p. 23.

100

Wardha Ashram (which was soon named Sevagram, meaning "service village") in central

India. Initially Barr wanted to be part of those in close proximity to Gandhi; however, she

came to realize that she might be able to make a greater contribution to the cause if she

struck out on her own. In spite of her attraction to Gandhi, Barr's decision to leave the

ashram gives clear evidence that, rather than being merely a camp follower, she was more

interested in the cause Gandhi espoused.

In the early months of 1934, Barr settled in Khedi a village outside of the town of

Betul, in Madhya Pradesh, remaining there for almost eight years. During her time there,

Barr carried out numerous experiments in education, agriculture and manufacture of local

products, with a number of other Western and Indian helpers joining her at different

periods. She initiated spinning and weaving classes for children and adults. She

experimented with growing a type of cotton not previously grown in the region and also

cultivated a vegetable garden.28 According to an elderly resident of Khedi who

remembered Barr, she administered eye drops to patients and arranged for a sick member

of the informant's family to be taken to the Friends Rural Centre in Rasulia for medical

treatment. She is remembered by Indians as kindhearted and very good with children.

With the help of others, like Margaret Jones, Pearl Madden and her sister, Margaret

Barr,29 septic tanks were built, sanitation improved, education initiated, and both an oil-

pressing operation and a flour mill started.

28. Barr, Bapu, pp. 82, 84, 89 29. Margaret Barr carried on her own innovative work in India under the auspices of the Unitarian

Church. She began a number of schools and a hospital in India is named in her honour. She was a graduate of Girton College at Cambridge, England's earliest residential women's college, established in 1869— another indication that the Barr sisters grew up in an unconventional family that valued education and independence for women. As will be noted in other chapters, a number of women associated with those in this study went to Girton. http://www.girton.cam.ac.uk. Accessed 13 June 2008.

30. Conversation in Khedi, 10 December 2003.

101

Mary Chesley was the first Western woman to join Barr in Khedi, within months

of Barr's move to the village. Chesley had been in India for several weeks when she

heard of Barr's work in Khedi and went there to meet her. Apparently the two Marys

struck up a friendship and decided to work together. When Barr took her to Wardha,

Gandhi readily welcomed Chesley into the fold, recognizing both her intelligence and her

passion to further village revitalization in India. Chesley (who was known as Mary C. to

distinguish her from Mary Barr, or by her Indian name, Tara) brought another Mary into

the work. According to Mary Barr's account, Mary Ingham "arrived from England in

answer to Mary C's suggestion that she should come to India to do village work."31 For

periods, the three Marys were together; however, among village workers such as these

women, there was much coming and going—for health reasons, visits to Gandhi, or for

the study of Hindi. Tarabehn Chesley had been staying at the women's (mahila) ashram

at Wardha in order to improve her Hindi when she chose to go on her fatal walking

pilgrimage to the Himalayas. Chesley's intention of rejoining Barr would not be fulfilled.

To some degree, it is remarkable that so much work was actually accomplished in

Khedi and elsewhere given the ill health that often afflicted many of the workers in India.

Khedi itself was in central India, an inhospitable part of the country in terms of climate

and landscape. In this flat and arid region, summer temperatures rose to 45-50 degrees

Centigrade. Barr suffered bouts of malaria that required hospitalization and, as already

discussed, Chesley, in her keenness to live as simply as the poorest peasant, compromised

her health to the extent of causing premature death. Records show that Gandhi was

constantly offering medical and dietary advice to all his workers, but that he considered

Chesley especially vulnerable. Certainly, fragility would not be the first thing that one

31. Barr, Bapu, p. 146.

would have associated with the pre-Indian life of Chesley, a robust woman used to sports

and hiking. Gandhi's words of caution to another Canadian, Pearl Madden, who also

joined in the work at Khedi around the time of Polly's death, had a ring of truth: "You

must not risk your health needlessly as Tara did. She thought she was leading a charmed

life."32 Chesley's death not only struck a personal blow for her friends and colleagues,

but also robbed the Khedi village industries project of a committed worker. Over the next

few years, there were a number of changes in personnel as workers came and went.

Nevertheless, enough continuity was established to maintain and improve the

services being developed in the village. It was fortuitous that Pearl Madden should arrive

on the scene at such a critical period. Madden, it will be recalled, had written to Gandhi

as early as 1924 but at the time had requested that Gandhi not disclose her letter to

anyone. Now retired from her work with the Methodist Episcopal Church as Central

Treasurer for the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society for India,33 Madden felt free, at

last, to openly express her sympathy with the Indian cause. It seems obvious in a quote

from Mary Barr that Madden made the adjustment from urban to village life with

success, bringing her organizational skills to bear on the Khedi project:

It seemed providential that she (Madden) should have offered [to come and help] just at the time when Mary C. was so tragically taken from the work.... During the two years of her stay in Khedi, she quite revolutionised the spinning and weaving industry, which indeed, was hardly worthy of the name of 'industry' before her arrival. She, with her business-like brain and tireless devotion, did more for the development of the work than Mary C. and I could have done together in a much longer time. She became known to the villagers as Motibehn, for 'Moti' is the Hindi name for Pearl.34

32. Letter quoted in Barr, Bapu, p. 155. 33. Mission Biographical Reference Files, 1880s-1969. Reel #50 ID 1591 Pearl Madden, United

Methodist Church (US) Archives. 34. Barr, Bapu, p. 153.

103

In addition to offering words of caution regarding her health, Gandhi, in a letter to

Madden, revealed not only his reassessment of Chesley's ability to recognize the worth of

individuals that he may have overlooked, but also provided evidence of the strong

connections that developed between these women who shared common philosophies and

purpose. Furthermore, it points to a dynamic exchange that existed not only among the

women, but also between the women and Gandhi. The following words are not those of a

guru referring to a disciple but, rather, the words of a fellow worker who is able to

acknowledge the wisdom of friends and value their insights:

Tara, who is the link between us, had written to me just before she set out on her fatal pilgrimage, that I must invite you to Wardha and cultivate your acquaintance much more fully. She had fallen in love with you. She was a great heart! ... Yes, we must meet and know each other better. For me Tara's death has made it a sacred trust. There was a time when I used to pooh-pooh Tara's reading of people. But... her persistence about some people and the truth of it made me revise my opinion of her judgments. Her reading of you therefore draws me towards you.35

Madden's tenure in Khedi provided a productive two years of service to village uplift

before she left India permanently in 1938 at age 62 to reunite with family in Canada.

Even in Canada, she continued to promote Gandhi's cause. Using a spinning wheel

designed by Gandhi, Madden, dressed in Indian clothing, demonstrated the craft of

spinning at a Canadian Handicraft Guild exhibition in Calgary in 1939.36

Chesley's legacy included bringing other Western women into contact with

Gandhi and the Indian movement. Tara's friend from Britain, Mary Ingham (whose

Indian name became Shanta) joined Gandhi's workforce; however, she did not stay for

long in Khedi. Like Barr and Chesley, she, too, experienced bouts of illness and Gandhi,

35. Ibid., p. 155. 36. "Gandhi's Spinning Wheel", Calgary Herald, 18 January 1939: 14.

104

ever solicitous in his concern for the health of his workers, arranged for treatment when

needed. Often, for improved health, individuals (including Gandhi) found it necessary to

travel to other parts of India where the climate was more temperate. For a time

Shantabehn served in a secretarial capacity in the ashram at Wardha, helping Mahadev

Desai, Gandhi's chief secretary, with some of the typing. In 1938, having been in the

country for over three years, she returned to Britain to see her mother. During her time

there, she met and married an Indian man. According to Gandhi's correspondence,37

Shantabehn and her husband were to return to India; however, Shanta disappeared from

the records after this time.38

The year before Ingham's departure, Barr returned to England where she spent

seven months, visiting family and friends and making connections with people who were

interested in the constructive work going on in India under Gandhi. While there, she also

met Dick Sheppard and other leaders of the Peace Pledge Union (PPU). Sheppard, an

Anglican priest, initiated the PPU in the 1930s and the movement rapidly attracted peace

activists throughout Britain. For Barr, "It was a great discovery that the live pacifist

movement is really one with Bapu's."39 Back in Khedi, Madden had taken able charge of

the work in her absence and when Barr returned, she was soon busier than ever due to the

growth of the reconstruction program inaugurated by the Congress. After Madden left for

Canada the following spring, it would appear that Barr, working with Indian colleagues

that she had trained, remained in Khedi until she was joined by another Briton, Margaret

37. Gandhi to Mira, 9 December 1938, CWMG, Vol. 68: 196. 38. According to Narayan Desai, the son of Gandhi's secretary, Mahadev Desai, Shanta and her

husband had two sons and lived in England. Conversation at Sabarmati Archives, December 2003. Hallam Tennyson also spoke of them living in London. Conversation in London, February 2004.

39. "Frances Mary Barr," 8.

105

Jones (1910-1958), who belonged to the organization that had so impressed Barr during

her sojourn in England. The fact that Barr and Jones should (unknowingly at the time)

hold in common a connection with the Peace Pledge Union in Britain and then meet and

work together in India, is indicative of the strong cross currents that existed between

social movements and activists internationally.

Margaret (Stay) Jones was born in 1910 in Bournemouth.40 Little is known about

her early life other than that she was acclaimed for her beautiful singing voice and had

won numerous honours at festivals. Margaret's life took a more radical tack when she

joined the Peace Pledge Union. Margaret met her future husband, George Jones, at a PPU

camp. Wishing to work for the cause of peace, they decided to go to India "to learn at

first hand of Gandhi's non-violent campaign for Indian independence." George went to

India without Margaret in late 1937 (the same year that Mary Barr was making her own

connections with the PPU in Britain) to seek out opportunities for useful work for the two

of them. He eventually connected with Friends (Quakers) in Itarsi and started a co­

operative company that made inexpensive septic tanks for use in villages. Once George

determined that he and Margaret could earn enough to support a simple Indian lifestyle

for themselves, Margaret joined him in India, arriving in early 1939. The two were

married in the Friends Meeting House at Rasulia.

Ten months later, George died, and, rather than returning to England, Margaret,

now pregnant, went to Khedi to join Mary Barr in her work (Rasulia was little more than

40. The bulk of information to follow comes from the memorial essay and reminiscences published in The Friendly Way, No. 45 (October 1958): 2-9, a Quaker newsletter in India, which included among its editors, Mary Barr, Alice Barnes and Marjorie Sykes.

100 kilometers away and Barr was, if not already a Quaker, well known among Friends).

Three months later, Margaret's pregnancy ended in a stillborn birth and grave illness.

Nevertheless, after hospitalization and recuperation, she chose to return to Khedi and

resume her work there. Barr and Jones worked together along with a capable young

Indian man, P.S. Chandel, whom Barr had trained. Chandel turned out to be an excellent

organizer. He took over the teaching of the boys in the village, and through his efforts,

khadi production became very successful.

The comings and goings of the women in this group were many. While each of

the women gave dedicated service and worked hard under sometimes trying

circumstances, they had certain flexibility and freedom of movement not afforded people

in conventional work placements. In essence, they were volunteers whose minimal needs

were provided for. As already mentioned, they were remarkably peripatetic for any

number of reasons and this, undoubtedly, distinguished them from most Western women

living in India. Missionaries had to be answerable to their employers; memsahibs were

dependent upon and answerable to their spouses. Despite (or because of) their freedom,

the women sometimes responded to the call of duties outside of their chosen work for

India. For example, after Barr's mother died in Britain, her father moved to South Africa.

In 1940, Mary felt compelled to go and take care of him, leaving Chandel and Margaret

Jones (now called by her Indian name, Kamala) in charge of affairs in Khedi. Barr was

gone for a year, returning in July 1941. This did not prevent Margaret/Kamala from

making a move of her own; she had decided to study midwifery and, with Gandhi's

support, had gone to Bombay a few months earlier to begin her training. Once that

training was completed, Kamala returned to Khedi, where she set up a dispensary.

107

By this time, in 1942, the country was under considerable stress. Escalating costs

of labour and materials because of wartime shortages and the internal tensions caused by

the independence movement and communalism affected the work in the village. By

August of 1942, all the Congress leaders, including Gandhi, had been arrested. Chandel,

the young organizer who helped with continuity as Barr and the others came and went,

was experiencing difficulties and some local opposition. His popularity and success had

attracted jealousy on the part of some of the village leaders. He felt compelled to close

his night school and cease any pro-independence propaganda for fear of being accused of

being connected with some of the lawlessness that was being perpetrated in the region. In

spite of problems, the spinning and weaving centre continued to operate and gain positive

recognition from an outside inspector who considered the Khedi project highly successful

both in terms of production and community spirit. Kamala carried out her healthcare

work until 1945, when external tensions combined with local politics convinced her that

it was time she left. Chandel contracted tuberculosis and had to go to a sanatorium for

several months. Although he returned to Khedi apparently cured, his health eventually

broke again and he died in 1951, thus bringing to an end the experiment initiated by Mary

Barr in 1934. While it is difficult to assess the overall impact of the Khedi project, oral

testimony from elderly residents of the community suggest that Barr and her cohort made

a lasting impression and in small ways made improvements in the health and welfare of

the village.

After leaving Khedi, Margaret Jones began working with Quakers in Rasulia as a

member of the Rural Development Co-operative Society, which was very much in

concert with Gandhi's program of action and philosophy, and directed by Donald and

Erica Groom. When the Grooms went on furlough, Margaret took charge and worked

there until returning to England in 1947. But she did not remain long in England. In the

violent aftermath of independence and Partition, Gandhi asked her to return to India to

assist in the organization of camps and hospitals for refugees in the Punjab region, an

indication of his estimation of her abilities. She worked with the Friends' Service Unit

doing relief work, and then served as one of the neutral observers on the border of East

and West Bengal (which became East and West Pakistan with Partition). Both the

Pakistani and Indian governments recognized the value of this work and Margaret and

her colleagues were allowed to cross the border on foot or by train to help settle local

disputes, report to the respective governments on issues of concern and address the

problems of refugees. Jones spent approximately three years doing this work. After

taking a holiday in England, she returned again in September 1951 under the Friends'

Service Council, first as warden of the Nurses' Home in the Itarsi Hospital, then going to

Rasulia, to supervise village health centres run by Indian village health workers.41

After her years of working with Quakers, Jones applied for membership in the

Religious Society of Friends in 1954. That same year, she left India for the last time to

return to Bournemouth to look after her ailing mother. She kept up her contacts in India,

served as Peace Correspondent of her Quaker meeting and worked on the India and

Pakistan group of the Friends' Peace Committee. Believing that Western peace workers

could learn much from Gandhians, she helped to initiate a peace-training mission from

India including Jayaprakash Narayan (commonly known as "JP"), one of the leaders of

41. Mary Barr noted that the young uneducated bride chosen by the parents of Chandel, the Khedi worker, eventually trained as a midwife and carried out "splendid work in villages" in the period after the death of her husband. Barr, Bapu, p. 205.

109

the non-violent movement in the post-Gandhi years.42 Jones did not live to meet him, for

she died in 1958, at the age of 48, after a long struggle with cancer.

Jones shared with all the women in this study an adventurous spirit. They were

experimenters who entered into uncharted territory, taking on roles and tasks that were

demanding and without any guarantee of success. Even survival was uncertain.

Testimonies of people, both "Western" and Indian, who worked with Jones over the

years, reveal a person who exuded a natural joy, vitality and courage, even in the face of

tragedy and difficult circumstances. Jones worked in East Pakistan during the worst

period of communal rioting between 1947 and 1950. Gandhi's regard for her skills as a

nurse and as a peace worker are clearly evident in his request for her return to India to

carry out this dangerous work. The kind of relationship that Jones had with Gandhi was

not one of follower and leader, but rather one of colleagues working on a very difficult

mission. Gandhi had faith in and respect for Jones' talents and commitment. He depended

on her. As with the other women in this Western collective of activists, Jones lived an

independent life, yet one full of interaction and community service. Providing a bridge

between the East and the West, she and the other women helped to create the connections

between the independence struggle and peace and social movements in the Western

world. The Peace Pledge Union in Britain was Jones' entree into a world that would

ultimately lead her to India; she would, before her death, come full circle by bringing

leaders from the Indian peace movement to Britain.

And what of Mary Barr during this period? During the year with her father in

South Africa from 1940-1941, Barr began her friendship with Gandhi's son Manilal and

his family, making connections with various Indian groups. She had ample opportunities

42. The Friendly Way, No. 45 (October 1958): 5.

110

to speak in Telegu and Hindi. By letter, she was in touch with Gandhi and kept abreast of

events in India, following with interest the Satyagraha movement as it was evolving. It

was during this year away that Barr decided to write about Gandhi, using his

correspondence to her over the years as the foundation for a book. Upon her return to

India, Barr visited Gandhi at Sevagram and then spent a couple of months in Khedi with

Chandel and the spinners. Over the next year or more, Barr divided her time between

Sevagram and Santiniketan, the school founded by the poet Rabindrinath Tagore. Gandhi

had asked Barr if she could fill in temporarily as warden of the girls' hostel at the school

after Tagore's son, Rathindrinath (in charge after his father's death), requested assistance

in finding a replacement. Santiniketan was another experimental school, more interested

in the creative arts than Gandhi's basic education system. As two of the leading lights in

India, Gandhi and Tagore had very different approaches in many matters and engaged in

public debate on occasion, but they were very fond of one another and held each other in

great esteem. It has generally been assumed that Tagore gave Gandhi the title of

Mahatma (Great Soul), a label Gandhi himself had difficulty accepting. Gandhi called

Tagore by the name of Gurudev (Ultimate Guru) or The Poet. The way in which women

like Barr and her counterparts were able to flow from one world to another reflects,

again, their independence and adaptability as well as the regard that Gandhi and Tagore

held for their abilities.

In 1943, Barr returned to South Africa to resume care of her father, remaining

there until after his death in 1950. Barr, who had become a member of the Religious

Society of Friends in India in the 1930s, was active in both the Quaker and Indian

communities in South Africa. Her political and social activism led to a brief

I l l

imprisonment when, in 1946, Indians were engaged in peaceful protest against racial

discrimination regarding their residency rights in the country, Barr was arrested along

with Indian women protesters and sentenced to a month in prison,43 Historically, Quakers

had often gone to prison for their beliefs. The close affinity between Gandhi and Quakers

is not surprising, considering their common ground and willingness to stand on principles

even if it meant incarceration. The fact that a number of the women became Quakers after

spending years in India is intriguing. It is likely that Quaker faith and practice allowed

them the freedom to remain Christian, yet uphold all the principles that they held in

common with Gandhi - a belief in non-violence, interest in community wellbeing,

spiritual seeking and elimination of class, caste and gender prejudices. Not tied to rigid

ritual or hierarchy, the Society of Friends suited women of independent thought and

action.

According to Barr's papers, the roots of her radicalism could be traced back to her

childhood. The unconventionality of her family gave Barr freedom that few girls would

have enjoyed. Barr wrote:

My two brothers and I had a very happy childhood. Our parents were unusually advanced for their day, and I cannot remember ever being scolded for getting dirty at play. We could romp as much as we pleased and my keenest memories are of outdoor games—damming streams, sailing tiny home-made rafts, playing house in the branches of trees, and in early adolescence skating, and 'follow-my-leader' on cycles.44

Barr would eventually endure some serious restrictions due to health problems;

nevertheless, in her early days in India, she revelled in outdoor camping, tennis and

mountain climbing. Her sister Margaret, who arrived in India in 1937 and spent the rest

43."Frances Mary Barr," 8. 44. Ibid., 2.

112

of her life working there, must also have benefitted from the openness of her parents.

Another younger sister, Freda, joined Mary in India from 1921-1922. Mary recorded that

Freda helped her tomboy self to appreciate and develop more "womanly" qualities. Barr,

however, did not let such development curb her lifestyle.

Asceticism was fundamental to that lifestyle. Barr was drawn to asceticism even

in her earliest days in India, long before her introduction to the austerity of Gandhi's

world. In her diary of 1921, Barr pondered the idea of living in some village to test her

vocation for the simple life. Drawn by examples of "reckless" self-giving, she resolved to

hold on tenaciously to her ideals.45 That being said, she would never be as reckless as

Chesley. Barr had lived long enough in India and likely had been used to being served by

Indians so that she was able to command help when she deemed it necessary. A former

American Friends' Service Committee volunteer who met Barr in her later years in

Kotagiri found her an intelligent and spirited soul, very comfortable with giving

directions to a servant to bring tea.46 Barr's own diary confession in the period leading up

to radically changing direction reveals this: "Some people do seem to be able to serve and

minister in spite of differences of position and life; but I only get bossy. Therefore it is

the more necessary to get away from temporal authority." Marjorie Sykes, who quoted

this in the memorial tribute to her friend added her own parenthetical comment: "(And

perhaps she never fully overcame the tendency to 'manage' and 'boss').47 Herbert

Fischer, a German who spent many years in India and was friends with Gandhi knew

Barr. Of Barr he wrote:

45. Ibid, 4. 46. Conversation with archivist, American Friends Service Committee Archives, Philadelphia, 11

November 2005. 47. "Frances Mary Barr," 6.

113

I did not find her imperious at all. I remember her as a modest person full of concern for others. Many were very fond of her and tried to help her as she helped them. She did have a sense of humour in spite of her seriousness. When I visited her at Khedi she told me that somebody in the village had spread the rumour I might be her future husband. Both of us had a good laugh.4

Christine Easwaran, an American married to an Indian, Eknath Easwaran, knew

Barr, Sykes and Barnes during the time that she and her husband lived in Kotagiri during

the 1960s. She wrote:

I'm particularly happy to have Mary's story told. In some ways she seemed the most focused on Gandhiji's work and insightful of his spiritual nature. She lacked the outstanding sense of humor of her dear friend, Alice Barnes, and on occasion she could be a little prim even for those times. But all this could be overlooked because of her enormous warmth and generosity.49

Gandhi's letters to Barr and his correspondence to others referring to Barr indicate

that he respected her abilities and trusted her judgement. If her personality did not shine

as brightly as those of her friends and associates, she maintained a steady flame in

contrast to someone like Chesley, whose burning flame was extinguished so quickly.

Barr returned to India after her father died and lived there until her death in 1968.

In 1951, after leaving South Africa, she spent some time in Britain and Europe where she

participated in a number of peace-related activities. She worked with the Peace Pledge

Union's Non-Violence Commission as they were developing their latest campaign and

she spoke on her experiences in India and South Africa.50 In August, Barr went with the

War Resisters' International to a meeting in West Germany. Where the Werra River

48. Herbert Fischer, letter to author, 26 February 2005. Fischer also wrote that Barr helped introduce him to the political situation and the leading personalities in the Congress when he first arrived in India. "I admired her profound knowledge," letter to author, 21 November 2004.

49. Christine Easwaran, letter to author, 6 April 2007. Eknath Easwaran (1910-1999), inspired by Gandhi in his youth, became a spiritual teacher, writer and translator. He and his wife founded a meditation centre in California. During the 1960s, while living in the Nilgiri Hills, they regularly joined Barr, Barnes and Sykes in Quaker worship.

50. "Mary Barr to take part in PPU's new leaflet campaign," Peace News, 18 May 1951.

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formed the boundary between the U.S. and Russian Zones, Barr and fellow pacifists

exchanged greetings with villagers on the Russian side. An invitation came from the

Communist Volkspollizei to attend the Berlin Youth Festival, but West German

authorities refused to allow the pacifists to cross the border. Knowing that this artificial

barrier was causing much suffering to divided families, Barr decided that she would cross

into East Germany, with or without the permission of the police. She had no hesitation

about courting arrest and prison, if necessary. Like Gandhi, who always announced his

intentions in advance, Barr let the authorities know her plans and gave them a deadline.

Initial permission was refused; after a number of conversations with the police, Mary

Barr was eventually allowed to proceed, taking with her Kathleen Rawlins, a fellow PPU

member who spoke fluent German and served as Barr's interpreter. Mary Barr gave her

message of peace and talked of Gandhi's life to the East Zone Commandant and a group

of young Volkspolizei.51

Within the group of women included in this study, the recurring theme that

surfaces is the host of interconnections among activist circles that existed not only on the

ground in India, but on an international level. Barr was friends with Gandhi's son,

Manilal, who had remained in South Africa and carried on the work that his father had

begun there decades earlier. As well, Barr came to know Olive Warner—Mary Chesley's

former teaching partner in her school in London. Warner, a Quaker who was very active

in social justice issues in South Africa, also knew Manilal Gandhi and, at one time, taught

one or more of his children. Again, The Society of Friends, with its principles or

testimonies of simplicity, pacifism, truthfulness and equality, encouraged and provided

51. "Non-violence wins: Police let woman pacifist through East-West barrier," Peace News, 24 August 1951.

115

opportunities for radical Christians to actively engage with other groups, both religious

and secular. Through Quaker circles and peace groups such as the Fellowship of

Reconciliation, the Peace Pledge Union, and the Women's International League for Peace

and Freedom, pacifists and social activists established networks and friendships that

spanned the globe in a remarkable way, considering the distances and less rapid forms of

travel and communication that existed at the time.

The example of the writer and pacifist Vera Brittain who was not among, yet

knew a number of the women in this study, is a case in point. The extensive collection of

Brittain's papers housed at McMaster University Archives reveals the breadth and depth

of the interconnections among activists when letter writing and circulars were common

modes of communication. Brittain's profile as a writer may have made her list of contacts

greater than that of most individuals (she received "fan" mail from numerous readers,

some of whom subsequently became friends and fellow participants in organizations and

activities); what her correspondence reveals is the vast network of communication that

those in pacifist and anti-imperialist organizations maintained internationally.52

The flow of ideas passing between the East and West concerning pacifism and

non-violent resistance has been the subject of a number of studies. As Loretta Stec

observed, often there has been an assumption of the Western influence on the East,

particularly in the case of Gandhi, who was profoundly affected by Tolstoy and Thoreau

52. There are two major works on Brittain; Deborah Gorham's biography, Vera Brittain: A Feminist Life (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.: 1996) and Paul Berry and Mark Bostridge's Vera Brittain: A Life Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2002). Of the two, the Berry and Bostridge book addresses her international interests more thoroughly, although neither book reveals the close friendships she had with a couple of the women in this study.

116

in formulating theories of civil disobedience and non-violence. Yet reading Hindu texts

in translation had influenced Thoreau's thinking.53 When British suffragettes, frustrated

by the lack of gains through petitioning, moved to civil disobedience and courted prison

sentences, Gandhi admired their courage and held the women up as models for Indians in

South Africa also struggling to gain civil rights. Gandhi eventually became disillusioned

with the suffragettes as he found their militant tactics no longer fit his ideal of

Satyagraha. Gandhi's philosophy, while influenced by Western writers and activists, was

firmly grounded in Hindu concepts of ahimsa (non-violence, love). However, as James

Hunt asserts, the suffragette movement was an important factor in Gandhi's development

of his model for non-violent resistance. Hunt argued that the movement: 1) served as an

important precedent for Gandhi as he was gathering evidence to make a case for action

among his own Indian constituency in South Africa; 2) provided a political model to

study; 3) became an example of failure when suffragettes adopted violent tactics.54

Gandhi, Hunt argued, believed that by adopting more violent tactics, the women missed

the opportunity to really transform the way in which change could be realized.

Nevertheless, his identification with the women's cause broadened his outlook on

oppression in its many forms.55 As well, Gandhi's exposure to the suffrage movement

made it possible for him to shift his thinking regarding women's rights. This openness on

Gandhi's part inevitably made it possible for independent activist women such as the

ones in this study to identify with the Indian movement while at the same time,

maintaining a global perspective.

53. Loretta Stec, "Pacifism, Vera Britain, and India," Peace Review, 13: 2 (2001): 237-244. 54. James D. Hunt, "Suffragettes and Satyagraha," Indo-British Review, Vol.IX, No. 1 (1982): 65-76. 55. Ibid., 74-75.

117

Mary Barr is an excellent example of someone who participated in and

contributed to the diffusion process. Well-versed in Gandhi's philosophy and tactics,

Barr, through her involvement in South African and British social movements, helped in

the transmission of Gandhian principles. Sean Scalmer's study of such transmissions

makes the point that an essential part of cross-pollination is that ideas need to go through

translation and reinvention in order for them to become workable in another culture.56

Scalmer looked at the way in which British pacifists adopted Gandhian principles after

going through this process. In the early 1950s, when pacifists in Britain were entering

that critical period of developing a direction that would suit the British idiom, Mary Barr

made her timely appearance on the scene. Her experiences in India and South Africa gave

her message a particular potency at a time when pacifists, particularly in the Peace Pledge

Union, were going through a deep and thorough soul-searching and exploration of the

best ways in which to publicly articulate their message and also to develop tactics that

would not only be true to Gandhian principles but also speak to and arouse sympathy and

support from the general public who might not be as politically radical.

In the post-war period, Britons had growing concerns about the high possibility of

future war, particularly with the development of nuclear weapons. The Non-Violence

Commission's "Operation Gandhi" had several aims: the removal of American forces

from Britain; the cessation of the manufacture of atomic weapons in the country;

withdrawal of Britain from NATO; and the disbandment of British troops.57 By

developing a disciplined non-violent form of protest, pacifists gained approval from a

56. Sean Scalmer, "Globalising Gandhi: Translation, Reinvention, Application, Transformation," Borderlands, Vol. 4, No. 3 (2005), http://www.borderlands.net.au/vol4no3_2005/scalmer_nonviolence.htm.

57. Ibid., para. 25.

118

broader public and inspired others to take up Gandhian methods. Scalmer tracks the

successful mass mobilization of the peace and anti-nuclear movement through the Fifties

and notes that by the 1960s, the understanding of Gandhi's principles no longer was a

known or given among newcomers in the radical left. When people no longer understood

the philosophical underpinnings of non-violence and regarded non-violence as mainly a

tactical tool, it was not difficult for more strident, even violent, actions to be employed.

Scalmer ends his article with a number of questions:

[Is] 'non-violence'.. .best practiced by small groups of dedicated activists? Or can it become a tool of mass politics? How can the committed possibly work together with the expedient? Can non-violence be maintained over a cycle of protest, or is it inevitably displaced by the throb of collective passions? These were questions faced by Gandhi eight decades ago.. .They remain to trouble, to confound, and to push us toward our own experiments today.58

Living lives of non-violent activism during periods of violence, pre- and post-

Independence, the women in this study inevitably must have grappled with similar

questions. They themselves were a small group of dedicated activists who worked with

one another and, at other times, joined forces with like-minded individuals and groups. In

a world so defined by violence, undoubtedly, the elusiveness of creating a more equitable

and peaceable world through non-violent principles and tactics is a challenge.

Nevertheless the truly committed, such as the women in this study, take up that challenge

in spite of the terrible odds against its success.

What is known of Mary Barr's life after returning to India is derived from her

friend Marjorie Sykes' memorial tribute, published in The Friendly Way, a Quaker

publication that Mary Barr and Alice Barnes edited for years.59 Barr suffered from

58. Ibid, para. 61. 59. "In Memoriam: Frances Mary Barr," The Friendly Way, No. 86 (January 1969): 2-12.

119

asthma and not long after her return to India in 1952, in a weakened condition, she was

diagnosed with cancer. Believing that she had limited time left, she accepted her

condition and used her waning energy to fully enjoy whatever she could. However, a

specialist reversed the diagnosis after a few months and she lived for another sixteen

years, though frail in health. In addition to editing the Quaker journal, Barr carried on a

voluminous correspondence with friends made across time and space, wrote letters to

newspapers on issues of concern, and, in 1960, was well enough to attend the Triennial

Conference of the War Resisters International, held in India that year. Barr's life was

lived largely out of the spotlight, with occasional forays into public notice through her

arrest in South Africa and crossing the East/West boundary during the Cold War years.

Quietly and persistently radical in her lifestyle and politics, Barr did attain one of her

youthful goals—to live a life of service and relative simplicity.

Mary and Margaret Barr, Margaret Jones, Pearl Madden, Mary Ingham, and Polly

Chesley all shared the experience of working in the tiny village of Khedi in Central India.

Barr and Madden, along with Anne Marie Petersen and Esther Faering, all arrived in

India attached to missions that they eventually left. The lives of these women overlapped

in numerous ways. Just as they believed in their own personal right to pursue

independent, purposeful lives, they believed in the rights of Indians to pursue similar

goals. They had all been blessed with having educational opportunities, which allowed

them to follow professional careers and unconventional lifestyles. As Western women in

India, they charted new territory. Unfettered by convention, religious institutions or

husbands serving the imperial state, these women defined themselves according to

principles they held in common. Gandhi's reliance on these women cannot be fully

120

measured. They were active village workers, interpreters of his mission on the

international stage, peacemakers and diplomats who gained the trust of opposing factions

in border disputes between Pakistan and India. While the charismatic Gandhi provided

inspiration, friendship and a rallying force in their lives, these women brought to the

Indian struggle their own special and rare combination of personal discipline, creativity,

faithful courage and commitment to peace and social justice.

CHAPTER FOUR

MARJORIE SYKES (1905-1995)

Marjorie Sykes holds a prominent position in this collective biography. Sharing

much common ground with the women in the study, she stands out in a number of ways,

not least of which is the fact that she lived in India the longest. First arriving in India at

the age of twenty-three (the youngest of any at time of arrival), she made India her home

for over sixty years. Her life spanned the greater part of the twentieth century and she is

well remembered by many individuals still alive in India and elsewhere. Sykes lived an

extraordinarily productive life as a teacher, social activist, writer, editor and translator.

She served as a mentor to both Indians and Westerners because of her integrity,

intelligence and commitment to the non-violent revolution that Gandhi espoused. Like

the other women, Sykes had already chosen a pacifist path and a materially simple

lifestyle and had developed a philosophy that had strong similarities to Gandhi's own,

long before the two met. Although her engagement in educational programs that Gandhi

spearheaded largely occurred in the years after his death, Gandhi had recognized Sykes'

abilities and asked her if she would come to Sevagram to teach the principles of his Nai

Talim (Basic Education) program when she was free from other responsibilities. Sykes

made this promise, but by the time she was able to commit herself to this work, Gandhi

had died. Thus the actual personal contact between Sykes and Gandhi was limited. Sykes

had close friendships with several the women in this study group, and, through her

Quaker connections and study of Quaker history in India, knew something of those, like

Chesley, who died before an opportunity to meet presented itself. Sykes has been the

subject of a fairly recently published biography and the much of the following

biographical information has been derived from this source.2

Sykes' formative experiences growing up had parallels with some of the other

women in this study and these will be highlighted. Born in a small coal-mining village in

South Yorkshire (only fifty miles from Mary Barr's birthplace) in 1905, Marjorie Sykes,

from an early age, witnessed, yet was somewhat cushioned from, the debilitating effects

of poverty. Her parents, both teachers, had grown up in relatively poor but not

impoverished families. Sykes' father, as headmaster of a school in a poor district did not

have a large salary; nevertheless, Marjorie had an emotionally and intellectually rich

childhood. Marjorie exhibited early signs of intelligence and creativity. Because of her

father's position, the household received sample copies of children's books from

publishers, so Marjorie had access to a good library and learned to read at an early age.

Her parents and inspirmg teachers along the way would nourish this love of literature. As

well as reading and play-acting with her siblings and playmates, Marjorie received an

excellent practical education through both her parents. From her mother she learned to

cook, bake and sew. Her father loved gardening and the natural world, so

1. Marjorie Sykes, An Indian Tapestry: Quaker Threads in the History of India Pakistan and Bangladesh from the Seventeenth Century to Independence, ed., Geoffrey Carnall (York, England: Sessions Book Trust, 1997). This book was published posthumously. When I began my search for Mary Chesley through the Friends' Library in London, the two references they sent to me included the obituary from The Friend and an excerpt from Sykes' book.

2. Martha Dart, Marjorie Sykes Quaker Gandhian, (York, England: Sessions Book Trust, 1993). The author, an American Quaker, met Sykes in 1967 and became a close friend and correspondent. Dart also compiled and edited letters that she had received over the years from Sykes, as well as a collection of writings and talks: In Quaker Friendship: Letters from Marjorie Sykes (York, England: William Sessions Limited, 1999) and Transcending Tradition: Excerpts from the Writings and Talks of Marjorie Sykes (York, England: William Sessions Limited, 1995).

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Marjorie had her own vegetable plot and, during long Sunday morning walks in fields

and forests, her father introduced her to the flora and fauna of the area. Unlike some of

the other women in this study, Sykes did not have a church-going background. Her later

spiritual development was likely nurtured by those Sundays with her father who shared

with his children a deep reverence for all growing things. The skills that Sykes learned

from her parents in an unforced and organic way would eventually stand her in good

stead for the life she would choose in India.

Sykes was only nine years old when the First World War erupted. The first direct

effect of the war was felt when a beloved teacher, who happened to be German, was

forced to leave her position. Because Sykes' father had studied in Dresden in his early

years and still had German friends, the family felt even more keenly the divisive and

cruel nature of war.4 Sykes, as a young girl, may not have been able to articulate fully her

reaction to war's irrational transformation of friends into enemies, but undoubtedly the

groundwork was laid for her later pacifism. Sykes' experience also echoed the

experiences of other women in this study. Catherine Heilemann (Saralabehn) directly felt

the blow of discrimination when her father (though not even German, but of Swiss-

German descent) was interned as an enemy alien. Madeleine Slade (Mirabehn) likewise

saw the hatred with which ordinary Britons suddenly turned on innocent Germans

because of war propaganda. As revealed in an earlier chapter, Mary Chesley's letters

home to her parents during the war expressed her dismay about such hateful attitudes. In

the post-war period, both Slade and Chesley actively sought to counter hatred towards

3. This background history is taken from Marjorie Sykes, Chapter One. Sykes also wrote about her life in "Staying on, at Home: 1928-88," Indo-British Review, Vol. XVIII, No. 2 (1990): 71-78, referring to her father as "a brilliant and devoted teacher."

4. Dart, Marjorie Sykes, pp. 5-6.

Germans—Slade through reintroducing German music and conductors to the London

stage and Chesley through fundraising for German children who were victims of war.

Losing a favourite teacher was not the only loss Marjorie Sykes and her family

would endure because of the war. Her father, in spite of his own distaste for war,

eventually felt the pressure to volunteer for service. When he returned from duty,

Marjorie had no recollection of the event. She had fallen ill in the huge influenza

epidemic and, as a consequence, missed a fair portion of the school year. During her

recovery the family made a move to a new town where her father took on another job. At

the time he was unable to settle back into teaching, although he would eventually return

with renewed enthusiasm for his vocation. Nevertheless, the war's toll on the family

continued to be felt for some time. Once Marjorie was safely on the mend, her mother's

health broke down and, for a period of months, the teenaged Marjorie, the oldest child,

took over the running of the household, caring for her younger siblings and doing all the

chores.

This "apprenticeship" not only helped Marjorie to consolidate all those practical

skills that she would put to use in India, but undoubtedly developed in her a sense of

responsibility and the capacity to take charge. By the fall of 1919, Marjorie's mother had

recovered and Marjorie entered a new school with inspiring teachers. This experience

must have been all the more appreciated after having briefly given up her schooling

during her mother's illness. She received an excellent grounding in literature and the

religious education at the school also appealed to her. She attended the Cathedral in the

town. Sykes would later reflect:

I absorbed the lovely music of the ritual, and the magnificent prose cadences of the Book of Common Prayer.. ..In school some of the great passages of English

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poetry 'haunted me like a passion' in much the same way as did the prayers. There was no division between the 'sacred' and the 'secular'. I was being prepared to understand to some extent how other great religious poetry, such as the Qur'an or the Vedas, may have a 'meaning beyond meaning' for those whose roots are in the Islamic or Hindu culture.5

Sykes' love of learning translated into excellent marks and she was fortunate to be

coming of age at a time when educational opportunities in Britain were opening up for

someone such as herself who did not come from a privileged background. After taking

the Cambridge entrance exams, Sykes received not only a university scholarship but also

grants from her local riding and the national government, which covered her fees and

living expenses. Newnham College Cambridge offered Sykes a superior education in

every sense of the word. Not satisfied with simply handling the courses mapped out by

her tutor, Sykes attended many open lectures on subjects outside of her chosen area of

study (English and linguistics); she participated in some sports and also made friends

with students from around the world.6 Sykes' own ideas about the futility of war, initially

fostered by her father, were further developed at Cambridge under the inspiration of

teachers whose own convictions about peace and social justice were influenced by the

life and teachings of Jesus. It was during her time at Cambridge that Sykes developed her

understanding of and commitment to the ideals of truth and non-violence. This

conviction, based on the teachings of Christ would later be enriched by her contact with

Gandhi and others in India.

Not surprisingly, most of the people Sykes would meet at Cambridge came out of

a Church of England background. What is relevant is that the church leaders who had the

most impact on Sykes were far more radical (and one might suggest "Quakerly") in their

5. Dart, Marjorie Sykes, p. 9. 6. Dart, Marjorie Sykes, pp. 11-13.

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approach to questions of the spirit and their pacifist convictions than would normally be

found within the Anglican Church. Sykes was unaware of the existence of Friends at this

time. Interestingly, she would discover later that her four closest friends at college either

joined or worked closely with the Society of Friends in subsequent years and engaged in

reconciliation work and other forms of service, indicating at least two things—that the

mentors at Cambridge made a profound impact on their students and that Sykes

established her closest ties with like-spirited individuals. Years later, in India, Sykes

would meet Jehangir Patel with whom she would co-author a book of reminiscences of

Gandhi. Patel, it turned out, was also a student at Cambridge during the same period as

Sykes, although they did not meet then. He, too, received a formative education at

Cambridge that would prepare him to accept the challenges of Gandhi's "fight." As Patel

and Sykes would recount in their book:

'This is my second university', Jehangir would sometimes say to Gandhi. 'It's a university of service, and I am happy that you should be its Chancellor. Cambridge and Sevagram go very well together'. As it happened, a considerable number of India's national leaders of that generation were Cambridge men; people used to comment that at certain stages of the struggle for independence meetings of an India 'Cambridge Society' might have been held, and well attended, in more than one of the government's jails. Certainly we both found the experiences in Cambridge and in Sevagram, far from being incompatible, complemented and enriched one another.7

As stimulating as Cambridge was, it was ultimately the example of her father that

inspired Marjorie to become a teacher. On a holiday at home, she observed her father

who, having returned to his original calling, provided an excellent model of how to be

creative and joyous in one's approach to students and all subjects. Sykes, like Mary Barr

and Anne Marie Petersen, in particular, was fortunate to have been exposed to an

7. Jehangir P. Patel and Marjorie Sykes, Gandhi His Gift of the Fight (Rasulia: Friends Rural Centre, 1987), p. 143.

educational approach that was far more progressive than would have been the standard

education curriculum and this informed their later teaching in India. In 1926 Sykes

graduated with first class honours (English Tripos) from Cambridge and then remained at

Cambridge to take teacher training.

Of the women in this study, Sykes shared the most in common with Chesley in

regard to experiences in university. Although all the women had post-secondary

education or had initiated their own course of personal studies;8 Chesley and Sykes both

received university degrees before going on to take teacher training. They shared a

passion for academic learning, nature, sports, spiritual seeking and pacifism. Chesley

received her degree from the London School of Economics, but also spent time at

Oxford,9 meeting inspiring professors there who shared some of the same values as

Sykes' mentors at Cambridge. Sykes and Chesley shared a love of literature and

languages. Sykes' linguistic study at Cambridge exposed her to Anglo-Saxon, Greek,

Latin, French, German, Danish and possibly Sanskrit. This training inevitably aided her

in India, where she learned at least three Indian languages—Hindi, Bengali and Tamil.

Chesley went to the Sorbonne to study French and also studied Esperanto, the language

of "hope" for those who believed in international friendship. Whether Chesley knew any

other languages is not known (her major at the London School Economics was political

economy—it is unknown what courses she took at Oxford), but in her short time in India,

she studied Hindi. Both women would become Quakers and both would garner the

respect and admiration of Gandhi for their intellect, compassion and commitment to

8. Mirabehn, for example, had little formal education, but engaged in personal studies throughout her life.

9. The term used in reference to Chesley's time at Oxford was "reading at the Bodelian Library". One imagines that she was taking independent reading fields under supervision.

India. In spite of not knowing one another personally, they were linked through common

friends, most obviously Mary Barr and Gandhi.10

Upon completion of her coursework, Sykes let it be known to the friends she had

made among international students and teachers during her time at the university that she

would be interested in possible overseas positions. Again, common to others in the study,

before moving to India, Sykes had come into contact and made friends with international

students, indicating, at the very least, openness to diverse*cultures. After graduation she

taught for a year in England; however, when she received an invitation to take a position

at a girls' school in Madras, she accepted and sailed to India in October 1928.n Upon

arrival in Madras, Sykes was met by Alice Varley (later Barnes), the Principal of

Bentinck School. Their association as colleagues would develop into an enduring

friendship, terminated only by Barnes' death in 1968. From the beginning, they found

common ground. The Student Christian Movement (SCM) had played an important

formative role for both women during their university years.12 Alice belonged to the

Madras International Fellowship and Marjorie also joined. Founded by an Indian

Christian, the group included people of all religions as well as different political

persuasions. Sykes first met Quakers through this group and it was through the

Fellowship that she was introduced to Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (familiarly known by

all as Rajaji or C.R.), a close friend of Gandhi and a leading light in the independence

10. Other Quakers, such as Hilda Cashmore who also spent time in India, knew Chesley (it is possible that they may have known each other in England through Quaker or Labour Party connections).

11. Dart, Marjorie Sykes, pp. 16-18. 12. The SCM had a profound impact on the lives of many inquiring young people in North America as

well. It would be difficult to find committed social activists in Canada who entered university in the first half of the twentieth century who do not credit the SCM with providing the formative experiences that led them towards community service and social activism.

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movement.13 Rajaji helped introduce Sykes to India, particularly from a political and

public affairs perspective. An outstanding intellect with a strong moral commitment to

Gandhi's program of social service, Rajaji left a successful law practice as early as 1919

to dedicate himself to Gandhi's mission of village service.14 Even in his later political life

as the Premier of Madras Presidency and in his role as last Governor General of India, he

maintained a simple lifestyle. At the time that Sykes met Rajaji, he lived in an ashram

with a group, including all castes, serving in nearby villages. His would be the first

ashram that Sykes visited in India.15 In addition to Rajaji's tutelage on life in India, she

was exposed to the political, social and educational currents through other Indian friends

and colleagues.

Through Ted Barnes, a chemistry teacher at one of the colleges in Madras, Alice

had begun attending a small Quaker group in the city and Marjorie also attended. Not

surprisingly, given the kind of values upheld by Friends, Sykes found a spiritual home

among Quakers and, when she went on her first furlough to Britain in 1936, she formally

, joined the Religious Society of Friends.16 Again, it is notable that Westerners in India,

who did not belong to the established church or have colonial attitudes with regard to

Indian politics, found a spiritual home within the Religious Society of Friends. At least

half of the women in this study became Quakers and the others were often closely

associated through friendships and organizational affiliations.

By the time Sykes joined Friends, she had been in India teaching for eight years.

13. Gandhi and Rajaji became in-laws when their children married. Rajaji had good friendships with a number of women in this study. His correspondence reveals a man of wit and warmth. Widowed in 1915, he never remarried.

14. Rajmohan Gandhi, The Rajaji Story 1937-1972 (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1984), p. 1. 15. Dart, Marjorie Sykes, p. 22. 16. Dart, Marjorie Sykes, p. 27.

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In 1930, her friend Alice Varley had married Ted Barnes. As was customary for the

1 7

times, Alice, once she became a married woman, gave up her position as Principal. The

Indian teacher who took her position also married, so Sykes, still in her mid-twenties,

became Principal. While in this position she made some dramatic changes in the

educational approach. In the older grades, classes were taught in English. The younger

children learned in Tamil. Sykes invited Indian women actively engaged in Gandhi's

non-cooperation movement to come to speak to the children in Tamil about their work.

Such women, with their English schooling, had some discomfort with Sykes' request,

fearing that their Tamil was not good enough; however, most agreed and, through their

involvement in the school, exposed the youngest children to role models within their own

culture. The school, open to children from all castes, encouraged the development of

egalitarian principles. When, in 1937, Gandhi published an article in his journal, Harijan,

describing his vision for education in India, Sykes immediately found resonance in his

ideas. On her own, she had already implemented certain programs that were in keeping

with Gandhi's philosophy. This realization of common ground was timely for Sykes, for,

by the mid-1930s in India, the climate, both political and social, had become more

restrictive due to the British government's creation of separate electorates divided along

religious lines. The cross-cultural, cross-denominational friendships that had flourished in

such groups as the International Fellowship became more difficult. As well, the

government increasingly took greater control of education.

Sykes, with her unconventional ideas felt the need for more independence. The

possibility of an opening at Tagore's school at Santiniketan came up, so in 1938, during

17. It is more than likely that this was mandatory.

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her Christmas vacation, Sykes travelled to Sevagram where she met Gandhi for the first

time, then went to on to Santiniketan, Tagore's international school. Warmly welcomed

in both places, Sykes was impressed by the rapport both Gandhi and Tagore had with

children. Tagore invited Sykes to join his staff. Santiniketan (originally developed by

Rabindranath Tagore's father Devendranath Tagore in 1901) had expanded to the extent

that it included an international university by the time Sykes joined the faculty in 1939.

As a totally independent school with no government involvement, Santiniketan had the

freedom to create a curriculum free of the usual constraints, which appealed to Sykes.

The Friends Service Council in London funded her position, indicating the support that

Quakers were willing to give not only to someone like Sykes but also to alternative

institutions that creative Indians such as Tagore were building for the new India.18

Sykes quickly became an integral part of a community that welcomed intellectual,

cultural and religious diversity. C.F. Andrews, a former Anglican priest who had

longstanding friendships with both Tagore and Gandhi—"known as the 'hyphen'

between them"— moved back to Santineketan, the place he considered home.19 Sykes

had met him a few years earlier on a trip to Britain and in the short remaining time that

Andrews had to live, the two became close friends. When he died in 1940, the

relationship between Tagore and Sykes grew closer as he began to rely on her to translate

his writings into English from Bengali, Sykes' most recently acquired language. Sykes

translated several of Tagore's plays, his childhood reminiscences and other writings.20

18. Dart, Marjorie Sykes, pp. 28-29. 19. Dart, Marjorie Sykes, p. 33. 20. Rabindranath Tagore, Three Plays: Mukta-dhara, Natir Puja, Chandalika, trans. Marjorie Sykes

(Bombay, New York: Indian Branch, Oxford University Press, 1950); Tagore, My Boyhood Days, trans. M. Sykes (Calcutta: Visva-Bharati, 1943). This was subsequently translated into many Indian languages and has been continually reprinted.

Sykes' productive and creative life at this time was not without its challenges and

losses. While she was vacationing with Alice and Ted Barnes in May 1941, Ted became

fatally ill with malaria and died within the month. After helping her friend Alice through

this period, Sykes returned to Santiniketan to find Tagore in fragile condition. He died

soon after. Months later Sykes' own health broke down while on holiday and she took a

leave of absence from the school. While recuperating with her friend Alice Barnes, she

began writing a book for children about the life of Tagore. Once she was on the mend,

the Women's Christian College in Madras asked Sykes if she would fill in as an English

teacher for a time. Because of restrictions on travel during the war, replacement teachers

from Britain were not available. Santiniketan agreed to a temporary loan of Sykes to the

college. Instead of living on campus, Sykes chose to live in one of the slums of the city.

In her poor neighbourhood she initiated a nursery for the young children of working

parents and put forward a proposal to the students in the college to help finance the

nursery teacher's salary. This project, much expanded over time, has continued into the

present day. It was during this period that Sykes took in a number of orphans, helping

them both to get an education and then to establish themselves. One of the girls, Rani,

became an adopted daughter.

Teaching was not the only preoccupation for Sykes during this period. On the

international stage, The Second World War presented a deeply disturbing development

for pacifists like Sykes. With the Quit India Movement in full swing (Gandhi had

declared Indian non-compliance with Britain), Sykes, along with her students, organized

a committee so that they could carry out constructive work. As part of his national

strategy Gandhi had encouraged a "Grow More Food" Campaign and Sykes, an

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experienced gardener, helped plan a vegetable garden with her students, and, ever frugal,

used bath water to irrigate it.21 Amidst the community work, the teaching and numerous

other college responsibilities, undertaking Quaker business and keeping fellow pacifists

in touch with one another for support, Sykes hosted the many people who came through

her life (for a time sharing her house and veranda with several dozen neighbours who had

lost their homes in a fire). She completed her children's book on Tagore and it was

published in 1943.22 Sykes also managed to fulfill requests for articles and book reviews

from a number of journals and publishers.

After two productive years in Madras, Sykes returned to Santiniketan, this time,

to work on a biography of C.F. Andrews in collaboration with Benarsidas Chaturvedi, an

Indian journalist who had been, along with C.F. Andrews and Gandhi, an anti-indenture

activist in Fiji and South Africa.23 In 1945, during the course of her research, she met

with Gandhi to discuss Andrews' correspondence with him. When asked if she would

come to Sevagram to help with the Basic Education program. Sykes agreed to consider it

once she had completed her writing project. Research also took her to Britain where she

made contact with family and friends of Andrews and collaborated with Agatha Harrison,

Andrews' literary executor.

Sykes, Harrison and Barr, in particular, had close affiliations not only with

Gandhi and Sevagram but also with Santiniketan and the Tagore family. This speaks to

the Indian leaders' respect for these women. It also reflects the women's diverse and

21. Dart, Marjorie Sykes, p. 42. 22. Dart, Marjorie Sykes, pp. 34-37. Marjorie Sykes, Rabindranath Tagore (London, New York:

Longmans, Green & Co., 1943). 23. Sanjay Ramesh, "After 125 years, Fiji's Indo-Fijians in Retreat" Pacific Islands Report 2004.

http://www.worldpress.org/images/freelancerspdf/58_2.pdf7; "74. About South Africa" http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/people/gandhi/74-86.htm.

shared educational, political, social and artistic interests. Tagore, the poet and artist,

integrated the performing and literary arts in his educational program. Gandhi had little

time for or interest in aesthetics, and his educational approach was of a purely practical

nature. Yet, even Mirabehn, who most closely identified with Gandhi's frugal, practical

approach, had an artistic side. She liked to sketch and designed what would become

Gandhi's house in Sevagram; the interior walls are decorated with her simple but elegant

relief work. Once, in a conversation with Gandhi, Agatha Harrison, who loved flowers,

asked him why he did not include beauty amidst the practical. Gandhi found it difficult to

understand why people could not see, and be satisfied with, the beauty of vegetables. For

him, if one could not eat a plant or produce something useful from it, the time spent on

cultivating it was a waste.24 His spiritual path was one of asceticism. For Tagore, beauty

and artistic creativity were essential for spiritual wellbeing. The women in this study,

though so closely allied with Gandhi, embraced both the ascetic and the artistic - another

indication of their independence of thought.25

It was not until 1949 that Sykes was able to fulfill her promise to Gandhi that she

would go to Sevagram. In the early post-Independence days, she returned to Madras to

24. An amusing example of Gandhi's diversion from the strictly practical is evident in Sarojini Naidu's letter to her son when she, Gandhi and others were in prison. Naidu, India's famous poet (referred to as "The Nightingale") and known for her irreverent wit, called Gandhi by the nickname of Mickey Mouse because of his big ears. Absolutely devoted to the cause, she nevertheless did not feel compelled to wear khadi or adhere to Gandhi's austere regime. Gandhi, taking advantage of Mirabehn's artistic talents, allowed his imagination to stray from more serious matters for the diversion of his good friend Naidu. The following excerpt was written on her birthday, 14 February 1943: "Would you believe it that lying so exhausted and helpless in his bed, his [Gandhi's] puckish humour devised an amusing birthday gift for me—the model of a good Sarojini Devi (or Amma Jan as he calls me).. .lying on a couch obedient to medical orders as distinct from the bad Amma Jan, who flouts all physicians and refuses to lie down. It is very crude but cleverly executed by Miraben, according to the Fasting Man's sudden design!!" Sarojini Naidu, Selected Letters 1890s to 1940s, ed. Makarant Paranjape (New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1996), p. 307.

25. One reader perceptively suggested that this might also reflect the women's gendered education.

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be with her daughter in the months leading up to Rani's entrance into a nursing training

program. There she worked as the Librarian at the Women's Christian College. Because

she had been domiciled in India for so many years, she had no trouble gaining citizenship

in the new independent nation. Once her daughter entered nursing school, Sykes felt free

to honour Gandhi's earlier request, although he was no longer alive, having been

assassinated in January 1948.

Marjorie Sykes spent ten years at Sevagram, training teachers for Gandhi's Nai

Talim program. Such training involved learning every possible skill that would be needed

in a village setting. In a letter to friends, Sykes' description of the training paints a vivid

picture of the expectations for both teachers and students in Gandhi's ideal community:

Every year a new class of students is put down here, away from towns with their piped water and municipal lighting and sanitation, in a settlement in the middle of village India.... We say to them, 'Here you are.... Grow your own food, pick your cotton, spin yarn and weave your clothes, plan and care for your own sanitary system, keep your surroundings clean and hygienic and your buildings in repair. Tackle each of these jobs as intelligently and scientifically as you can; find out what sort of knowledge and skill you need to do them efficiently, and find out how you can get it. When you have re-educated yourself in REAL knowledge by these means, you will be ready to do your bit in the education of the nation.

We teachers spend our days alongside the students in the field and kitchen and workshops, helping them with the technique, with the organisation, with the recording, analysis and study of their daily chores and with the machinery of responsible self-government that goes with it all....

Side by side with the teachers' training school... is the... school community, where growing children are being educated by these methods of self-reliance and intelligent work. The two communities help each other and pool their resources for emergencies and special needs (like harvesting). But there are never enough workers here for all there is to do; there are constant calls on us to help the new 'basic national' schools and training centres in other parts of the country.... The days are not long enough for all there is to do—we fall asleep before we have finished. But if you believe, as I do, that Gandhiji was fundamentally right in what he declared to be necessary for human welfare, it is absorbingly interesting and worthwhile.26

26. Dart, Marjorie Sykes, p. 54-55.

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Sykes had many other responsibilities and injected her own creative ideas to keep

children engaged in what might have otherwise been considered dreary work.

Undoubtedly her experience and observation as a child with parents who seemed

seamlessly to combine practical work with joyful play and exploration helped Sykes to

develop a similar teaching model. In addition to the work at Sevagram, Sykes travelled to

basic education schools around the country, helped organize both national and

international conferences (the World Pacifist Conference in 1949 held its meetings in

Sevagram and Santineketan), hosted a constant stream of visitors interested in observing

the Nai Talim program in action, addressed Quaker concerns and, when Vinoba Bhave

began his Bhoodan Movement,27 Sykes and her students and teachers took part in

padyatras28 to the villages in the district. In the mid-1950s, she spent some months away

from teaching in order to write about Basic Education and translate from French into

English a book by Lanza del Vasto on the Bhoodan Movement.29 For a period of months

Sykes also split her time between Sevagram and the Friends Rural Centre in Rasulia

when a staffing crisis arose. Once Vinoba Bhave resurrected Gandhi's idea of a Shanti

Sena—a "Peace Army" which was intended to train volunteers to carry out non-violent

peace keeping, Sykes became involved in this development.

27. Vinobe Bhave, one of Gandhi's "spiritual" sons, initiated the Bhoodan (Land Gift) Movement in the years following Gandhi's death, Vinobe persuaded wealthy landowners to give some of their holdings to the poor and landless. This movement was followed by the Gramdam Movement in which he encouraged the lands donated to come under collective ownership of a village.

28. In India, a journey on foot associated with a purpose is apadyatra. Apadyatra will often pick up people for a time as it comes to their district. Some of Bhave's closest associates, like Mahadevi Tai, Chesley's companion, walked thousands of miles across India during the Bhoodan movement.

29. According to David Hardiman, Gandhi in His Time and Ours: The Global Legacy of his Ideas (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003): 240-241, Del Vasto, a Sicilian Christian living in France visited Gandhi at Wardha and became committed to non-violence. After entering politics in 1957, he fasted in protest against France's treatment of Algerians and started an organization, Action Civique Non-Violent. Among other things, the organization finally forced the French government to recognize conscientious objection to military service.

As her decade at Sevagram drew to a close, Sykes contemplated her next step.

She wished to organize non-violence training, but on a smaller more intimate scale than

at Sevagram. She moved to Kotagiri in the Nilgiri Hills of Southern India. Her friend

Alice Barnes was already living there. Living in a terraced valley to which one could

walk, not drive, down a steep slope to get to the house, Sykes conducted training camps

for groups of seven or eight students who would live, work and study with her. Like the

life at Sevagram, each person was expected to participate on every level and the days

were full. Sometimes, between training groups, Sykes herself engaged in peacekeeping

work. In 1962, she went to the North East Frontier during a border dispute between India

and China. In 1964, the North American Regional Council of the World Peace Brigade

asked the Shanti Sena to send someone to help train peace workers in the United States

and Canada. Marjorie was chosen by the group to go. She worked with both white and

African-American students and her overall impression was that the African Americans

were far more disciplined because of their civil rights training,that had been greatly

influenced by Gandhi's approach to civil disobedience.30

Sykes had no sooner returned home to India, than Jayaprakash Narayan (widely

known as J.P.), a leading Gandhian and Shanti Sena organizer, asked her to go to

Nagaland on a peace mission. In Nagaland, which borders on Burma, some cultural

patterns of Nagas are more similar to groups in Southeast Asia than to those Indians

living on the Indian plains.31 When the British lightly controlled Nagaland, American

missionaries had converted many Nagas to Christianity. Because of cultural and religious

30. Dart, Marjorie Sykes, pp. 62-76. 31. During my time in New Delhi, I roomed with a Nagaland woman in a hostel. Physically she

resembled someone from Burma.

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differences, Nagas had hoped for full autonomy after 1947. Disputes broke out between

Naga guerillas and Indian forces. The Nagas themselves wished for a peaceful resolution

and a cease-fire was made possible through the efforts of J.P. and other Gandhians.

Sykes became a core member of an Observers Team that mediated disputes between the

two sides. The work, both physically and mentally challenging at all times, suited Sykes.

One can only imagine that she had remarkable stamina as well as tact, for she gained the

trust of the Nagas and the Indian troops. Sykes would have stayed longer than three years

had she not been drawn back to the Nilgiri Hills because of her older friend Alice Barnes'

failing health. Within the next couple of years Marjorie lost not only her two closest

friends in Kotagiri, Alice Barnes and Mary Barr, but also her adopted daughter, Rani,

who died of cancer at the age of 36.33

Sykes' mediation work between opposing forces is mirrored in the work of the

majority of the women in this study. Mary Barr, Agatha Harrison, Margaret Jones,

Mirabehn, Saralabehn and Muriel Lester all participated in negotiations and peace­

making efforts in war zones. Chesley, though she did not have an opportunity to

participate directly in such work, publicly proclaimed the message of peace and

reconciliation during a time when such an idea was largely unpopular. Had she lived

longer, there is no doubt that she would have taken her place among the others. Courage

through conviction distinguished these women. Most of this dangerous work was carried

out quite apart from Gandhi, and, in a number of cases, well after his death. Gandhi,

32. Dart, Marjorie Sykes, p. 78. 33. Based on a letter from Christine Easwaran, who knew Barnes, Barr and Sykes, one can imagine

that Barnes' death was keenly felt by Sykes. Easwaran wrote, "Alice Barnes was, I'm sure, the most delightful raconteur I ever met. She had a large number of warm, lasting friendships and was very active as a school teacher in Madras and all her adult life was active in Quaker organizations." Letter to author, 6 April 2007.

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where involved (in the case of Margaret Jones and Agatha Harrison, for example),

requested their participation because of his trust in their abilities. Gandhi had a genius for

friendship; he could be friendly with almost anyone. However, the people he relied on

had to be trustworthy, intelligent, hard-working and totally committed to non-violent

change. The work that these women carried out during their lifetimes provides ample

evidence that they were leaders and initiators in their own right, rather than mere camp

followers of Mahatma Gandhi.

In spite of losing those closest to her, Sykes continued to keep her base in

Kotagiri for some years to come. After Barr's death, she took on the editorship of The

Friendly Way, the Quaker newsletter for India. Now in her mid-sixties, Sykes would

remain extremely active for more than another two decades, engaged in gardening,

studying, writing, editing, translating and teaching workshops to the many young people

who sought her out and lived with her for a time in order to learn more about non-violent

mediation and environmentally sustainable living. Her international reputation among

peace activists, Quakers and those interested in Gandhi, Tagore and C.F. Andrews meant

that she was invited to give workshops and lectures and share her experiences in

countries across the globe. Because she had engaged in work with tribal peoples in the

Nilgiri Hills,34 Sykes had a particular interest in investigating the conditions of aboriginal

peoples in the countries that she visited. In 1979, when she returned to India after various

research and lecturing stints abroad, Sykes took up an invitation from the Friends' Rural

34. While visiting Kotagiri in 2003,1 met an elder tribal man, H.N. Kalla Gowder, then President of Tribal Solidarity, Nilgiri Chapter, who spoke with great respect of her work there.

35. Among her various engagements, she served as Friend in Residence for several months at Pendle Hill, a Quaker centre near Philadelphia in 1977.

Centre at Rasulia to join them in their experiment in 'natural farming'. Pratap

Aggarwal, who had been a volunteer at Rasulia years earlier, had become the Centre's

coordinator and was instrumental in pushing forward this work.

In the early 1960s, many countries around the world took up what became known

as the "Green Revolution" in which increases in food production were brought about by

the introduction of new seed varieties, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Initially there

were remarkable results in terms of crop yields; however, Sykes and her Indian

coworkers (as well as Mirabehn and Saralabehn) recognized early on that large-scale

agricultural practices were neither environmentally sustainable nor a way to eradicate

hunger among the poor. While India's food yields went up, the poorest people continued

to suffer because the concentration of land remained in the hands of the wealthy and the

poor could not afford to buy the produce.37 Higher food production has not lessened

world hunger and, according to Peter Rosset, an agricultural ecologist for the Institute for

Food and Development Policy, by the mid-1980s, green revolution practices were

proving to be environmentally destructive and non-sustainable.38

Sykes stood solidly with Gandhi and others of like mind who believed that small-

scale local cultivation would be the only guarantee of food security for the poorest. The

project at Rasulia, initially considered retrograde, eventually gained greater respect as the

negative impacts of the green revolution became apparent. However, after Aggarwal left

36. Masanobu Fukuoka, a Japanese farmer, wrote about this form of organic farming in his book The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming (Rasulia: Friends Rural Centre, 1990, first published in 1978 by Rodale Press). In India, this form of farming is called rishi kheti.

37. While yields were, for a time, higher, prices for food rose because of the cost of fertilizers, pesticides, equipment and fuel to run the equipment.

38. "Lessons from the Green Revolution," http://www.foodfirst.org/media/opeds/2000/4-greenrev.html. For more in-depth study, see Vandana Shiva, The Violence of the Green Revolution: Third World Agriculture, Ecology and Politics (London: Zed Books Ltd., 1993).

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Rasulia in early 1988, the Governing Board of the Centre hired a more conservative

coordinator. The most creative of the young workers at Rasulia found the atmosphere too

restrictive and left to begin their own experiment.39 Sykes stayed on briefly to help the

community, but left later that year when invited to take a position as Friend in Residence

at Woodbrooke College, a Quaker Centre in England.40 By now in her eighties and in

frail physical health, Sykes nevertheless continued to give talks and write. She worked on

her history of Quakers in India; at the request of Indians, she translated more of Vinoba

Bhave's writings from Hindi into English.41 In 1990, she had come across Quaker

Geoffrey Maw's notes in a British library on his earlier experiences in India and decided

to bring his work to the public.42 In her remaining years, Sykes returned to India briefly,

but, due to serious illness, was taken back to England. She died in 1995 before

completing her history of Quakers in India, but it was published posthumously.43 After

Sykes' death, her executors wrote to those whose addresses were contained in Marjorie

Sykes' address book and, with the many tributes that poured in, published a memorial

booklet with quotations from these letters.44 The tributes are a testimony to Sykes'

profound impact on so many lives. Among the many tributes from India, one sees how

deeply she was integrated into Indian society. "She became the Indian of the Indians,"

39. "Case Studies: Vikalp," Reported by Lorry Benjamin, who worked at Rasulia with Marjorie Sykes and others and subsequently began her own rishi kheti farming with a number of other workers from Rasulia, Organic Farming Association of India website: http://www.ofai.org/case/mpcas.htm

40. Dart, Marjorie Sykes, p. 134. 41. Moved by Love: The Memoirs of Vinoba Bhave, trans. Marjorie Sykes (Hyderabad: Sat Sahitya

Sahayogi Sangh, 1994). Sykes and K.S. Acharlu had translated some of Vinoba's other writings earlier. Third Power (Rajghat, Varanasi: Sarva Seva Sangh Prakashan, 1972).

42. Geoffrey Waring Maw. Narmada: The Life of a River, ed. Marjorie Sykes (Rasulia: Friends Rural Centre, 1991).

43. Marjorie Sykes, An Indian Tapestry: Quaker Threads in the History of India, Pakistan & Bangladesh From the Seventeenth Century to Independence, ed. Geoffrey Carnall (York, England: Sessions Boot Trust, 1997).

44. Marjorie Sykes: A light house for all of us, compiled by Barbara Bowman, Julian Brotherton and N. Ramamurthy (London: N. Ramamurthy, 1996).

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wrote Dayal S. Gour. Representatives of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in India wrote,

"She played an important role in interpreting the East and the West to each other."45

Sykes' wish to return "home" to India was not fulfilled while she lived. Her ashes,

however, were taken to India for immersion in the Narmada River.46

Perhaps of all the women in this study, Sykes most readily moved between East

and West, culturally, spiritually and linguistically. Because of her physical traits, she was

sometimes mistaken for Indian. In many senses, she might be called a "Renaissance"

woman for her diversity of talents. Not unlike Gandhi, Sykes displayed a rare

combination of remarkable self-discipline and flexibility that enabled her to focus on

tasks and accomplish so much yet still remain open to constant change. Not as extreme as

Gandhi (for example, with regard to sexual relations, Sykes once wrote "I think this is

one of the places where I most basically part company with Gandhi")47 and, while seldom

in the spotlight, she nevertheless had her own charisma, based on a powerful intellect, an

engaging personality and a rigorous ethical foundation. Like Gandhi, in spite of her

capacity for great warmth, humour and compassion, she also had outbursts of hot temper

in situations where she detected dishonesty, greed or exploitation.48 Probably as frugal as

Gandhi in her paring down personal needs to a minimum, she did not necessarily expect

everyone to have the same standard, but in certain situations could not abide unthinking

waste. As she aged, she gained recognition for her spiritual wisdom, and her Quaker faith

must have seemed as solid and ancient as the rock of ages to her younger students and

45. Ibid., p. 6. 46. Ibid., p. 7. 47. Dart, In Quaker Friendship, letter dated 5 December 1971, p. 25. In spite of the fact that Sykes and

the others in this study were single, celibate women, they were not prudish. In some cases, they were remarkably open-minded, and some had close friendships with men who were known to be homosexual.

48. Marjorie Sykes: A light house, p. 3.

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admirers. Yet, like everything else in her life, Sykes achieved this strength of spirit

through continuous work, study and experience. A letter written in 1949 to Horace

Alexander, one of Gandhi's British Quaker friends and a member of the India

Conciliation Group, is revealing in a number of respects. Alexander and Sykes were part

of a group who were trying to establish an interdenominational friendship organization in

post-Independence India. Alexander had sent a draft of the proposal to Marjorie for

advice, both editorial and content-wise. Sykes ended her comments with a frank personal

disclosure about her "faith":

Quite apart however from my doubts of the organisational side, it is a source of embarrassment to me and of potential embarrassment to others to be named as a kind of stable pillar of any religious organisation wherever. No matter how non-intellectual and undogmatic we [Quakers] may be, that implies some stable faith which I do not think I can claim to possess. It seems that I am fundamentally agnostic, and my code such as it is is essentially pragmatic though not perhaps quite crudely and selfishly so. I have had only the dimmest glimpse of the experiences to which the mystic bears witness; and I am bound to ask myself whether even that dim glimpse is susceptible to another explanation. In fact I am first a 'seeker', a questioner. It is this knowledge of my own position which made the situation in Madras so intolerable, when it seemed that true Quaker experience and understanding was failing, and the Meeting dying for lack of it, and I knew I (the 'official' Quaker) could not supply the experience. And I also knew that if I attended Meetings the temptation to act a part as though I felt what I was expected to feel, would be very strong.49

Based on later writings, it would seem that Sykes grew into a deeper, more

assured faith than she had at the time of writing this letter. What her words reveal is the

importance she attached to truthfulness and that she understood the temptation she might

have to act a part that would be less than truthful. They also indicate that Sykes did not

profess a blind allegiance to any religious group, even one as "undogmatic" as Quakers.

As a seeker or questioner, she studied all traditions. Her knowledge of and appreciation

49. Sykes to Horace Alexander, 25 April 1949, box 1, papers of Horace Gundry Alexander, Swarthmore College Peace Collection, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

for Hindu, Buddhist, Hebrew and Muslim texts is apparent in her writings and to some

extent, Sykes' philosophical and intellectual outlook was a synthesis of the wisdom from

all the great religions.

Sykes, who did not have an implicitly religious family upbringing, grew into her

Christian faith over the course of a lifetime. She had the opportunity through her school

years of being exposed to conscientious Christians who made their mark on her thinking.

In India, her contact with people of all faiths enriched her journey as a "seeker" but

ultimately she found herself most at home within the Religious Society of Friends. Like

Gandhi, Quakers did not separate the practical aspects of living from intellectual,

political, ethical and spiritual considerations. Sykes lived holistically, transforming words

and ideas into action. Like Gandhi, she gave as much weight to the necessary "menial"

jobs as she did to intellectual pursuits. The fact that Gandhi and Tagore, two of India's

most influential figures of the twentieth century and men of ideas and action, recognized

Sykes' multifaceted gifts and invited her to teach in their respective institutions speaks

volumes. Other leading independence figures such as Vinoba Bhave, Jayaprakash

Narayan and Rajagopalachari also deeply respected and called upon Sykes' skills and

wisdom. Sykes is still well remembered as evidenced by an article published in a major

Indian newspaper on the centenary of her birthday, which paid tribute to her life and

contributions to Indian society.50 A recent news article on the unjust imprisonment of a

brilliant doctor, Dr. Binayak Sen, who has given more than thirty years of humanitarian

medical service to the tribal poor in Chhattisgarh, also makes reference to Sykes. "As a

young man [Sen]— star pupil with the world at his feet— he had turned his back on the

50. LA.SU. Rengarajan "Personality: A Gandhian Life," The Hindu 24 July 2005. http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=22005072 Accessed 2/13/07 3:15 PM.

145

many rich career options before him to take a job at a rural medical centre in

Hoshangabad run by Quakers, where he was greatly influenced by Marjorie Sykes.. ."51

This article not only brings out the fact of Sykes' influence in helping Dr. Sen choose to

direct his skills to the most disadvantaged, it also shows that in modern-day India, there

are still heroic figures who risk everything in order to live the simple, honest life of

service that Gandhi and the women from the "other West" believed could transform

society.

In her writings, time and again, Sykes referred to non-violent revolution or

revolutionary change. Many people believed that Gandhi and his co-workers were against

modernization and wished to turn their backs on all "progress". Sykes disagreed. In an

article that addressed the principles of the Nai Talim system of education, she discussed a

number of key principles and beliefs that she shared with Gandhi.52 Countering the idea

that Gandhi wanted to "set the clock back," Sykes stressed the revolutionary nature of the

Nai Talim system. Gandhi maintained that in order for a human being to become mature

and whole, "two things are needed, love and work." Describing the importance of family

and community life for the developing child, Sykes suggested that the decline of family

life and the disappearance of small communities "bound together by a common economic

life and the provision of mutual services," particularly in the West, "denies the little child

so many of the experiences and satisfactions which he needs." A school using the Basic

Education system "is an attempt to build up a purposeful, organic community." Nai Talim

operated on the idea that hard work provided children with "the satisfaction of achieving

51. Shoma Chaudhury, "The Doctor, The State, and a Sinister Case" Tehelka 26 July 2008. http://www.tehelka.com/story_main37.asp7f... Accessed7/26/2008 1:59PM.

52. Marjorie Sykes, "Setting the Clock Back?" Journal of Educational Sociology, Vol. 28, No. 5 (Jan., 1955): 211-217.

physical endurance and skill" and that "many of the so-called labor-saving devices of

Western civilization deprive students of the chance to take pride in their prowess."

Another aspect of the training was to instill in the children a respect for all of creation,

not only humans but also plants and animals and that the earth should not be exploited.

"Simplicity of living is both a deliberately chosen method and a goal of the

work." Apart from the idea that simple living can be motivated by a desire to be socially

responsible, in the eyes of Gandhi, as well as Quakers, voluntary simplicity could be

considered "good in itself, conducive to the true development and real happiness" of

human beings. It was believed that an education in simplicity would lead to personal,

social and international peace. Sykes made a final point on the educational philosophy

and one that made particular sense in a country that had millions who lived in poverty:

Closely related to simplicity is the willing and wholehearted acceptance of the limitations of circumstance. True education does not consist of wandering more widely but in pondering more deeply. If the school provides its students with experiences that touch the basic needs of life, the kind of experiences which arise naturally in an intimate community engaged in cooperative enterprises like those described, it makes possible.. .the highest development of mind and spirit. The restless urge to see more places and read more books can only in itself, result in the amassing of information; the development of a mature personality, the true goal of education, needs the leisure and relaxation of mind that comes with simplicity and contentment.

This is not a call to go back; it is a call to go forward. The hard work it demands is not drudgery, but intelligent and purposeful labor... The craftsmanship it encourages is not primitive crudity, but the release of a truly creative energy of mind. The simplicity it upholds does not belong to the Dark Ages; it is the fruit of the wisdom of the most enlightened of mankind. The enlightened choose a so-called 'poverty,' not because they must, but because they may. The mature mind and spirit made a free conscious choice of simplicity of outward circumstances, because such is the nature of man that only through simplicity can the individual find himself aright, and the well-being of society be assured.

Will India and the world listen? If not, and if our modern 'progress' as it well may, destroys itself, the tiny communities of the 'New Education' may be among the seeds from which a new and saner civilization will grow.53

53. Sykes, "Setting the Clock Back?" 216-217.

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Sykes firmly believed and lived this philosophy. No mere armchair philosopher,

she spent her ninety years bringing such ideas into practical application. Sykes and the

other women who are the subjects of this study chose so-called 'poverty', yet they lived

rich lives, simply, courageously and with integrity. Eschewing Western privilege, Sykes

and the others were an extraordinary collective of modern, independent women who

shared much in common with one another and with Gandhi, yet each one found her own

way to express and put into action common goals. It is no mere coincidence that all the

women in this study were teachers (whether with formal training in education or not),

with a love of learning and a desire to share that love with others. Whether consciously or

not, each woman must have understood that knowledge meant power. Higher learning

had given them the power to choose unusual life paths. Through teaching, these women

opened the key to learning for those who, otherwise, might not have had such

opportunities. Combining down-to-earth practicality with intellectual curiosity and love

of nature, they individually and collectively deserve to hold a place in the history of

India's movement for social and political change.

CHAPTER FIVE

SARALA BEHN/CATHERINE MARY HEILEMANN (1901-1982)

In the group collective, Catherine Heilemann, who became known as Sarala Behn

or Sarala Devi,1 shared much in common with her fellow Western supporters of an

independent India; yet, some of her painful childhood experiences left indelible marks

that would set her apart in particular ways. This chapter will explore Sarala Behn's

important and unique place in the story of Western women's involvement in India and

highlight her commonalities and differences with the others in this study.

The founder of Lakshmi Ashram, a school for girls and young women, Sarala

served as a mentor to more than one generation of women and men in the hill country of

Northern India. Even today, social activists who were inspired by her example honour her

memory. Like her Western women counterparts, she was an educator, believed implicitly

in India's right to define its own destiny and developed enduring friendships with some

of those included in this study. Over the course of her life she was transformed from an

angry and disillusioned young Londoner to a committed freedom fighter2 in India. Of all

the women in this study, Sarala Behn adopted the most extreme position in terms of her

rejection of Britain and all that it represented. She arrived in India in 1932 and died there

in 1982, never having returned to Britain in those fifty years. She preferred not to use

English unless necessary and even wrote her autobiography in Hindi.3 By all accounts,

1. Other variations include Saralabehn, Saralaben, Sarala Behen, Sarlabehn, Sarla Devi. 2. The term "freedom fighter" is commonly used in India to describe those who "fought" for

independence through non-violent means—Gandhi's programs of Swaraj, Satyagraha, and Sarvodaya. 3. It is, perhaps, ironic that David Hopkins, a staff member of the Lakshmi Ashram, is doing a

translation into English at the behest of Denmark's supporters of the ashram, who will, in turn, translate the text into Danish.

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Sarala Behn (or Behnji, as she is referred to by her respectful Indian memorialists) had

courage and determination in full measure and was a force to be reckoned with. During

the Quit India Movement, Sarala Behn spent time in jail and was considered a dangerous

influence by the British. Gandhi tried to dissuade Westerners from political action in

order to keep them out of prison. Nevertheless, both Sarala and Mira chose to participate

in the freedom struggle and consequently served time in jail.

While first and foremost a woman committed to Gandhi's vision for the new

India, Sarala Behn was also a feminist, although it is unknown whether she used the term

in reference to herself. Nevertheless, it is evident from her writing that she believed in the

power of women and the necessity of their participation to transform the world. Also,

based on the words and life paths of her students, Saralabehn encouraged them to be

strong and independent women. Coming from a very traditional culture in which

marriage was considered a woman's destiny, some of her students chose to remain single

and not bear children in order to carry out work as educators, social activists and health

care workers. While she did not overtly persuade girls to eschew local tradition, Sarala

Behn inspired emulation and, in the case of those of her students who chose marriage, she

was not above wielding her influence in decision-making about the girls' choice of a

partner. Fired by Behnji's teachings and example, her students were able to see the

possibilities open to them for community activism rather than simply adhering to

prescribed roles. Sarala Behn gave twenty years to her work at the Ashram, "retiring" in

1966, at which time one of her outstanding students, Radha Bhatt, took over the direction

of Lakshmi. Sarala Behn then dedicated herself to various forms of social action—

community building, participating in Vinoba Bhave's Bhoodan and Gramdan

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movements, and studying and writing on environmental issues. Like Mirabehn, she

understood the fragile nature of the Himalayan foothill environment and saw that farming

and logging practices being encouraged by the government and big business were ruining

the livelihoods of local inhabitants and wreaking ecological havoc. Sarala Behn's death

in 1982 did not end her influence. Today, against all odds, the Lakshmi Ashram

continues to operate along Gandhian lines in its philosophy, possibly the only remaining

example of the Nai Talim method of education that Gandhi had initiated and had hoped to

spread throughout Indian villages. To explore the ways in which Sarala Behn is a fit or

misfit in this group collective, this chapter will touch on her background history leading

up to her decision to go to India, her trajectory into Indian political life and social

activism and, finally, the influence her work has had on current-day Indians.

What is known about Sarala Behn's childhood comes solely from her own

recollections.4 Allowing for the fact of selective memory and the impossibility of her

being anything other than subjective, Sarala's account of her early life reveals personal

losses, disillusionment and a determined personality in the making. Born Catherine

Heilemann in Britain, of an English mother and a father of Swiss-German extraction, she

and her brother lost their mother to cancer when Catherine was seven. Both grandmothers

participated in the upbringing of the children but it was obvious from Catherine's account

that her paternal grandmother provided the guidance, love and spirit of independence that

more aptly suited the granddaughter's development. In her autobiography, Sarala Behn

4. Almost all the following information on Saralabehn's early life comes from David Hopkins' unpublished translation of her autobiography published in Hindi—Sarala Devi Vyavaharika Vedanta: Eka Atmakatha (Nai Dilli: Gandhi Santi Pratishtana, 1976). Hopkins has translated the title as Practical Vedanta (the word Vedanta translates approximately as "spiritual wisdom"). Notes will cite chapter numbers only, as the version Hopkins sent to me was still in process and un-paginated.

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implies that her father, a goldsmith by trade, was not very successful in earning a

livelihood for the family and that he was more conventional in his outlook than his own

mother. Sarala believed that he was influenced more by his mother-in-law who, it would

appear, had little instinct for either parenting or housekeeping. When her mother died,

Catherine's maternal grandmother, who had always lived with them, was left more or less

in charge. But her paternal grandmother soon joined the family, in order to provide more

adequate care for the children. It was the latter's personal savings (she had always been

self-supporting) that kept the family going.

Life went reasonably well for Catherine and her brother, both good students who

were able to gain scholarships for high school, until the outbreak of the Great War. In the

paranoid atmosphere of the war, Catherine's father, born in Switzerland, was detained as

an enemy alien because of his distant German heritage, despite having lived in England

since childhood. Thus, as a perceptive and outraged teenager, Catherine began to be

aware of the insanity and injustice perpetrated by both sides in war; however, when she

wanted to air her thoughts, her paternal grandmother, usually so forthcoming and direct,

pleaded for silence, fearing the worst if she, too, were to be interned. Then, although

Catherine, an excellent student, had received the encouragement of her teachers to go on

to university, the headmistress of her school, who had the power to change the course of

events, intervened. As a result of the family's "enemy" status, the headmistress retracted

Catherine's scholarship, forcing her, at the age of sixteen, to abandon her studies and

look for employment. With her hopes of higher education dashed, the despair she felt

simmered and, eventually, turned into rebellion.

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Catherine found work in an office, but because of her father's detention, endured

ostracism from all but one or two colleagues. She believed that her employer only kept

her on because he could not find anyone suitable to replace her. She spent her lunch

hours and free time alone, exploring both the city and country environs, and it was at this

time that she began to develop her love of the natural world and her critique of urban life,

with its noise, corruption and lives numbingly enslaved by factory work. While she

sought and found refuge in the quiet of the natural environment, her restless and keen

mind also questioned everything regarding religion, politics and economic theories.

Catherine's upbringing was not overtly religious, but she did attend a

Congregational Church as a child. In this regard, she shared commonality with the other

women in the study, in that her exposure to spiritual life was through a non-conformist

denomination. As a child, she loved the stories of the life of Jesus.5 Catherine treasured a

book that she received as a Sunday School prize titled Kerala: The Land of Palm Trees

and thought that, perhaps, she might become a missionary when she grew up. During the

war, however, she lost her faith in institutional religion as she observed religious leaders

in Britain preaching Christ's message of love at the same time as they promoted hatred of

the enemy in the name of patriotism. A critical thinker, Catherine reasoned that German

church leaders likewise would be praying, in the name of Christianity, for defeat of their

country's enemies.

While all the women in the study eventually espoused pacifism, precisely when

some of them arrived at this conviction is unknown. Chesley was already a pacifist before

5. In the Collected Works ofMahatma Gandhi, Vol. 82 (12 January 1946): 409, Sarala Behn is erroneously described as a Jewess. It may be that one of the editors of the volume was confusing her with Margarete Speigel (who was Jewish), or simply made an assumption based on her name, Heilemann.

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the war began, and for Heilemann, Sykes, Mirabehn and Lester, their disillusionment was

complete by war's end, by which time they had become firmly convinced of the futility

of trying to solve problems through armed conflict. In her letters home from England and

France during wartime, Chesley expressed her anguish about the war, a feeling shared by

her parents. Sykes, too, recognized war's destructive impact first hand. As will be seen in

following chapters, Madeleine Slade/Mirabehn and Muriel Lester came to similar

conclusions. While no record has been found on Mary Barr's experience of the war,

based on her later peace activism, one can imagine that the First World War had left its

mark on her as well. As male peers went off to a war that took so many lives, women of

Barr's generation, particularly in England, would have experienced the loss of brothers

and friends.6 Margaret Jones was only four years old when the war broke out, so her

memories may have been few; nevertheless, she did join the Peace Pledge Union in the

interwar years, so it may be that the war had cast its dark shadow on her family in some

way.

In developing her own ideas about the state of the universe, Catherine became an

outsider, though, even in her rebelliousness and arguments with her grandmother about

the ills of the world, she never lost sight of the fact that her grandmother was the one true

anchor in her life. In spite of her age, Catherine's grandmother had to manage all the

affairs of the household and be responsible for two rebellious teenagers.7 When the war

ended and Catherine's father returned from detention, the family hoped that life would be

6. Writer and activist, Vera Brittain, lost her brother and fiance in the war. Her book, Testament of Youth (London: Victor Gollancz, 1933), chronicles her passage from patriot to pacifist.

7. In Heilemann's autobiography there is no further reference to her brother or the maternal grandmother.

less stressful, particularly for the grandmother. However, her health went into a quick

decline and, only four months later, Catherine's beloved grandmother died. This loss

plunged Catherine, at this point not yet twenty years old, into deeper despair and

loneliness. Finding no comfort or support either at work or at home, she soon had an

argument with her father over a trivial matter and used the incident as an excuse to leave

the family home.

It is during the next period of her life that Catherine gradually began to connect

with others who held similar political and social views. Changing jobs and residences

often because of her keen eye for hypocrisy and general lack of faith in humanity, for a

time, she found solace only in nature, and made her way to the countryside as often as

possible. But her isolation and sense of disillusionment slowly began to dissipate when

she discovered groups like the Quakers and the Fabians who held views similar to her

own regarding pacifism and the need for social change, yet still retained the fire of

idealism and hope. When an Indian student became a boarder in a house where Catherine

was living, a new world opened up for her. Gradually other Indian students moved in.

Catherine started learning about Indian politics and Gandhi's non-violent movement for

Indian independence. Her education took a whole new slant from what she had been

taught previously:

Imperialism and colonialism were presented to me in a new light. In our history books they were always referred to in the context of 'The White Man's Burden'. Now though I began to understand that we went, not for their benefit, but for their exploitation, and that having destroyed their culture we now sought to impose our own culture.8

8. Hopkins, Practical Vedanta, Chapter 2.

155

Such ideas were revelatory and whetted Catherine's appetite for further knowledge and

truth seeking. She began to get involved with Indian organizations in London and

wholeheartedly supported the ideals of the independence and non-cooperation movement.

Gandhi's famous Dandi March to protest the salt tax in 1930 and the courage of the

Satyagrahis made a deep impression. Catherine's childhood ideal of becoming a

missionary transformed itself into a desire to go to India to be a part of Gandhi's

constructive program. Her English friends tried to dissuade her, citing the discomforts she

would face. In doing so, they exposed their own racial prejudices. Catherine refused to be

dissuaded. Yet, when she wrote to Gandhi, he, too, advised against her coming. By this

time, Gandhi had experienced the challenges of incorporating Westerners into ashram life

and the negative impact that some of them had on the very people that they hoped to

support. Catherine sought out other possible opportunities in India but, again, received

little encouragement.

An overview of Heilemann's life reveals a person unwilling to abandon dreams,

no matter what impediments might lay in the way. Others, less determined, might, at this

juncture, have decided that if India did not seem to want them, it might be better to

redirect energy to a closer, more attainable goal. Instead of giving up her idea of going to

India, Heilemann decided to take training so that she had useful skills to offer. She

trained in midwifery, took a correspondence course and certification in commerce and

studied various branches of the social sciences and humanities. Heilemann's

autobiography is lacking many details, particularly dates and names of people; however,

by deduction it would appear that sometime in 1931, Catherine was contacted by a Dr.

Mohan Singh in India who wanted her to come to Udaipur where he was establishing a

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revolutionary new school. Although she protested that she had no experience in teaching,

he insisted that she come and so Catherine abandoned her midwifery training and took a

short course in early childhood education.9

Heilemann was engaged in these studies when Gandhi arrived in London for the

Second Round Table Conference that began in early September of 1931. Gandhi's friend,

Muriel Lester, a well-known pacifist and one of the subjects of this study, had invited

him to stay at Kingsley Hall, the neighbourhood house in East London that she had

founded. Coincidentally, a friend of Heilemann's was working at Kingsley Hall - another

indication of how the circles of peace and social activists overlapped. Heilemann went to

the neighbourhood house in hopes of meeting Gandhi. However, he had been called away

to another meeting unexpectedly on the day she went there. She tried, again, without

success, to see him at Oxford. In her autobiography, Heilemann reflected, "The time had

not yet come for me to meet with Gandhi."10 Nevertheless, her time for leaving England

was drawing near. Not quite thirty years of age, Heilemann set sail from Liverpool on the

fourth of January in 1932, within a month of Gandhi's departure from England. This

would be Gandhi's last trip to Britain and, for Catherine Heilemann, her journey to India

also proved to be one way; she never returned to her country of birth.

For the next four years, Heilemann lived and worked in Udaipur at the Vidya

Bhavan (meaning "knowledge house"), a new school espousing reform in education in

keeping with the ideals of moving towards social transformation and independence. As

9. It is unclear from the autobiography whether Singh had known Catherine in London or whether he knew others who had known her. It is apparent that he knew enough about her to know that she could do accounts. Much to her dismay, and in spite of all her studies to prepare for teaching, she was assigned to keeping the books when she arrived.

10. Hopkins, Practical Vedanta, Chapter 3.

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well, she began to meet with women kept in purdah. Working with like-minded Indians,

Heilemann encouraged women to break free of such social constraints. She was invited to

the first women's meeting in Udaipur and, inspired by the revolutionary atmosphere,

gave her first speech in Hindi. Heilemann's interest in liberating women from the

restrictions of purdah foreshadows her later work as a founder of an all-girls school, free

of class and caste distinctions, and provides some evidence of feminist leanings.

While enjoying the experiences with her colleagues and the children, Heilemann

nevertheless felt that the reforming principles of the school did not go far enough.

Essentially, the staff and children were from the more privileged classes and higher castes

and, to Heilemann's way of thinking, there was too much of a Western reform approach

rather than a more indigenous and revolutionary form of education. Like Petersen and

Sykes, Heilemann recognized that using the language of imperialism for education only

exacerbated the class and caste differences and that, if India was going to transform itself,

a different approach to education was required.

During this time, she studied Gandhi's ideas on education and felt drawn to his

Basic Education {Talimi Sangh) model. During school holidays, Heilemann travelled to

various parts of Northern India to visit other schools, some of which were following the

Basic Education model. She approved of the fact that the schools taught in native

languages rather than in English. Entirely free of government involvement, the schools

encouraged learning through practical work. The students, in addition to receiving

academic training, produced their own clothing and grew their own food.

Heilemann, who, by this time, was using the Indian name Sarala Behn, first met

Gandhi in 1935 when she went to Wardha to investigate the work of the Mahila

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(Women's) Ashram, thinking that it would provide a useful guide for the work she was

doing with women in Udaipur.11 She spent some days at Magandwadi in Wardha, the

headquarters for Gandhi's experimental work in village industries. In 1934, Gandhi had

initiated the All-India Village Industries Association (AIVIA), the constructive arm of his

program for a revitalized, independent India. Because the majority of India's population

lived rurally, Gandhi had concluded that his mission for building an independent India

had to begin with helping the country's peasants find ways to become, if not self-

sufficient, at least self-reliant.12 Gandhi chose to identify himself with the poorest of the

poor and saw that sanitation, the development of sustainable agriculture and the

production of basic necessities, such as clothing and household wares, were essential to

rebuilding viable communities in a country that had been disadvantaged by imperialism

and industrialization. It was as part of AIVIA that Barr, Chesley, Ingham, Jones and

Madden carried out their work in Khedi, and Mirabehn in Sevagram and other parts of

India.

During her visit, Saralabehn joined in the activities of the ashram community.

Gandhi's philosophy and practical methods found resonance for Saralabehn and she

decided that it was time to leave her position in Udaipur and seek out other work more in

keeping with Gandhi's platform. For a time, she tried living in a labourers' colony;

however, the noise, crowded conditions, limited resources for her educational work with

the children and, finally, dysentery, defeated her. Sarala went to see a doctor friend in

11. Hopkins, Practical Vedanta, Chapter 5. 12. In Saralabehn's autobiography, she refers to Gandhi's goal of self-sufficiency; however, I credit

Lloyd I. Rudolph in his essay "Postmodern Gandhi," Postmodern Gandhi and Other Essays: Gandhi in the World and at Home, Chicago (University of Chicago Press, 2006), p. 25 for pointing to a distinction between self-sufficiency and self-reliance.

159

Bombay (Mumbai) in order to recuperate, having no idea of where she might go or what

she might do once she regained her health. At this time, Jamnalal Bajaj, one of Gandhi's

benefactors and devoted workers, came to invite her to go back to Wardha.

Saralabehn moved into the Mahila Ashram; however, she did not like the

atmosphere or teaching approach, feeling that there was a lack of joy and that self-denial,

rather than self-expression was the emphasis with the girls. In her autobiography,

Saralabehn observed that Gandhi's approach to simplicity and plainness was leavened by

his own capacity for laughter and fun. However, when followers without his leavening

presence carried out his directives for simple and disciplined living, the mood of the

place could be quite different. Saralabehn would not be alone in coming to this

conclusion. Gandhi's personal charisma and charm attracted all types of people to his

cause—not just the brilliant and most dedicated workers—but also the halt and the lame

(whether physically or mentally), the politically ambitious and various sorts of zealots.

All the women in this study either visited or lived, for short periods, in Sevagram while

Gandhi was alive;13 however, none of them chose to remain there on a long-term basis,

another indication of their independence and desire to carry out productive work rather

than hover indefinitely around Gandhi.

In spite of her criticisms, Sarala chose to stay in Wardha, for, as she put it: "There

were two sources of joy... the workers' children and the home of Aryanayakam and Asha

Behn and their two small children."14 Aryanayakam and his wife Asha Behn had come to

Wardha from Shanitiniketan, Tagore's very creative school and "an island isolated from

13. It will be remembered that Marjorie Sykes moved there sometime after Gandhi's death to take charge of the Basic Education program and remained there for several years.

14. Saralabehn's autobiography contains very few dates, so it is difficult to know how long she lived in Wardha, but it can be assumed that she remained there for a number of years.

160

the Indian national mainstream."15 Aryanayakam, born into a Christian Ceylonese (Sri

Lankan) family, had become disillusioned with Christianity after studying for the

priesthood in Glasgow and then having the experience of racial segregation in the United

States. Asha Behn came from an illustrious family of intellectual and spiritual leaders and

herself became the headmistress of the Women's College of the Benares Hindu

University.16 Highly sought after as progressive educators, Aryanayakam and Asha Behn

could have chosen to teach anywhere. However, it was the nationalist movement and

Gandhi's mission that inspired them. Jamnalal Bajaj invited them to head up the Basic

Education program, to create the curriculum and direction, for what Gandhi hoped would

become the wave of future education in India. Sarala became a member of this family,

sharing in the educational work as well as the work of the household and the childrearing.

The educational work continually expanded and Sarala was well suited to the plain life of

the ashram. It is obvious from her autobiography that working and playing with children

gave her the greatest joy and satisfaction.

In the early days of her time at Wardha, Saralabehn met Mary Barr. Barr taught

Sarala how to use the takli, a small hand spindle. Anyone serious about joining Gandhi's

constructive program had to learn to spin and weave. Gandhi, the creative master at

initiating acts or activities that held meaning on a number of levels—practical, political

and symbolic—made the spinning wheel the iconic image representing the new India he

envisioned. He maintained that all should learn to spin in order that each person

participate in production of items necessary for personal use. While some of his

followers, particularly those in politics, found such activity not to their liking, those who

15. Hopkins, Practical Vedanta, Chapter 6. 16. Ibid.

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believed in Gandhi's radical vision of a country where wealth meant being able to grow

one's own food, produce one's own cloth, cultivate a deep spiritual life and give service

to the nation, took up spinning. Constructive workers like Mirabehn, Mary Barr and her

associates in Khedi, and countless numbers of committed Indians who embraced the

principle of swadeshi17 taught spinning and weaving in villages spread out across the

nation. Sarala herself would eventually teach these skills.18

Had it not been for ill health, Sarala might have remained indefinitely at Wardha

working in the Basic Education program. But, like others who could not take the intense

heat of Central India, Sarala decided that she would need to find a more hospitable

climate for better health and even survival. After some searching, she settled upon

Kausani, in the Almora District of the Himalayan foothills. Gandhi urged her to spend a

year without committing to anything in order to regain her health and also to survey the

situation to learn where she might best apply her talents. He gave her a challenge:

whatever she decided upon, he wanted her to give it twenty years of her life. In this

challenge, Gandhi was laying down the gauntlet, making what one might imagine to be

an outlandish demand, considering the uncertain and precarious future that anyone might

encounter in a politically volatile country with any number of life-threatening health

risks. It is very difficult, based on the limited correspondence, to gain any real insight into

Gandhi's personal feelings about Saralabehn. In spite of one reference to Saralabehn as

"Gandhiji's favourite disciple,"19 in reading between the lines, it would seem that

17. Made in, or belonging to one's country. 18. Hopkins, Practical Vedanta, Chapter 5. 19. Bankey Lai, "Publisher's Introduction," in Sarala Devi [Catherine Mary Heilemann], Revive Our

Dying Planet: An Ecological, Socio-Economical and Cultural Appeal (Nainital: Gyanodaya Prakashan, 1982). This was the English translation ofSanrakshan Ya Vinasa: Paryavaraniya Paristhiti: Eka Adhyayana (Haldvani: Jnanodaya Prakasana; Nainitala: Vitaraka, Kasala Buka Dipo, 1980).

Gandhi's association with Saralabehn lacked a certain chemistry. One senses that he did

not share the same camaraderie with her as he had with some of the other women.

Perhaps he believed she would not be able to prove herself and sought to discourage her

with such a challenge. If so, he underestimated Saralabehn's determined personality, for

she would come to honour the commitment through the establishment of the Lakshmi

Ashram where she remained in charge for exactly twenty years before turning it over to

younger staff.

Before beginning this project, however, she familiarized herself with her new

surroundings and embarked upon a period of political and social activism during the

Second World War that would earn her the title of the "most dangerous person"

according to the British government officials;20 this, in spite of Gandhi's enjoinment to

Western supporters and constructive workers not to get entangled in direct political

action. Saralabehn may have allowed Gandhi to guide her direction, but only up to a

point. In a letter to the owner of the house that she would inhabit in Kausani, she

provided some idea of where she stood vis-a-vis Gandhi's position for Westerners. It is

apparent that her willingness to follow Gandhi's directive was conditional:

I should naturally wish to follow [Gandhi's] wishes, and continue quietly with constructive work, so long as self respect allows me to do so. Only if the situation became intolerable, as once was the case with Mir a Ben, should I deliberately court arrest, or if asked to take active part in any direct war effort.

It would not take long before she considered the situation intolerable and assumed

political work. Prior to her first arrest during the 1942 "Quit India Movement,"

20. Sunderlal Bahuguna, "To the Social Workers of Himalaya," Gandhi Marg, Vol. 17, No. 1 (1995): 97.

21. Letter to Shri P.N. Sanwal, 5 August 1942, reprinted in Sarala Bahana Smrti Grantha (Kausani, Almora: Himalaya Seva Sandha, 1984): 305. The italics are in the text, so I am assuming that Saralabehn herself made this emphasis; mostly likely the original was underlined.

Saralabehn became a major organizer, raising funds and providing food for the families

of fellow activists already serving time in prison. She travelled throughout the Almora

District, defying the authorities, even when placed under house arrest. Where she lived in

Kausani, there was only one way into town, and while the local police kept watch for her

movements on the road at the base of the hill, Saralabehn would leave her house at night

and, avoiding the road, walk instead through the forest to deliver food, money and

messages, returning again through the forest, so that the policemen would not know that

she had ever left home.22

Eventually she was arrested and, while the conditions of jail were terrible,

Sarlabehn recounts in her autobiography that she found that imprisonment had some

benefits for her. "When I was on my way to the court my friends were astonished to see

me looking so cheerful and at peace with myself, and said, 'Seeing how you look it feels

that if we too were caught then it would be no bad thing!'" 23 Most people lost weight in

jail, but she gained. Knowing that she could do nothing on the outside, Sarlabehn

accepted the forced rest after the stressful and dangerous work she had been doing. She

used the time to study Hindu philosophy.24 Later prison terms were not nearly as positive

and, in the course of those years in and out of jail, she experienced illness and lost many

of her companions to illnesses caused by the horrible conditions, her stories providing a

grim reminder of the high rate of mortality in India due to tropical diseases and poor

living conditions. Prison life only added to the chances of an early death.

22. Radha Bhatt, conversation with author in Kausani, October 2003. Bhatt was one of Sarlabehn's first students and became her immediate successor at Lakshmi Ashram. At the time of our meeting, Radhabehn, was the National Director of the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust, possibly India's most powerful women's organization.

23. Hopkins, Practical Vedanta, Chapter 12. 24. Ibid.

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Saralabehn's autobiography is a difficult read, no doubt, in part, because she

wrote in Hindi, not her native tongue, and it has now been translated back into English. It

is full of stories of her work with countless activists in India over the years and therefore

it is very hard to keep all the characters straight. In many respects her most enduring

institutional legacy, Lakshmi Ashram, receives relatively little attention within this

rambling narrative, even though Saralabehn devoted twenty years of her life to its

operation. There were many challenges associated with the ashram's development,

funding and direction; nevertheless, this period of her life may have been more stable and

less dramatic and, therefore, skipped over in her storytelling in favour of tales of

excitement and danger. There is a sense that Saralabehn may have preferred life at its

most perilous and challenging. While she worked hard to develop a more peaceful world

and a more meditative life personally, by temperament she appears to have been a woman

of forceful action. The following story, from a letter written by Marie Thoger, a Danish

teacher and writer inspired by Gandhian values, to Radha Bhatt on the death of Bhatt's

mentor, Saralabehn, is revealing. In 1952 Thoger went to Sevagram to learn about the

Nai Talim system of education and met Marjorie Sykes for the first time. Thoger recalled

how Sykes, much impressed by Saralabehn's work, had urged the Dane to visit Lakshmi

Ashram. "Go and see for yourself please. Saralabehn is a special person. If she likes you,

maybe you will stay on in her ashram. If not, you might want to leave before dark."25

Extenuating circumstances prevented Thoger from going to Kausani at this time.

The next opportunity came in 1960. She was visiting with Sykes, who was, by this time,

living in Kotagiri. Marjorie had to meet with Vinoba Bhave before he set off on a

25. Marie Thoger, "Sarla," Sarala Bahana Smrti Grantha, pp. 199-200.

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padyatra to Nagaland26. Saralabehn was also there with Vinoba. Thoger joined the walk

with Saralabehn for a week and then went with her back to Kausani. Thoger remembered

Saralabehn "running like a hill woman along the paths, speaking about her fighting old

customs, expressing her strong wish to keep [the] ashram free from western influence."

'Why do you want to go back', she said. 'Stay on here, and we shall set these hills on fire, these beautiful hills'. Ever since, these words have been a stirring reminder for me to fight—a peaceful fight against all injustice done to defenceless people—like Sarala fought for her hill women.27

Again, this quotation provides evidence of Saralabehn as a feminist protagonist.

Regrettably for the reader, a certain earnestness and awkwardness of expression in her

prose obscures what must have been the more appealing elements of her personality. Her

determination is apparent, but one must rely on the words of those who knew and loved

her to realize that in addition to the strong-willed individual that she was, she also was a

tender and loving mother figure, particularly for the girls and young women she taught

and for the fellow Gandhian workers with whom she collaborated in various causes.

Having the admiration and friendship of someone of Marjorie Sykes' intellect and

personality speaks volumes. Certainly she recognized Saralabehn's more mercurial side,

but Sykes herself had a forceful personality. The two women had much in common.

The tribute volume to Saralabehn's memory, Sarala Bahana Smrti Grantha,

contains only a few English entries, but these, no doubt, reflect the tenor of the largely

Hindi contributions. One contributor, W.M. Aitken, another Westerner who came to live

and study in India and who has made his living as a writer there, obviously was not a

26. It will be remembered from Chapter 4, that Sykes would eventually spend three years (1964-1967) in Nagaland on a peace mission.

27. Sarala Bahana Smrti Grantha, p. 200.

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dyed-in-the-wool Gandhian. The following passage provides a glimpse of Saralabehn's

complex personality:

If I have been sparing in my criticism of the infuriating fads of the Gandhians and their killjoy approach to life it is due to the tremendous debt I owe to Sarala Behn who not only introduced me to the harmony of Indian village life but also selflessly nursed me through typhoid. She saw herself as an instrument and had no illusions about her place in the cosmos. My favourite memory of her is holding Vinoba's 'Gita Pravachan' in one hand and extolling the virtues of non-violence, and brandishing a home-made grass 'jharu' in the other poised to chastise a little child who had been caught doing 'susu' outside the prescribed area.28

The last section of Saralabehn's autobiography {Practical Vedanta) is largely

didactic, providing readers with a strong analysis of the social, environmental and

political problems as she viewed them at the time (she was writing her autobiography in

the 1970s). A socialist, but not a communist, like other women in this study, Saralabehn

strongly criticized the direction that Nehru and the following governments would take in

independent India. Gandhi had envisioned decentralization and less government, with a

wish to develop local autonomy, home industry and self-reliance at the village level.

Nehru instead pushed for a centralized, heavily bureaucratized and industrialized nation.

Post-independence India suffered all the environmental and economic pitfalls that come

from large-scale projects. Multinational investment and huge dam projects, encroachment

on the traditional lands of indigenous groups by government—all these actions have

disadvantaged and displaced the very people that Gandhi sought to enfranchise and

empower in the new nation.

With her passionate belief in Gandhi's vision for India, Saralabehn lived up to his

challenge and proved her mettle, although Gandhi would not live to see how fully she

28. W.M. Aitken, "Sarala Behn: A study in self-respect," Sarala Bahana Smrti Grantha, p. 204. A jharu is a little whip or broom and susu is literally translated as "pee-pee".

carried out her promise of service. The ongoing vitality of Lakshmi Ashram and its

important role in the education of girls in the region stands as a testament to that

commitment, as does the existence of the present-day activists providing leadership in

social movements who can trace their inspiration back to Saralabehn. She was, perhaps,

because of her earlier life experiences and disappointments, not naturally inclined to a

reflective and forgiving way of life, but, through sheer determination and discipline, she

gained a certain level of spiritual peace. She did not, however, "go gently into the night."

Even when she retired to Dharamghar and required the tender care of her former students

due to fragile health, she continued to study, write about environmental issues and inspire

younger activists. Revive Our Dying Planet was published the year Saralabehn died;

presumably she lived to see it in print for there is no indication otherwise in the book's

introduction. Her dedication is "to the coming generation in the hope that they may be

inspired to play their part in the revival of their dying planet through a Constructive

Ecological Revolution." Her passionate concern for ecological issues and promotion of

sustainable practices links her to the other women in this study, particularly Marjorie

Sykes and Mirabehn. Like canaries in a coalmine, each of them anticipated the current-

day crises in the environment with their early insight based on study as well as practical

experience. Saralabehn shared much in common with the other women, but, like them,

she carved out her own unique path. For the most part, physical distances separated the

women; though, from the limited evidence, one gathers that their friendships were

meaningful and sustained through letters and occasional visits. Nevertheless, each had

her own destiny to fulfill. Catherine Heilemann, the unhappy, but determined, young

29. Sarala Devi, Revive Our Dying Planet.

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rebel of the "other West" became Saralabehn in India. She found her place and her peace,

remaining a revolutionary and a teacher to the end, fighting the good fight—non-

violently.

CHAPTER SIX

MIRABEHN/MADELEINE SLADE (1892-1982)

Of all the Western women associated with Gandhi, Madeleine Slade, more

commonly known as Mirabehn or Mirabai, had the highest public profile and yet,

curiously, was and remains the least understood figure, particularly in the West. Because

of her profile and the relatively large body of existing documentation, either by or about

her (compared with most of the women in the study), she holds a central position in this

collective biography. In terms of her political, social and spiritual development, she

shared much in common with her Western colleagues. She probably knew or had met all

of them at some point. Yet, because she was, essentially, a solitary and shy person, she

did not form the close friendships that others of the cohort had with one another. Based

on accounts of a number of the women in the study, it would seem that Mirabehn was

regarded with respect, gratitude and/or fondness as they all grew older. It may be that,

while Gandhi lived, his complex and sometimes tumultuous relationship with Mirabehn

coloured the way others saw her. After Gandhi's death, it may be that she was recognized

more fully as the individual that she was.

Mirabehn's own autobiographical account both illuminates and obscures, thus

leaving a reader with many unanswered questions. Some of her Indian associates

published a memorial volume on her life and works to honour her birth centenary and a

number of writers, again Indian or Sri Lankan, acknowledge her contributions to the

independence and environmental struggles in India.1 Yet, no one has attempted to

1. Madeleine Slade, The Spirit's Pilgrimage (New York: Coward-McCann, Inc., 1960); Krishna Murti Gupta, Mira Behn: Gandhiji 's Daughter Disciple Birth Centenary Volume (New Delhi: Himalaya Seva Sangh, 1992); Ramachandra Guha, "The Prehistory of Community Forestry in India ," Environmental History, Vol 6, No. 2 (April 2001): 220-222; Vandana Shiva, Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and

170

undertake a critical or interpretive study of her life. In the written record, she has often

been reduced to caricature. She is described primarily in relationship to her father or the

father figure of Gandhi as the English admiral's daughter who abandoned her privileged

upper-class English life to become Gandhi's devoted disciple and "daughter". Variously

viewed as an object of curiosity, ridicule, pity, admiration or veneration, Mirabehn's life

has not been easy to assess. Both an ascetic and an aesthete, Mirabehn chose a lifetime of

physical deprivation and much mental suffering, yet also managed to appreciate or create

beauty through music, literature and manual arts. She was an agriculturalist and

environmentalist, both spiritual and practical in nature. Both a follower and a leader, she

lived a nomadic life, initiating numerous noble projects that often failed to survive for

one reason or another. Mirabehn was best known in the West during Gandhi's life;

however, it was in the years following his death that she came into her own as an

environmentalist and outspoken critic of post-Independence governmental practices. In

spite of countless bouts of ill health, particularly recurring malaria and eventually

problems living at high altitude in the Himalayas, Mirabehn lived into her 90 year.

Some have described her as haughty and humourless while others have noted her warmth

and sense of humour. Her physical presence was striking—a tall erect woman with a

shaven head, dressed in Indian clothing. While some have said that she was more at home

with animals than with people, based on other accounts and her letters to friends, she was

capable of expressing great warmth and affection.2 In spite of her shyness and solitary

Development (London: Zed Books, 1990), pp. 68-70; Kumari Jayawardena, The White Woman's Other Burden: Western Women and South Asia During British Rule (New York: Routledge, 1995), pp. 195-206. A recent novel, Mira and the Mahatma, by psychoanalyst, Sudhir Kakar (India: Penguin, 2004) creates a portrait of Mira and Gandhi's relationship that has created something of a furor among Gandhians.

2. There are numerous accounts of her close affinity to birds and animals.

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nature, Mirabehn lived in the spotlight of the international news because of her unusual

association with Gandhi and her commitment to India and the independence movement.

There is something ineffable about Mirabehn's life, and yet to categorize her merely as a

devotee of Gandhi would fail to take into account her originality of character and

independence of spirit. This chapter will attempt to explore her story in greater detail and

present a more nuanced portrait.

While there was nothing in Madeleine Slade's childhood that would have pointed

to the future life she would lead, there is no question that she had an unconventional

upbringing that offered opportunities for creative self-development.3 Slade was not an

only child (she had an older sister and her mother's younger brother lived with the

family); however, unlike the other children in the household, she chose not go to school

and eschewed parental efforts to provide opportunities for her to have other children as

playmates. In her own words, she enjoyed solitude and playing by herself "under the

trees in the garden". The family spent much of Madeleine's early years on the estate of

her maternal grandfather where she had freedom to explore the natural world and gain

skills in various aspects of farming, animal husbandry and carpentry. Tutored by a

governess, she studied the standard academic subjects; however, for the most part, Slade

preferred learning practical skills such as how to milk a cow, dress down a horse, and

identify plants and birdlife.

In 1907, at the age of fifteen, Madeleine discovered music—more specifically, the

music of Beethoven—arousing a spiritual passion that eventually would guide her life in

3. All material on Slade's early years comes from her autobiography, The Spirit's Pilgrimage. Like Saralabehn, Slade/Mirabehn included very few dates connected with events in her life.

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profound ways. It is likely that her sensitivity to the natural world and the solitude of her

childhood played a part in opening up the young and impressionable teenager to the

realms of mystical contemplation. At a time when many of her peers might have been

yearning for earthly romance, Slade became caught up in a romance of another kind.

Not long after this discovery of music, Slade's father, by this time an admiral, was

posted to India as Commander in Chief of the East Indies Station. Unlike her more

gregarious sister, Madeleine did not enjoy the whirlwind of social life among the

privileged elite in India. At this time, Slade showed no hint of or interest in future

engagement with the country. In fact, when she and her mother and sister returned home

for a summer and were in the throes of ordering up wardrobes for the round of gala

events to be held during the Durbar of 1911 in honour of King George V's visit to India,

Madeleine convinced her family to leave her behind in Britain. Living at her

grandfather's farm again, she devoted most of her time to reading and music. When she

realized that her efforts to play piano would never match the beauty of the music, Slade

shifted her attention to concert going, particularly Beethoven recitals. Discovering in

London a visiting pianist named Lamond (Scottish but living in Germany) who seemed to

interpret Beethoven's music most sensitively, Madeleine took the initiative, organizing a

performance by the pianist in her local community before he returned to Europe. Slade's

successful impresarial effort (around the age of twenty) turned out to be more than a one­

time event; however, a few years would pass before she resumed concert management.

The war that erupted in 1914 intervened.

For Slade, as in the case of Heilemann and Sykes, experiencing the barbarous

nature of the First World War made its impact. Increasingly distressed by the propaganda

that dehumanized and inspired mass hatred of the enemy, Slade retreated from the

bandage-making parties where patriotism in the form of hateful talk about Germans was

rife even among people she had always considered kind and generous. In order to be

useful, she went to work on a farm near where she had spent her childhood.

Here the atmosphere was quite different. The country people had not been so poisoned by the hate propaganda. In fact when, toward the end of the war, some German prisoners were brought to work on the farm, the local people were kind and gentle with them. The poor men were country folk like themselves, with no political or city thoughts. Why should they hate them?4

Nevertheless, at the war's end, many Britons continued to harbour anti-German

sentiment, even to the extent of shunning all things made or created in Germany,

including the music of long-dead composers. Slade helped to turn the tide on such

narrowness by organizing concerts of music by German composers in spite of contrary

public opinion on the subject. Frustrated by the lack of initiative of Lamond's agent, with

whom she had collaborated prior to the war, Slade decided that she had enough

experience to start her own management agency and rented office space in central

London. Slade brought Lamond to England to perform a series of concerts (because of

the war he had left Germany with his Austrian wife and their child and they had been

living in Holland). When the pianist was accused of being a naturalized German, he took

libel action and won the case. The resulting publicity helped to sell tickets and the

remaining concert dates sold out. Slade divided her time between concert management

and retreats to the country for contemplation and sketching. Travel in Europe in the early

post-war period was still difficult to arrange; however, after learning enough German to

manage on her own, Slade finally made her long anticipated pilgrimage to Beethoven's

birthplace in Bonn and resting place in Vienna.

4. Slade, Spirit's Pilgrimage, pp. 46-7.

It is not easy to comprehend why Beethoven's music held such power over Slade.

She herself did not understand it; yet because of her apparent faith in the mystical,

unknowable side of existence, Slade followed her heart wherever she felt it was leading

her. During this period, it may be that Lamond, the interpreter of Beethoven's music, had

become the object of Madeleine's adoration—this is hinted at rather than declared—but

she states that through prayer she was able to come to some resolution for herself on this

matter. Slade's passionate pursuit of the heart's yearning would eventually take her to

India.

Although Slade was, in part, an otherworldly contemplative, she also was a

person of action who pursued her own path. Convincing her parents that she need not go

to school, choosing to stay in Britain rather than going to India for the royal visit,

initiating her own concert management agency - all these were early signs of a

determined individual. When Slade became aware of an epic French novel by Romain

Rolland titled Jean Christophe, partly based on Beethoven's life, and his biographical

sketch, Vie de Beethoven, she felt that, without a sufficient command of French, she

would not be able to fully appreciate these works. Her next step was to overcome this

obstacle. As she would do, time and again, when setting out to follow her muse, Slade

exercised remarkable self-discipline and originality in mapping out practical steps in

pursuit of her goal. Deciding to wind up her concert management work, Slade took on

one final project:

The prejudice against German and Austrian musicians was still strong, which meant that the musical public was deprived of hearing the great conductors... [T]he London... orchestras were languishing for want of inspiration. I wanted to break the ice by bringing over Weingartner.... I knew it was a risk, but I was determined to take it.... The moment [the rehearsals] began the orchestra stirred to life as in the old days.... How the orchestra played under [Weingartner's] magic baton! And how the audience applauded at the end! The ice of prejudice was

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broken.5

Slade personally took a financial loss on her venture, but her desire for and unique efforts

towards healing the rift caused by war through the universal language of music are worth

noting. In spite of her solitary nature, Madeleine had the vision and organizational ability

to create new opportunities for community healing.

Slade's interest in music can been seen as yet another indicator of the importance

that the acquisition of new languages played in the lives of the women in this study. For

Madeleine, the search for a key to what Beethoven was articulating through the language

of music became a quest that would thread throughout her entire life. It would lead to the

study of other languages along the way. Self-motivation to learn languages in order to

communicate with people in their own tongue is an indicator of a desire to understand

cultures. The women all shared this desire and tackled the challenges of language

acquisition in each new situation that required it. At this stage in her life, the new

situation for Madeleine was her desire to meet and talk with Romain Rolland in his own

language. She moved to Paris to study French. Although her French progressed, she still

hesitated to approach Rolland directly. Slade moved from Paris into a village opposite

Villeneuve, Switzerland, where the writer lived. Finally she wrote to him and he invited

her for a visit. Slade's contact and growing friendship with Rolland would lead her on to

what would become her most remarkable life adventure. Rolland mentioned that he was

soon to have published a book on Gandhi. Madeleine had never heard of Gandhi, but

when, some time later, after travels to Egypt, she returned to Paris, she sought out

Rolland's newly released book. As Slade described her response, without trying to reason

or weigh the pros and cons of such a decision, she felt an absolute calling to join Gandhi

5. Slade, Spirit's Pilgrimage, p. 53.

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in his cause for an independent India—"a cause which, though focused in India, was for

the whole of humanity". She acted on her first impulse to reserve a berth on a ship going

to India. In her autobiography Slade says that she then told her parents. "They sensed the

magnitude of my inspiration and did not argue with me."6 Slade herself, however,

realized that she had to go more slowly and prepare herself in such a way as to be useful

and worthy of acceptance into Gandhi's work in India. She rebooked her sailing for a

year hence and embarked upon a rigorous self-imposed training which included

becoming a vegetarian, giving up alcohol, learning to spin and weave, to sit and sleep on

the floor. She also studied Urdu and went, in the heat of summer, to work in Switzerland

with peasants in the fields in order to develop her physical strength and endurance.

Spending part of her year in Paris, she continued her Urdu studies as well as reading

French translations of the Indian classical works, Bhagavad-Gita and Rig-Veda.7

There is no question that Madeleine Slade's search for a meaningful life took a

peculiar and peripatetic route. Because of her family background, Slade had the financial

means to carry out any plans of action that she might consider. Her parents did not,

apparently, stand in the way of Slade pursuing paths that must have seemed at odds with

what they would have imagined for their daughter. Perhaps, because of her solitary

childhood, Slade remained outside of and aloof from conventional expectations, both for

her class and for her gender. In her "pilgrimage" through life, Slade progressively moved

further and farther outside of convention and while, in her early life, finances were not an

6. Slade, Spirit's Pilgrimage, p. 60. 7. In a letter dated 6 January 1929, written to Gandhi after a talk she gave at Tagore's school,

Shanitineketan, Mira describes how, in her year of preparation for India she read the Poet's (as Tagore was called) works and was led to study other Indian classics in translation. S.N. 26840, Sabarmati Ashram Archives.

177

issue, in her last years in Austria, she lived in more straitened circumstances and had to

rely on a pension from the Indian government, given in recognition of her long service to

the country. Whether Slade's memory was muted (by the time she wrote her memoir)

cannot be determined. Certainly, according to her account, it would appear that her

parents exhibited remarkable restraint upon learning of their daughter's plans. As a

member of the British military establishment, Admiral Slade would have been only too

aware of Gandhi and his politics. Nevertheless, when his unconventional daughter began

her year's preparation, it was he who wrote to a friend of his, the Permanent Under

Secretary of State at the India Office, to ask his advice regarding what language

Madeleine should study. As it would turn out, the Under Secretary's recommendation of

Urdu was misguided.8 Slade eventually discovered that Hindi would be the language that

she needed, and had to begin another long process of language training.9 By her own

admission, languages did not come easily, so her efforts at language acquisition reflect a

remarkable tenacity and determination to overcome barriers in communication. As would

be a pattern throughout her life, Madeleine Slade moved in blind faith towards the

realization of an undefined and mystical purpose that she did not fully comprehend, yet

she was no mere dreamer. Slade, like Gandhi, the man she was preparing to meet for the

first time, proved that she was capable of great self-discipline. In addition, she had a

willingness to apply her practical skills, creativity and capacity for hard work to whatever

cause or mission she was compelled to follow.

A common assumption that has been perpetuated about Slade's "discipleship"

8. Two thoughts come to mind. Did the Under Secretary purposely mislead Slade or was he merely an imperial bureaucrat terribly out of touch with Indian culture?

9. Spoken Hindi and Urdu are similar, but the written scripts are different.

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under Gandhi is that she was attracted only to the man rather than to the cause he stood

for. The letters Gandhi wrote to Slade over the years tended to reinforce this view. A

close reading of the extant letters from Slade to Gandhi reveals not only reverence for the

teacher, but an attraction to Gandhi based on political, social and spiritual ideas and

approaches that resonated within her. The following is a portion of a letter written from

London on 29 May 1925, during the period when Slade was preparing for India. While it

is clear that she imagines Gandhi in idealistic terms, behind this idealization is Slade's

vision for a better world that she hoped could be attained, in part, through application of

practical works. Unlike other Westerners who sought out Eastern teachers for personal

spiritual enlightenment, Slade had a broader mission.

Most dear Master,

I thank you profoundly for having answered my first letter to you—I had never dared to expect such a thing! I have eagerly taken to heart all you said, and I now venture to write to you again, my year of self-imposed trial being more than half over.

The first impulse has never faded—but on the contrary my desire to serve you has grown ever more and more fervent. It is impossible to express in words the greatness of the inspiration which impels me but I pray God with all my heart that I may be able to give expression to my love in work—in acts. However humble they may be they will at least be utterly sincere.

And now I want to put before you my most earnest request—May I come to your Ashram to study spinning and weaving—to learn to live your ideals and principles in daily life, and indeed to learn in what way I may hope to serve you in the future. In order to become a fit servant of your cause1 I feel the absolute necessity of that training and I will do my very best to be a not too unwilling pupil if you will accept me! I pine for the day when I shall come to India.11

The rest of the letter includes an account of the various ways in which she was preparing

for India, through change of diet, abstinence from alcohol, language study, and reading,

10. My emphasis. 11. Sabarmati Ashram archives, S.N. 10541.

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and she concluded with the P.S. "Enclosed are two little samples of the wool which I

have spun." Several months later, in October, a month before her thirty-third birthday,

Slade set off for India on a P&O liner, no doubt full of hopes and fears. It is impossible to

know what she imagined for herself, but it is likely that any preconceived notions were

quickly laid aside once she arrived on Indian soil. Slade's life would cease to be

exclusively her own; overnight her status shifted from that of a private individual on a

quest to that of an international cause celebre. Madeleine Slade, daughter of an English

admiral, was about to become Mirabehn, the "daughter" of Gandhi, "the

archrevolutionary [sic] of the British Empire".12

Even though she describes the wonder and thrill of being in the presence of

Gandhi and becoming a part of the inner circle of his associates, Madeleine Slade's

initiation into ashram life also involved total immersion in all the lowliest and most

challenging jobs one could imagine. Gandhi spared her little time for cultural adjustment

and his capacity for gentleness, particularly with foreigners interested in his work, did not

always apply to Slade. Gandhi, in renaming her Mira (after a Hindu princess/poet who

dedicated her life to Krishna) and declaring her his daughter, gave her the sometimes

dubious honour of becoming a family member in the truest sense. The demands he placed

upon his own wife and sons to be models were far more stringent than those placed upon

others and Mira, in becoming a daughter, faced similarly high expectations. Her

willingness to please and learn from Bapu (meaning "father") often garnered annoyance

rather than praise. At the same time, Gandhi recognized the value of Mira's devotion to

his cause. Even though much love and respect passed between the two, theirs would,

from the beginning, be a tumultuous relationship.

12. Slade's own words in Spirit's Pilgrimage, p. 64.

Relevant to this study are the particularly important events in which Mirabehn

participated, her unique initiatives and, finally, the legacy of her work in India. It is

through her actions and the spirit that guided those actions that she becomes connected to

the collective of women under investigation. As has been already stated, because of her

more solitary nature, it seems unlikely that Mirabehn established close friendships with

the others; nevertheless, her inclusion in this group of Western women supporters of

India is critical to the story. Furthermore, through her shared experience, while living in

the ashram and in prison, in particular, Mirabehn was eventually able to develop

relationships with the important Indian women in the independence movement, women

such as Kasturba, Gandhi's wife, Sarojini Naidu and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay.

Mirabehn arrived in India in 1925, at the age of thirty-three; she would spend an

equal number of years living there. She was witness to and an integral participant in a

dramatic period of Indian history. In Attenborough's film Gandhi, Mirabehn is portrayed

minimally and merely as the near-mute disciple of the great man.13 Nor, with the

exception of Kasturba, Gandhi's wife, did other women receive much attention in the

film, in sharp contrast to the reality of the important role women played in Gandhi's life

and work.14 Mirabehn's role in India was many-faceted and changed over time as she

matured and became more politically active. Her total engagement with Gandhi and his

13. Perhaps for dramatic purposes, the film incorrectly placed Mira in the funeral procession at the time of Gandhi's death. In fact, she chose not to go to Delhi for the cremation; some of Gandhi's ashes were later sent to Mira for casting into the waters of the great holy rivers in Northern India where she resided. Richard Attenborough's film was released in 1982.

14. Ironically, in the film, the American photographer Margaret Bourke-White (played by Candace Bergen) garners far more attention than reality would warrant. Bourke-White had only brief contacts with Gandhi very near the end of his life whereas well-known Indian women such as Sarojini Naidu, Amrit Kaur, Kamaladevi Chattopadhaya and countless others who participated in the cause, are missing from the story, to say nothing of the Western women in this study who likewise gave of themselves to the independence movement. Attenborough's film completely ignores the significant role women played in the independence struggle.

ideals did not mean that she agreed with him on all things. In her honesty, she rubbed up

against his more stubborn side on many occasions. At times she was, perhaps, more

"Gandhian" than Gandhi himself, in the sense that she became a strict adherent to the

many rules Gandhi created for members of the ashram and often found herself at odds

with him regarding the slackness of other ashramites. In spite of the fact that she knew

she might incur his wrath for exposing the underbelly of ashram life, his injunction for

truthfulness forced her to say things to him that others would not. In a sense, Gandhi's

compassion for "sinners" was often more pronounced than his compassion for those who

were his most devoted workers. In one letter, Mira begins with "Beloved Bapu, I feel

clearly today how foolish it was to be in despair over not being able to see eye to eye

with my Bapu in everything. Honest differences are healthy." She goes on to discuss the

differences, pointing out to Bapu where he seems to have a blind eye to what is going on

in the ashram. She concludes: "I think some day you will realize my judgement is not so

faulty as you think. And, by the way, when that day comes, you will automatically have

to revise your opinion of my 'hysteria'!"15 Such words convey her faith in Gandhi's

ability to admit when he was mistaken as well as her own independence of thought. One

example of Gandhi's recognition of her dedication is revealed in the following excerpt:

"Mira is absorbed in her garden work from early morning to late in the evening. Do not

expect any letter from her for some time. You see, we are trying to become villagers but

we are [far] from the thing. She is the whole-hogger among us all."16 With her

agricultural bent, she was probably far more suited to the ashram life than most others.

There is no question that Mira's devotion to Gandhi was absolute and that it

15. Undated 1933 letter to Gandhi, Sabarmati Ashram Archives, S.N. 16289. 16. Letter to Agatha Harrison, 25 April 1935, CWMG.

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caused her both joy and anguish over their long association. Much of the tension in their

relationship seemed to revolve around the question of whether she was too obsessed in

serving him as an individual or whether she was serving the greater Indian cause. Time

and deeds would reveal that Mira's commitment to Gandhi was not merely hero worship.

Mira had an extraordinary capacity for hard work. Few would have imagined how

thoroughly this idealistic young woman of the privileged classes would adopt Gandhian

principles, least of all Gandhi himself. It is possible that Mira's talent for discipline and

honesty proved to be a stark a mirror for Gandhi at times. Gandhi was known for his

sense of humour and Mira, according to some, also had a sense of humour, although in

her writings, her earnestness often comes through more distinctly.17 Undoubtedly the

intensity between Gandhi and Mira was leavened by light-hearted banter at times; there

are hints of this, but Mira's desire to truly understand and follow Gandhi's thoughts and

actions often put her in a position of telling him things that he did not wish to hear. Their

correspondence, spanning twenty years, reveals the depth of connection and it may well

be that theirs was a relationship that functioned better when there was some physical

distance separating them. A letter from Mira in April 1932, when Gandhi was in prison,

expresses her dilemma:

Bapu, I am never without that thought in my mind, as to how best to serve you. I think and pray and reason with myself, and it always ends the same way in my heart of hearts. When you are taken from us, as in jail, an instinct impels me to work with all my strength at outward service of your cause. I feel no doubt and no difficulty. When you are with us, an equally strong instinct impels me to retire into personal service; trying to do anything else, I feel lost and futile. The capacity for the former depends on the fulfilment [sic] of the latter. The one the counterpart of the other, and something continually tells me that it was for

17. In Mira Behn: Gandhiji 's Daughter Disciple Birth Centenary Volume, p. 247, there is a wonderful account by Marjorie Sykes, who barely knew Mirabehn, in which Mirabehn's humour is made evident.

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fulfilment [sic] in that way that I was led to you. The instinct is so strong that I cannot get round it or through it or over it. It is difficult to ask you to have faith in it as the full proof of its correctness can only come after your death.18

This final remark would prove to be true as Mirabehn served India in a number of

capacities in the years following Gandhi's death. Gandhi's letter in response ends with

"And who can give me more loving service than you?" Mahadev Desai, Gandhi's

secretary, called this sentence "an acknowledgment of Bapu's defeat at the hands of

love." Furthermore Desai describes Mirabehn's service having a "peculiar

sweetness.. .due to her self-effacement and whole-hearted devotion."19

The records show that Desai admired Mirabehn's gifts, yet there is no hint of

anything other than a good friendship between them.20 Nevertheless, he, as well as

Gandhi, became subject to innuendo connected with Mirabehn. Gandhi's newspaper, the

Harijan, contained much information about the many projects going on in India

concerned with building sustainable communities, one of Gandhi's priorities, particularly

after leaving the Congress in 1934. Gandhi himself wrote articles, but others close to him

also contributed. Desai regularly wrote for the journal. In a letter written to G.D. Birla,

dated January 24, 1936, Desai wrote:

Do you know that because I have often written in detail about Miraben's work in the villages, I have been accused of 'boosting' Miraben and the Daily Herald sent a cable to its correspondent to inquire if the report that Miss Slade has been secretly married to Mahadev Desai, Gandhi's secretary, was true! Well, that is bad enough, and too untrue to be believed.21

Of all the women in the study, no one was subject to as much scrutiny and sexual

18. Quoted in The Diary of Mahadev Desai, Vol I, Yaravda-Pact Eve, 1932 (Ahmedabad: Navajivan Publishing House, 1953), p. 62.

19. Ibid., p. 63. 20. At one point, Desai, an avid scholar, was learning French from Mira. When Gandhi found out, he

was enraged that the two of them would be wasting their time on something that was not directly relevant to the work at hand.

21. Shri Basant Kumar Birla, A Bridge of Words: M.K. Gandhi and G.D. Birla Selected Correspondence of G.D. Birla (Calcutta: G.D. Birla Memorial Foundation, 1994), p. 79-80.

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innuendo as Mirabehn, at the time, and even today. Sudhir Kakar's novel, Mira and the

Mahatma, is one writer's attempt to imagine the nature of the unusual relationship that

existed between Slade and Gandhi.22 A large part of the novel is based on information

coming directly from Mirabehn's autobiography and Gandhi's letters to Mira. However,

Kakar, the novelist, manipulates some factual details and invents letters and diary entries

by Mira that are entirely fictional.23 It would appear that Kakar did not know of or bother

to consult some of the extant letters from Mira to Gandhi. As a result, he creates a tone in

the fictitious letters that does not reflect Mira's actual letters. In one particularly

suggestive passage in the novel, Kakar implies an undertone of unfulfilled sexual

longing. It is worth quoting a passage from one of Mira's real letters:

When I said that if man masters his passions he will have from us the devotion of daughters, sisters, etc. I did not mean by "us" all women. I meant those of us who have that inborn aversion to sexual life. And my belief is there are many more such women and girls, married and unmarried, than man stops to discover.24

And, in contrast, the following is a passage from the novel:

Yes, I pressed my face against your legs even as I hugged them tightly to my breasts. I can still feel the muscle in your calf go taut. I felt your chapped skin against my cheek and even in that flood of feelings that washed over me I blamed myself for not taking care of your body.25

Another telling difference in the letters is that Mira, in real life, signed her letters

"ever your devoted daughter, Mira," whereas the novelist signs off the fictive letters

22. Sudhir Kakar, Mira and the Mahatma (New Delhi: Penguin/Viking, 2004). 23. For example, Navrin, the narrator of the story is supposedly Mira's Hindi tutor at Sabarmati

Ashram. He recounts an incident regarding Gandhi's annoyance when he discovers that Mirabehn has been giving Navrin French lessons (pp. 94—96). In truth, this incident happened to Mahadev Desai, Gandhi's secretary (recounted in Gandhi's newspaper, Young India, 26 November 1925, "Our Time a Trust!"). Kakar, in the novel, has Navrin, his fictional character, quote Desai's words, almost verbatim. As well, in the book's epilogue, Navrin's visit to Mira in later life, in Austria, seems to borrow heavily from Ved Mehta's account, Mahatma Gandhi and his Apostles (New York: Viking Press, 1976). Even allowing for the Indian flexibility in spelling of names, a surprising error throughout the text is the misspelling of Slade's first name (Madeline instead of Madeleine), particularly when so much of the novel is derived from Slade's own account.

24. Letter from Mira to Bapu, 22 April 1933,. S.N. 21035, Sabarmati Ashram. 25. Kakar, Mira and the Mahatma, p. 171.

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"yours, Mira". The Gandhi/Mira correspondence is very much a correspondence that one

can see as between a father and daughter, not always in agreement, but nevertheless

frankly discussing religious texts and debating what was going on within the ashram

community, Gandhi dispensing advice and Mira giving descriptive accounts of her

travels, her work, her experiments with spinning, animal husbandry, composting and

other matters.

Kakar, the novelist, is also a psychoanalyst, so his probing or conjuring the

possible relationship between Gandhi, the man, and Mira, the woman, is not surprising.

However, the fact that the Gandhi/Mira bond has been so difficult for people to

understand reflects a certain poverty of imagination. Mira does not fit the stereotype of a

Western disciple attaching herself to an Eastern guru, yet, within a simplistic framework,

she can be seen in such a light. Clearly, her life was far more complex and her originality

of thought and purpose much more pronounced than generally acknowledged.

Kakar is by no means the only person to have imagined a more sexualized life for

Mirabehn. When Gandhi and his party went to Britain in 1931 to attend the Second

Round Table Conference, Mirabehn and Gandhi were under the microscope and subjects

for the rumour mill. Undoubtedly a certain degree of racism was at play. A letter written

from London by Gandhi's son, Devadas, to Jamnalal Bajaj, one of Gandhi's supporters

and financial backers (he donated the land for the ashram at Wardha), reveals as much:

During the first week of their arrival here, Mirabehn and Bapuji received a number of angry letters—some of them very bad indeed. Some people had sent a number of dirty old pants. But later on the atmosphere cleared and now not a single insulting letter is being received.26

What symbolic role did Mirabehn play in the Indian story? To some extent, she

26. Kaka Kalalkar, To a Gandhian Capitalist: Correspondence between Mahatma Gandhi and Jamnalal Bajaj and members of his family (Bombay: Sevak Prakashan, 1979), p. 97.

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must have been something of an embarrassment to the British, particularly because of her

family connections and the fact that many of the people in high places were either friends

or colleagues of her father. Initially, Gandhi kept Mirabehn (and all the other Westerners

who sympathized with his cause) away from political action that would place them in

jeopardy of jail. Instead, he directed them towards work in social reconstruction

programs. However, as Mirabehn became increasingly "Indian" in her orientation and

commitment, she took part in activities that placed her at risk of imprisonment. It is worth

noting that by the time Mira reached this level of involvement, both her parents were

deceased. Whether this made a difference in Mira's actions or the actions of the

authorities is difficult to tell, but it must have made it easier for the British government to

take a harsher line with her. In 1932, after he returned to India from the Second Round

Table Conference in London, the British authorities arrested Gandhi along with many

others involved in the struggle. This became the turning point for Mira in terms of

political initiation. Recognizing that all the key people were in jail and that the Indian

press would not be forthcoming with news, Mira organized the systematic collection of

reports from trustworthy sources across the country and then sent weekly bulletins to

friends in Britain, France and America. To escape the censor, she would have the

envelopes delivered to the main post office just at the airmail closing hour. After payment

of a late-letter fee, the envelopes would be popped into the bag just as it was being

closed. In this way, the reports got through successfully.27

Although this might have been the first overt sign'of Mirabehn's political

involvement, some of the articles she wrote for Young India during an earlier period

when Gandhi was in prison reveal a person unafraid of speaking out on politically

27. Slade, The Spirit's Pilgrimage: 155.

sensitive material. The articles were not signed; however, it would have taken little effort

to discover the author. One article on police brutality was particularly graphic, disclosing

information on torture to men's intimate body parts (see Appendix IV). That a woman

from the period had the temerity to investigate and write about such subject matter is

remarkable and indicates Mira's single-minded adherence to the truth as she witnessed it

and a willingness to speak out and face possible repercussions.

Mira's work in India covered a wide spectrum. Her willingness to take on almost

any task meant that she did more than her share of menial labour. Besides spinning,

gardening and taking care of animals, she also functioned as a teacher, translator,

secretary, writer, emissary and organizer. During the thirty-three years that she lived in

India, Mira made only two trips abroad, the first in 1931, when she accompanied Gandhi

and his entourage to London for the Second Round Table Conference. Then, in 1934,

Mira felt a personal calling to go to Britain and the United States to counter the British

propaganda about Gandhi and promote India's cause. There were those close to Gandhi,

especially Agatha Harrison, who believed that Mira did not have enough political

acumen to make a good impression. Her eccentric appearance and reputation as Gandhi's

devotee, it was felt, would do more to hinder than help the Indian cause. Nevertheless,

Mira embarked on a rigorous speaking tour throughout England and Scotland, especially

appealing to the working classes for understanding of India's desire for autonomy and

independence. In letters written to Horace Alexander, one of India's British Quaker

supporters, Mira described the warm receptions in various cities:

I am having a most wonderful experience in Lancashire. Somehow the very thing I most longed for has come. I have come face to face—heart to heart with the People. Last night I had a weaver as chairman and another weaver and his tailoress wife as hosts. And, at Oldham and Wigan too, the chairmen were

working-class people and they spoke in glowing terms of Mr. Gandeye.

In Dundee, Scotland over 600 people came to hear her talk. In Newcastle, she spoke at

three different meetings in one day with close to 700 people attending the afternoon

meeting in a church. The following day, she was scheduled to speak at the Friends'

Meeting House where a capacity crowd was expected. Mira was convinced that "if Bapu

himself came over, just straight to the people, he could revolutionize public opinion".29

Certainly Mira garnered far more interest and respect than had been anticipated

by those who had been reticent about her involvement. Agatha Harrison's initial

impressions of Mira when they met in 1931 during the Second Round Table Conference

were positive. However, for Harrison, who put great stock in personal appearances,

Mira's adoption of Indian dress (though Harrison initially found this quite intriguing)

must have seemed completely out of place within the realm of British diplomatic and

political circles, Harrison's bailiwick. Harrison was in India when Mira decided to make

her journey to Britain. According to notes on her talks with Gandhi, Harrison wrote that

Gandhi endorsed Mira's trip but also said that Mira was "one of the tragedies of his life."

To Harrison, Gandhi spoke of Mira's "lack of independence, her insistence on being

close to him, and not doing the work she should." Harrison expressed to Gandhi "the

nauseating thing it was to be thought to be a 'Miraben' and that our work had been

hindered because of all this." While it is impossible to fully know the contents of a later

exchange between Mira and Agatha in Britain, it seems that things came to a head. In

another letter to Alexander, Mira wrote:

Agatha must not feel upset like that—and nor must you! We will simply have a

28. Letter Mira to Horace Alexander, 8 August 1934. Horace Alexander Papers. Swarthmore Library. 29. Letter Mira to Horace Alexander, 27 August 1934. Horace Alexander Papers. Swarthmore Library. 30. Notes of talks with Gandhi on arrival in Bombay and till we sailed. June 14th-16th, 1934.

Temp.MS. 883/2/3. Agatha Harrison papers, Friends Library, London.

189

good old talk and get to the bottom of things as far as is humanly possible. I only wish I could explain myself without hurting others' feelings. I cannot keep things bottled up. I feel an utter hypocrit [sic] if I do. But it is something wrong in me when I cannot explain myself without paining others. Of course there may be many things that I do not realize. And that is why I should like to discuss everything fully.31

A letter from Gandhi to Agatha referred to what had transpired. "You should not worry

what Mira says. You know my view about her judgment. I love her as we must all do for

her great truthfulness and her amazing sacrifice."32 A letter to Vallabhai Patel, one of

Gandhi's close associates, referred to the clash between Agatha and Mira as well as

acknowledging that Mira seemed to be "doing good work".33 A follow-up letter indicated

that the difficulty between Mira and Agatha had been worked out. Gandhi wrote: "I knew

you would understand Mira's letter. Yes, do keep in touch with her. She is in God's good

hands."34 In a letter to Mira, referring to the situation, Gandhi wrote, "... you are a happy

family again. You will be happier for the blowing up, and I see that Agatha has been

writing nicely about you all along in her correspondence to the Indian newspapers."35

This was true; in spite of Agatha Harrison's initial fear that Mira might do more harm

than good, once Mira began making a positive impression, Harrison backed the tour

through her reports to the press. Harrison and Mirabehn revealed in this exchange, their

capacity for directness and a generosity of spirit that prevented them from remaining in

entrenched positions. While it is difficult to track in detail the dynamics between the

various women in this study, it would seem that, like Harrison and Mirabehn, all were

committed to a common vision, so they tried not to allow differences to fester

31. Letter Mira to Horace Alexander, 13 August 1934. Horace Alexander Papers. Swarthmore Library. 32. Letter from Gandhi, 27 September 1934, Agatha Harrison papers, Temp MSS 883/1. 33. CWMG, Vol. 58 (25 August 1934): 268. 34. Agatha Harrison papers, Friends House Library, Temp MSS 883. 35. CWMG, Vol. 59 (October 12, 1934): 166.

unresolved.

After Britain, Slade continued her whirlwind tour in the Eastern United States,

with talks in New York, Boston, Washington and Philadelphia. Again, large crowds

turned out to hear her. Something of a curiosity with her Indian clothing and sandals, she

drew much attention from the American press and was well received by the public.

Writing to Alexander from New York, Mira described the huge entourage of press that

greeted her arrival in the port and her impressions of the city. As for her talks:

Sunday.. .was to put it mildly, a heavy day. The Town Hall, in the morning, was packed. It holds 1,600 people and about 100 more were standing.... Even so, some 200 or more were said to have been left outside. The International House was a gathering of some six to seven hundred students of 50 different nationalities and the Bronx Fellowship was a modern, communistically inclined group, some 300 of them crammed to suffocation into a small hall.... I lunched at the home of Dr. Haynes Holmes and met the Rabbi Wise, a famous Rabbi and remarkable man. He was at the morning meeting and afterwards fixed up for me to speak at his Synagogue next Sunday.... Just heard.. .the gathering is to be at the Carnegie Hall which holds some three to four thousand.36

In the Philadelphia area, Slade was a guest for a day or two at the Quaker study

centre, Pendle Hill. "The quiet rhythm... of the East... which she had adopted in her life

made itself felt here," reported one observer. Her talk on Gandhi and his work gathered

an overflowing crowd, with "many [standing] outside listening through the windows."37

In Washington, upon the urging of Lillian Wald, a prominent American social activist,

Eleanor Roosevelt invited Mirabehn to the White House for a conversation.38 Both

Roosevelt and Slade came away with favourable impressions of one another.39

While Slade's visit garnered considerable coverage in the regular press, the

36. Letter Mira to Horace Alexander, 13 August 1934. Horace Alexander Papers. Swarthmore Library. 37."Extracts from the Pendle Hill Log-October," Pendle Hill Bulletin, No. 10 (April 1935): 7. Pendle

Hill Library. 38. Letters exchanged between Lillian Wald and Eleanor Roosevelt, 14, 16, 27 Oct., 4 Nov. 1934.

Eleanor Roosevelt, White House Papers, General Correspondence, Franklyn D. Roosevelt Library. 39. New York Times, 11 October 1934: 26; 14 October 1034: 30; 15 October 1934: 13; 19 October

1934: 25; New York Times Magazine, 4 Nov 1934, VI: 7.

191

various African-American papers also took up the story. Perhaps Slade's most

important contact and contribution came from her visit to Howard University, the only

African-American university at the time. The chaplain, Howard Thurman, upon learning

of her presence in New York, invited her to the university. Speaking to a "large and

appreciative audience," she "emphasized the fact that the spirit of Gandhi was very near

because the American Negro suffered at the hands of the white man in the same terrible

manner in which the people of India have suffered."41 The college newspaper took note

of Slade's analysis of non-violence as a strategy that should be carried out "without

bitterness, but with understanding humor" and that willingness to serve jail time only to

return to civil disobedience again and again would find sympathy with more and more

people and eventually break down the power of the state. Slade's remark that "he who

has more than he actually needs, is a thief carried great resonance with her audience of

students and faculty and caused them to reflect upon their own understanding of the

meaningful things in life.42 Thurman, in his autobiography, described his impression of

Slade. "Hers was a quiet, undramatic delivery, but the intensity of her passion gathered

us all into a single embrace, and for one timeless interval we were bound together with

all the people of the earth."43

40. Sudarshan Kapur, Raising up a Prophet: The African-American Encounter with Gandhi (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992), pp. 84-85, 187. Kapur footnotes articles on Slade from the Baltimore Afro-American and the Atlanta Daily News.

41. "Disciple of Gandhi," The Hilltop, Vol. 12, No. 6 (1 November 1934). Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University, Washington, D.C.

42. Ibid. 43. Howard Thurman, With Head and Heart: The Autobiography of Howard Thurman, (New York:

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979), p. 107. It is intriguing to note that although of very different backgrounds, Thurman and Slade shared common ground that they likely did not even realize. Thurman, as a child, also found great solace in communion with nature. He had a mystical bent and also responded to the music of Beethoven. What is remarkable is how the following passage from his autobiography mirrors Mirabehn's response to the composer. Thurman recounted how his wife's favourite was Mozart. "I revel in his music, but he is not the angel who soothes troubled waters. Now Beethoven! That is a different matter. There is a massive vitality.. .that consumes all foibles and mediocrities.... For years I have worked at unlocking the doors to understanding the late quartets..." After hearing pianist Myra Hess at a concert,

192

Slade's decision to go to Howard University at this time helped to bring African

Americans into closer direct contact with Gandhi's movement. Not surprisingly, African

Americans had been, for some time, taking note of India's activities. In the 1920s Marcus

Garvey and W.E.B. Du Bois were following Gandhi's independence movement with

great interest. The Salt March in 1930 had captured the imagination of the whole world

and the story was well covered in African-American journals and newspapers.44

However, the thought that some of India's ideas and civil disobedience practices could be

translated to American soil had yet to be contemplated. Thurman, an African-American

Baptist theologian, had been active as a youth leader with the YMCA and the Student

Christian Movement during his college days at Morehouse. As well, he was the first

African American to serve on the board of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), the

American branch of the international pacifist organization (IFOR) to which a number of

the women in this study also belonged. Thurman had studied for a time at Haverford

College, under Rufus Jones, a well-known and beloved Quaker scholar, writer and

mystic. In 1935, the opportunity to go to Asia as leader of an African-American

delegation sponsored by the International Committee of the YMCA and YWCA was one

that Thurman had considered turning down because he felt ambivalent about representing

American Christianity when racial segregation was still condoned by the churches in the

United States. Thurman extended the invitation to Mira because he wanted to find out

more about the situation in India and he was intrigued to know how this upper-class

British woman had made such a bold step in joining Gandhi's movement. As well,

Thurman thought, "I did not know an artist could become a perfect, complete, and utter channel for creative flow... If I could share the mystery of the lonely giant Beethoven I would have the clue to my own solitariness." p. 248.

44. Kapur, Raising up a Prophet, p. 4.

193

Thurman wished to be able to convey information to Gandhi about the African-American

situation. Mirabehn, in hearing of the projected trip, said that he must see Gandhi when in

India. She assured Thurman that she would speak with Gandhi when she returned and

that he could expect an invitation.45

This all came to pass. Thurman and his wife, Sue Bailey Thurman, along with

another African-American couple, Reverend Edward and Phenola Carroll, would be the

first African Americans to visit Gandhi, but not the last. While African Americans had

been watching the Indian situation with great interest for a long time, one more

significant step towards the development of the non-violent American Civil Rights

Movement was made in this momentous visit, for Thurman's profound and positive

experience with Gandhi convinced other African Americans, both colleagues and

students, to visit India.46 Thus, while Mirabehn was neither the first nor the last visitor to

promote Gandhi's ideas to the American public,47 her appearance at this critical time

helped to pave the way for Thurman's personal encounter with Gandhi. The eventual

exchange between Gandhi and Thurman was animated, with much questioning from

Gandhi on the African-American situation. Thurman left with much to think about.

Considered one of the outstanding African-American theologians of the period,

Thurman returned from India with new insights that would help further African-

American adoption and adaptation of Gandhi's ideas.48 Subsequent visits to India by

45. Thurman, With Head and Heart, pp. 105-7. 46. Ibid. For articles that trace the transnational cross-pollination of social movement theory and

practice as it relates to the Indian/African-American connection, see Sean Chabot "Framing, Transnational Diffusion, and African-American Intellectuals in the Land of Gandhi," International Review of Social History, Vol. 49: 19-40 and Daniel Immerwahr, "Caste or Colony? Indianizing Race in the United States," Modern Intellectual History, Vol. 4, No. 2 (2007): 275-301.

47. As will be noted in the following chapter, Muriel Lester also played a role in the United States as an ambassador of Gandhi's cause and as a close associate of Bayard Rustin.

48. Chabot, "Framing," 27.

other African-American intellectuals, such as Benjamin Mays and Bayard Rustin, helped

promote the Gandhian approach to civil disobedience and develop the conditions for a

non-violent civil rights movement under the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sudarshan Kapur argues that "for nearly four decades, African Americans explored the

possibility of raising up a Gandhi-like leader."49 Thurman, Rustin and others who

preceded King were busy developing a theoretical and practical base for a movement that

could work within the American framework. Initially, King did not have a full

understanding of Gandhi's non-violence, seeing it more as a political tool, rather than a

deeply held moral conviction. It was under the tutelage of those who went before him,

those who had had direct contact with Gandhi and his associates, that King was

converted to an absolute stance of non-violence.50

As articulated elsewhere in this dissertation, there was a remarkable cross-

fertilization of ideas and strategies among social movements for change, and particularly

between those movements that promoted pacifism or non-violence. What cannot be

underestimated is the importance of personal contacts, and especially those timely

encounters that had a profound and lasting impact on the individuals involved. The

transnational blossoming of friendship and mentoring changed the social, spiritual and

political landscape in direct and indirect ways. Thurman's meeting with Mirabehn at this

critical time helped set in motion a series of further encounters that ultimately helped

move African Americans forward in their struggle for civil rights. The places which

hosted Mirabehn and from which she wrote her letters while on tour provide a further

indication of the close collaboration between social action groups across international

49. Kapur, Raising up a Prophet, p. 9. 50. Jervis Anderson, Bayard Rustin: Troubles I've Seen (Berkeley: University of California Press,

1998), p. 188.

boundaries. While in London, Mira's address was the Friends of India office. In New

York, she stayed at the Henry Street Settlement House. Then, of course, she stayed at

Pendle Hill, a place that has always included a broad international representation of

people in spiritually based social action and peace work.

When she returned to Britain from her American tour, Mirabehn managed to

arrange interviews with key political figures before leaving for India. Whether this was

possible because of her family background or her closeness to Gandhi is difficult to

ascertain, although it was likely a combination of the two. She met with Lord Halifax

(formerly Lord Irwin, Viceroy to India from 1926-1931), General Smuts (Gandhi's old

political foe from South African days),51 Sir Samuel Hoare (the then Secretary of State

for India) and Winston Churchill (a committed imperialist who was fervently against

India gaining independence or even more autonomy. He was also related to Mirabehn).

Although her visits appear to have had no impact on British policy towards India, she

was able to gain the ear of the most powerful of British politicians and was in a position

to provide a clearer picture of Gandhi's thinking and modus operandi than any of the

British authorities on India.

While it was generally assumed that politics were not Mirabehn's strong suit, and

while she spent much of her life in India engaged in practical social work, education and

agriculture, during the Second World War, she again played a key role as an emissary

and a go-between. Politicians, both English and Indian, were often baffled by Gandhi's

approach, taking into account as he did, positions that included a social and spiritual or

ethical stance. In spite of the many difficulties that arose in their relationship, Mirabehn

understood Gandhi in a way that few others did. When war broke out, in addition to his

51. While Gandhi and Smuts were political adversaries, each held a deep respect for the other.

196

opposition to war in principle, Gandhi, along with many other Indians, resented Britain's

assumption of Indian support in the allied fight for freedom in the world, while India's

own call for freedom was being denied. In 1942, with internal frustrations mounting in

the country and external threats of Japanese invasion of India, Gandhi took a decisive and

radical step, drawing up what became known as the "Quit India" Resolution. As already

stated, in 1934, Gandhi had stepped out of direct involvement with the Indian National

Congress, in part because he wished to focus his energy on social reconstruction in the

rural villages. As well, he desired, in theory, to be less politically influential and have

others take on the mantle of decision-making. In practice, Gandhi did exert his power,

though indirectly. In the case of the Quit India resolution, Gandhi sent Mirabehn as the

messenger to the Congress. This allowed Congress members to hash out their differences

regarding this policy. After a couple of days of heated debate a compromise resolution

was put before the All-India Congress Committee and passed. Mira and a delegation of

Congress members returned to Gandhi at his ashram in Sevagram. Not completely

satisfied with the amendments, Gandhi, nevertheless, agreed that he would work with

them. From there, as Mira states, "Bapu now gave us all marching orders."52

Gandhi gave Mira a number of options, one of which included going to Delhi to

attempt to reason with the Viceroy and other British officials. However, she chose to go

to Orissa on the east coast of India where a real threat of Japanese invasion existed.

Mira's task was to prepare the masses for nonviolent, non-cooperative resistance to such

an invasion. The British Government's policies for dealing with a possible invasion were

completely antithetical or hostile to the native population, for the British "scorched earth"

plans for destruction of foodstuffs, roads, bridges—all essentials—meant unbearable

52. Slade, Spirit's Pilgrimage, p. 230.

hardships for an already poverty-stricken people. No plans were being made for the

evacuation of the people or protection against air raids. In addition, outside labour had

been brought in to build an aerodrome, so local resources were further stressed and the

labourers proved to be undesirables who vandalized and looted the local village.

Mirabehn established her presence in the village, went to the British military officer in

command of the airfield and managed to get cooperation from him so that better

protection was provided for the local people. When the rainy season set in and the

likelihood of Japanese invasion had eased, if only temporarily, Mira returned to Wardha

to attend the Congress Working Committee meetings. At this meeting the Quit India

Resolution was reaffirmed. Plans to return to Orissa were put aside momentarily when

Gandhi sent her to Delhi to see if she could meet with the Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow. A

letter from the Viceroy indicated that he desired to meet yet felt that, in light of the "open

rebellion" as expressed in the Working Committee's resolution, it would not be

appropriate to meet with Gandhi's representative. Instead, Mira met with the Viceroy's

private secretary, Laithwaite. The meeting was very civil and Mira emphasized the

seriousness of Gandhi's intent at the same time as expressing the Indian leader's desire to

remain friendly with Britain, even in the face of rebellion. "I want you to try and realize

that even this rebellion is a friendly gesture.. .with Gandhiji such a thing is possible,"

concluded Mira in her talk with the secretary.

Mira submitted a request to meet with the top military personnel regarding the

situation in Orissa and this was granted. Mira's meetings with the Generals gave her the

sense that she would be able to create a workable liaison between the military and the

people in Orissa and make a positive difference there. Nevertheless, in spite of such

53. Letter from Mirabehn to Gandhi, July 12, 1942. Mirabehn papers, Nehru Library, New Delhi.

198

positive talks, once Gandhi gave instructions for carrying out the Quit India Resolution

through non-violent non-cooperation, including the refusal to pay land taxes as well as

the gathering of salt by villagers, which the British considered their exclusive right, the

authorities moved swiftly. Mira did not get to Orissa. Instead, she was arrested along

with Gandhi and many of his followers. The date: August 9, 1942, one day after the

resolution was passed.

Separated from the masses of other arrestees, Gandhi, Gandhi's wife, Kasturba,

Mira, Mahadev Desai, the poet, Sarojini Naidu and Sushila Nayyar (Gandhi's physician

and sister to Pyarelal, one of Gandhi's secretaries) were held under arrest at the Aga

Khan's Palace in Poona. In spite of relatively privileged incarceration, the toll on this

small group was profound. A week after arrest, Gandhi lost his faithful "right" and "left

hand" in the sudden death of Mahadev Desai.54 The accumulated stress and worry had

culminated in heart failure for the fifty-year-old secretary and devotee. Sarojini Naidu's

health broke down to such an extent that the Government finally released her from

prison. Kasturba would be the next casualty. Gandhi's partner for over sixty years died in

prison, leaving her husband more bereft than anyone would have imagined.

While in prison, Mirabehn began planning for the establishment of an ashram of

her own in keeping with her special interests and knowledge. In May of 1944, she was

released along with Gandhi and their now diminished group. In her autobiography,

Mira's description of the process of coming to unity with Gandhi regarding her plans had

none of the ice and fire of the extant correspondence that passed between them at that

time. Here is Mirabehn's retrospective account:

I discussed [my plans] with Bapu, and he agreed. I was to be given a lump sum of

54. According to Mira, Ba (Kasturba, Gandhi's wife) cried, "Bapu has lost his right hand, and his left hand. Both his hands Bapu has lost!" in Slade, Spirit's Pilgrimage, p. 245.

money and to plan out the whole thing myself. There was one hitch when Bapu said he would like me to have trustees. I felt this would ruin my freedom of self-expression, which was what I was really seeking, though I had not analyzed it to myself in so many words. The trustees would know little about agriculture and animal husbandry, which were the two things which appealed to me most in rural development, and their ideas in so many matters would be totally different from mine. Finally Bapu let me go free, and my heart expanded.55

Mirabehn's loyalty to Gandhi is reflected in her revision of events. There are a

couple of critical pieces of background information needed to understand the written

exchange that actually took place when Mira chose to begin her agricultural project. The

first point is that Mira had a small annual legacy from her family that she gave to Gandhi

for support of the cause. The second point is that a few years earlier, in 1939, Mirabehn,

for the first and only time, had contemplated the possibility of marriage.

Life at Sevagram became enlivened in 1938 with the addition of Prithvi Singh, a

revolutionary who, for a time, seemed to be turning over a new leaf to join Gandhi's non­

violent movement. A wanted man whose daring exploits involved a number of captures

and escapes, Singh, at the urging of Gandhi, had agreed to give himself up to the

authorities. When he was released, he came to Sevagram and Gandhi assigned the task of

recording Singh's life story to Mirabehn. Her attraction to the man was not unobserved

by Gandhi and he actually suggested that she did not need to maintain her vow of

brahmacharya if she wished to marry Prithvi. Singh did not share this desire and after

some attempts on the part of Mirabehn and Gandhi to change his mind, Mira left

Sevagram for an extensive period of retreat in a number of locations, where she lived

almost entirely in silence and contemplation, with only the birds and beasts of the forest

for company, studying sacred Indian texts.

Considering Mirabehn's earlier writings touching on her belief in the differences

55. Slade, Spirit's Pilgrimage, p. 259.

200

between men and women's attitudes to sexuality, Mira's unexpected yearning to marry at

this stage in her life may seem surprising. Expressing the desire to have a child, Mira

may have felt, in her late forties, a "biological urge" and knew that her time for possible

motherhood was nearing an end. Sexual naivete, romanticism, and an interpretation of

"natural" gendered behaviour based upon Mira's observations of the rest of the animal

kingdom culminated at this time in her life. Ultimately, she accepted that Singh was not

interested. While she suffered for a time from this rejection, she was likely saved from far

greater unhappiness. Subsequent letters in later years exchanged between the two indicate

that good will and friendship had not been compromised. In a 1942 reply to a letter from

Singh, Mira responded to his desire to be comrades: "Comradeship—that was the deepest

longing of my heart from the beginning, but somehow everything went wrong."56 Singh's

rejection was a blessing in disguise, pushing Mira to follow through on projects that were

far more suited to her talents and temperament.

When Mirabehn decided to begin a project of her own in the foothills of the

Himalayas, working with animals, she requested funding from Gandhi. Because she had

given over any money that she received from England over the years, she assumed that it

would not be unreasonable to ask for some of it at this time. This caused more of a stir

than she had anticipated. Appendix V includes a somewhat shortened version of the

Mira/Gandhi correspondence; however, a large part is quoted because this powerful

exchange is significant in that it reveals much about the Mira/Gandhi relationship. Mira,

the "daughter" devotee, showed her own independence of mind when Gandhi, the

"father," tried to thwart or control her initiative. She was not rebellious and yet she stood

56. Baba Prithvi Singh, Baba Prithvi Singh Azad The Legendary Crusader: An Autobiography (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1987), p. 336.

201

her ground and forced Gandhi to recognize his own inconsistencies. With the phrase

"until such time as you [have] revised your ideas," Mira exhibited her faith in Gandhi's

ability to change his stance and to accept what she knew to be true.57 Her faith was not

misplaced. When Gandhi retracted from his earlier position, he did it with the

wholeheartedness and honesty that distinguished him as a human being and charismatic

leader.

Within the context of this dissertation, it is impossible to elaborate on the many

activities and roles Mira carried out in support of the independence movement. She was

an initiator and thinker in her own right and seemed willing to put her hand to whatever

work was needed, whether social, political or practical. After twenty years in India, her

relationship with Gandhi had withstood many tests and trials and the physical proximity

she had earlier craved no longer held the same urgency. Mira had hoped that she might

be able to provide a place for Gandhi to retire to, but that was never to be. Independence,

when it finally came, had none of the jubilation that Gandhi had hoped for. After all the

years he had devoted to attaining independence for India, when it came, Gandhi could not

celebrate. On the occasion of his birthday in 1947, he declared, "The desire to live for

125 years has completely vanished as a result of this continued fratricide. I do not want to

be a helpless witness of it." Almost completely broken by the bloodbath caused by the

Partition of India, Gandhi nevertheless did not retreat from the tensions but continued to

discourage the fighting when he could and shared in the suffering of those affected by the

communal violence and displacement. There would be no rest or retirement from the

struggle. Less than a year after Independence, Gandhi was assassinated at the age of 78.

57. See Appendix V, end of letter from Mira to Gandhi, 12 June 1944. 58. Appendix III, CWMG, Vol. 89 (1947): 524.

202

Mira, the woman who had struggled with how to balance her desire to serve

Gandhi personally against her desire to serve India, was finally in a position to prove that

she could act upon a statement she made to Gandhi in a letter as far back as 1932: "It is

difficult to ask you to have faith in [my claim of dedication to the cause] as the full proof

of its correctness can only come after your death."59 Her work in the years following

Gandhi's death would attest to her commitment. When Gandhi died (in New Delhi), most

people assumed that Mirabehn would want to come for the final rites of cremation.

Instead, she remained at her ashram in the Himalayan foothills. Some years previously,

Gandhi had written, "There is no meaning in having the last look. The spirit which you

love is always with you."60 Gandhi's ashes were to be immersed in a number of the holy

rivers of India and Mira was asked to participate in this ritual. She resisted, because she

knew that the entourage accompanying such a mission would place hardship on local

populations who would feel the need to provide food and hospitality when they could ill

afford to part with scarce resources.61 In the end she did participate in scattering ashes in

the nearby rivers. Nevertheless the discussion around this issue revealed Mirabehn's

awareness of how such ritual could have an adverse affect on the poor and her firm belief

that Gandhi himself would not have wanted to add any additional suffering to their

burden.

It was in the years following Gandhi's death that Mira most fully came into her

own. Although she had always spoken out on issues of concern (and if gathered together,

59. Quoted in The Diary ofMahadev Desai, Vol I, Yaravda-Pact Eve, 1932 (Ahmedabad: Navajivan Publishing House, 1953), p. 62.

60. Gandhi to Miri, letter dated 20 September 1932—it is also quoted in Slade, Spirit's Pilgrimage, pp. 167,293.

61. Roop Narayan, "An Unforgettable Discussion," in Mira Behn: Birth Centenary Volume, ed. Krishna Murti Gupta (New Delhi: Himalaya Seva Sangh, 1992), p. 260.

her writings represent a substantial record of her social, political and spiritual thoughts,

practical information and calls to action), it was in the post-Independence period that

Mira most clearly revealed her commitment to her country of adoption. This commitment

meant speaking out against practices and directions taken by the new Indian government

and its leaders that she believed were antithetical to Gandhi's goals and India's real

progress. Under Nehru's leadership, India chose the paths of industrialization and

militarization, following Western models of progress. A prophetic voice in the

wilderness, Mirabehn, the environmentalist and agricultural expert, as early as the 1940s

and 1950s shared her knowledge and warnings regarding deforestation, unhealthy

agricultural practices, and other related environmental and economic concerns at a time

when few others were tending to these issues. Perhaps her most significant legacy is her

mentorship of those Indians who subsequently took up the environmental cause in the

foothills of the Himalayas. Sunderlal Bahaguna, a prime figure in the Chipko Movement

of the 1970s had, as a young man, worked with Mirabehn in her ashram.62 The Chipko

Movement (the word "chipko" meaning "hug the trees") grew out of concern for the

deforestation carried out by logging companies in the environmentally sensitive hill

country. The native Himalayan oak tree forests that had provided local people with

economic livelihood were being decimated. The local protesters literally hugged the trees

in order to prevent the loggers from harvesting them. According to scientist and

environmental activist, Vandana Shiva, the precedent for clinging to trees was set over

three hundred years earlier during an effort to save the sacred khejri trees from

62. "Fount of Motherly Love," Sunderlal Bahaguna, in Gupta, Mira Behn, pp. 251-252. Bahaguna recounts when he met with Mirabehn again in 1981 (at age 89), how pleased she was to hear about the Chipko Movement

destruction, led by a woman named Amrita Devi in Rajasthan.

It is interesting to note that Mirabehn herself referred to her childhood habit of

embracing trees, both in her 1960 memoir, and also much earlier, in an article she wrote

for Young India. In "Our Brethren the Trees," Mira wrote "Often have I put my arms

round the trunk of an old mighty tree... ,"64 In Uttarakhand State (formerly part of Uttar

Pradesh), the lineage of environmental and social activists can be traced back to

Mirabehn and Saralabehn. Shiva credits Mirabehn with providing the philosophical and

conceptual underpinnings for the ecological movement in the Himalayan forests and she

acknowledges that Saralabehn, along with her former students, Bimlabehn and Radha

Bhatt laid down the organizational foundation of the women's environmental

movement.65 The commitment of Mirabehn and Saralabehn to Gandhian principles, in

addition to their expertise, developed over years of practice in stewardship of natural

resources, personal study and research on pertinent issues have inspired more than one

generation of activism in Northern India. The other women in this study, living as they

did in rural villages, likely all engaged in some gardening, but the person whose

agricultural experience and environmental knowledge most closely paralleled that of

Mira and Sarala was Marjorie Sykes, working in Central rather than Northern India.

Over the course of the years following Gandhi's death, Mirabehn initiated a

number of projects to do with animal husbandry and attempted to develop better strains

of cattle for the locality. However, she kept running up against government "red-tapism".

She was, in reality, a revolutionary and could not abide the constraints and policies of the

new government. Each time she began a new project with great hope and commitment,

63. Shiva, Staying Alive, p. 67. 64. Young India, 5 December 1929. 65. Shiva, Staying Alive, p. 71.

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but eventually found that political and bureaucratic forces hampered her satisfactory

execution of the work. Suffering uneven health, with recurring bouts of malaria and

eventual difficulty with the high altitudes, yet unable to take the heat of the plains,

Mirabehn made the decision to leave India in 1958, thus closing a major chapter in her

life. Originally planning to settle in Great Britain, she eventually chose Austria, for its

climate but also because it was Beethoven's country. In her last years, Mirabehn returned

to her interest in Beethoven. Her book on the mystical aspects of Beethoven was

published posthumously.66

Ved Mehta, in his book Gandhi and His Apostles, tells of a visit he made to meet

Mirabehn in these later years. His largely unflattering portrait paints a picture of a

woman

who would no longer speak of Gandhi, had no interest in India and was obsessed with

Beethoven alone.67 This picture is reproduced in the epilogue of Kakar's novel and,

although Kakar does not credit Mehta's book in his acknowledgements, the fictitious

recounting by the novel's protagonist was surely influenced by Mehta's telling.68 Another

account of a 1981 visit by Rudi von Ley den and British writer, Wilfred Russell, who had

been in India during the Raj—and who did not approve of her anti-imperialist stance—

gives quite a different picture of her personality and attitude. In both accounts, the egos

of the writers inform their impressions (Russell's account has many asides); nevertheless,

the interview carried out by Russell reveals an alert woman with a sense of humour who

66. Mirabehn, Beethoven's Mystical Vision, with a foreword by Yehudi Menuhin (Madurai: Khadi Friends Forum, 1999).

67. Ved Mehta, Gandhi and His Apostles, (New York: The Viking Press, 1977). There is reason to question some of what Mehta wrote in this book. Mehta is blind (a fact not apparent before it was stated in a footnote by another writer), yet his book is full of vivid description. He would have relied entirely on a sighted person for his visual information yet, at no time does Mehta acknowledge his blindness or the use of someone else to paint the word pictures so prominent in his text.

68. Kakar, Mira and the Mahatma, p. 262-265

was more than willing to talk about her experiences with Gandhi. Indeed, Mirabehn

continued to write on Indian political and social issues almost up until her death in 1982

in her 90th year.70 Her writings reveal ongoing deep concern about India's direction. She

was forthright with old Indian friends and politicians in expressing her opposition to

policies and actions that she saw as detrimental. The following letter, dated 3 March

1963, to Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) provides some insight into both

Mirabehn's character and her politics.71

My dear Rajaji,

Your sweet letter touches me deeply. I was thinking of writing to you, and only hesitated because I was not sure whether my letters any longer reached you. I wrote at the time the Swatantra Party was just beginning to develop, and again at the time of the General Elections. I confess I was not very happy about some things, and expressed my feelings quite frankly. As no reply came, I thought some secretary might be keeping such letters to himself in order to save you strain in the midst of the prodigious amount of work which you carry on indefatigably in spite of your age! But though I was hesitating to write again, I could almost hear Bapu saying in his characteristic way, "Feeling as you do, you owe it to Rajaji to write to him." And now comes your own letter.

Angry with you I am not—how could I be? Our ties are too deep and too true for that! But I am sad. Sad that one whose wisdom I so much cherished should have become shackled by the orthodoxies of a political party. Yours was the one clear, balanced voice on international problems, unfettered by any isms or party slogans, Eastern or Western, and I always keenly watched for anything you might have to say. But this politics-business has blurred the clearness. With apologies to Shelley we might say of politics that "They, like a dome of dingy-coloured glass, stain the white radiance of untrammelled thought."

It is true that I do not see eye to eye with you in the present situation, but that is a matter of opinion. No, what has induced me to stop subscribing to Swarajya is a matter of principle. I cannot any longer endure the paper's general tone, and particularly its cartoons (cartoons should always be humorous and good-natured). I feel I cannot—I must not subscribe to such narrow-minded, third-class,

69. MSS EUR C343, British Library, Record of a meeting with Miraben Slade at Cracking in the Vienna Woods, Tuesday April 7th, 1981—Rudi von Leyden and Wilfred Russell.

70. See Krishna Murti Gupta's Mirabehn: Gandhiji's Daughter Disciple Birth Centenary Volume for various articles and letters. See also Mirabehn papers, Nehru Memorial Library and Museum, New Delhi.

71. Rajaji, whose friendship with Marjorie Sykes has been noted in an earlier chapter, was brilliant, charming, funny, and controversial in that he refused to toe a line and often disagreed with his fellow political compatriots, including Gandhi. Rajaji also had a longstanding friendship with Mira.

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degrading cold-war propaganda. There are many things in Communism which I do not like, and I also have never felt particularly drawn toward China. But my whole being rises against distorted, bitter and vulgar anti-propaganda! China is a great and ancient country, also Communism is a mighty force, and India, today, has made herself look petty and contemptible with her hate-campaign and second­hand cold-war mimicry (not only in Swarajya of course). All the more so after the soaring heights of the Gandhian Period. To have you smeared round with this kind of stuff makes one sad indeed!

So that is how it is. What more can I say? I thank God you are well, and pray that He may yet give back to India your true self.

With love and every good wish, yours ever Mira.72

A study of Mirabehn's writings, both the personal letters written to Gandhi and

others, in addition to her journal and newspaper articles, reveals a person who had a deep

passion not only for India and its people, but also for the future wellbeing of the earth and

all its creatures. Gandhi gave Madeleine Slade the name, Mira, after the famous

sixteenth-century poet, considered a saint by Indians.73 Many Indians who knew the more

contemporary namesake have commented that Slade was appropriately named. She was a

striking and dynamic figure in the story of India's independence movement. What it

meant to Indians to have an English woman of the most privileged class abandon all ties

and comforts in order to support the right of Indians to independence cannot be fully

measured, but Mira's life of sacrifice and total commitment held powerful symbolic

meaning. At Independence, like a number of the other women in this study, she became a

citizen of her adopted country. Even when she went to Austria, the Indian government

continued to support her and she was awarded one of the highest civil honours, the

72. C. Rajagopalachari papers, IV Mirabehn, 3 March 1963. Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi.

73. The historical and mythologized Mirabai gave up wealth and rank to become a wandering singer and poet dedicated to the god Krishna. To trace the tradition of Mira bhakti (worship) and the bhajans (devotional songs) attributed to the poet-saint, see Parita Mukta, Upholding the Common Life: The Community of Mirabai (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1997).

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Padma Vibhushan at age ninety. India issued a commemorative stamp with her image a

year after her death. If she is relatively unknown in the West, she has not been forgotten

in India.74 Mirabehn is revered as a symbol of the "other West," an English rebel who

forsook class and imperial privilege to join the independence struggle. She came to India

to learn from Gandhi and serve his cause. While Gandhi believed in her devotion, he did

not always have faith in her ability to stick to a project. It is true that each time that

government officials placed too many roadblocks in the way, Mirabehn ultimately

abandoned her respective projects. However, even when noble projects fail, they have

positive reverberations. Contemporary peace activist, Muriel Duckworth, often

said, "If something is worth doing, it is worth doing badly." Fear of failure did not deter

Mirabehn from trying her best. And if one considers the knowledge she acquired through

her work and then shared with readers over the many years that she wrote on social,

political, environmental and agricultural issues for Harijan and other publications, a

pattern of commitment and accomplishment emerges. Outweighing in importance her

lack of success in staying rooted to a particular initiative stands her legacy as a teacher of

a generation of social and environmental activists in India who, in turn, have mentored

others. While Mirabehn worked largely in isolation from the other women in this study,

her vision for Indian independence and global non-violence, her love of learning, and her

deeply spiritual approach to life were attributes they all shared.

74. Herbert Tichy, "Mira Behn, Gandhi and Beethoven," in Gupta, Mira Behn, Birth Centenary, p. 234.

CHAPTER SEVEN

SUPPORTERS IN BRITAIN MURIEL LESTER (1883-1968) and AGATHA HARRISON (1885-1954)

Peace building is often invisible work and not a task for the faint of heart. Those

who give their lives to such a cause must have great patience and seem to operate from a

place of deep faith. All the women in this study were like-minded pacifists who, rather

than being merely followers or disciples, shared Gandhi's belief in the possibility of a

world without war in the face of so much evidence to the contrary. The preceding

chapters explored the lives and works of the women who spent most of their adult lives in

India. In contrast, this chapter deals with Agatha Harrison and Muriel Lester who never

lived in India but supported the Indian movement in various ways. No account of

Gandhi's associations with Western women would be complete without acknowledging

the role Harrison, in particular, played as a go-between in political discussions involving

Gandhi and the British from 1931 onwards. Muriel Lester first met Gandhi in« 1926 and

subsequently hosted Gandhi and his entourage when he came to London in 1931.

Harrison dealt more directly and continuously with the political side of relations between

Britain and India. Lester served as a spiritual ally of Gandhi. More importantly, her

charismatic role as a spokesperson for the International Fellowship of Reconciliation

(IFOR) cannot be underestimated. She spread news of Gandhi's mission and his

philosophy of non-violent action to mass audiences across the globe. Lester served as a

mentor to those she inspired to take up the pacifist cause and, as a committed Christian

pacifist, she travelled, often under dangerous circumstances throughout the world making

meaningful connections with people of all religions and cultures. Because of their

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association with Gandhi and the independence movement, both Lester and Harrison were

subject to British intelligence surveillance over the years. Yet, if appearances counted,

these two would have been considered unlikely radicals. Close in age and great personal

friends, though with very different personalities and talents, Lester and Harrison each

played unique roles as international ambassadors for peace. Lester, the compelling

speaker with a strong spiritual message reached people through the heart. Harrison, the

unofficial diplomat who worked behind the scenes, knew how to listen to others and

consequently gained remarkable access to people in high political office. Both women

gained significant profiles within social, political and women's organizations of the

period. To understand how these women fit into the firmament of Gandhi's universe in

spite of never living in India, some background history is required.

Muriel Lester has been the subject of a comprehensive biography spanning her

entire lifetime of activism in the international peace movement.1 Borrowing from this

source, as well as drawing on primary documents, this overview will focus primarily on

the material salient to understanding Lester's relationship with Gandhi and India's

aspirations. In retracing Lester's socio-political and spiritual development, it is not

difficult to see why she and Gandhi would have found so much common ground. By the

time the two met, both had been pursuing remarkably similar ways of approaching the

problems of poverty and social inequality from a spiritual and practical perspective. They

also shared an unshakable faith that change could be attained through non-violent action.

Born in 1883 in Essex, England, to a prosperous family whose wealth had accrued

through successful enterprise rather than inheritance, Muriel Lester had a privileged and

1. Jill Wallis, Mother of World Peace The Life of Muriel Lester (Enfield Lock, Middlesex: Hisarlik Press, 1993).

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happy childhood. As Baptists, Lester's parents belonged to one of the non-conformist

churches in Britain and their personal approach to matters of faith inevitably helped to

foster the Christian/socialist/pacifist direction that their daughter would eventually take.

Lester's parents sent Muriel and her younger sister Doris to St. Leonard's, one of

Britain's best girls' schools, known for its progressive educational ideas, healthy living

and encouragement of independent thinking. Muriel did well at both academics and

athletics and, had she wished, she could have gone on to Girton College in Cambridge.2

However, Lester was not ready to settle into a scholarly life and a critical turning point in

her development occurred when, at age 18, she was invited to join a friend to attend a

Factory Girls' Dance in one of London's poorest neighbourhoods, the East End

community of Bow.

The Lester parents certainly encouraged their children to put aside some of their

pocket money for the Poor Box and to keep in mind the less fortunate; however, until this

time, Lester had not shown any desire to come into direct contact with poor people. In

childhood, her only exposure had been on the train as she made her way across town to

the West End for concerts and the sights and smells of the East End had frightened her.

While at St. Leonard's, a visiting speaker who worked with girls in the South London

slums had encouraged the students to consider volunteering once they left school. Muriel

did go to meet with the woman some time later, accompanied by her mother.

Nevertheless, she had felt no particular call to do social work at the time, and, when she

was asked to attend the dance in Bow, it was more out of a sense of curiosity and

anticipation of "a lark" than any serious social conscience or intention to "do good."3

2. Ibid, pp. 7-10. 3. Wallis, Mother of World Peace, p. 11.

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In keeping with this dissertation's assertion of the many cross-currents in the

international world of social and political activists, it is worth noting that the dance that

would have such an impact on Lester's future direction was held at the Girls' Club that

Annie Besant founded in 1896, during her more radical years working with factory girls

prior to her move to India. Considering the gendered constraints and the relative

challenges of travel during the era, this repetitive pattern of socially and politically active

women either meeting in diverse settings across the globe or simply moving through or

operating within the same communities, organizations or institutions at different time

periods is significant. For example, as previously noted, Polly Chesley knew Sylvia

Pankhurst and, like Lester, Pankhurst also worked in London's East End.4 While it

appears that Pankhurst did not actively engage in the Indian struggle, her 1926 book,

India and the Earthly Paradise, was one of the earliest Western critiques of imperialism.5

In Bow, Lester came face to face with a culture entirely different from the one in

which she had grown up, but it nevertheless held some attraction. Curiosity and a sense

of adventure propelled her to accept an invitation to attend the weekly meetings of the

club. This opening gave Lester the opportunity to begin to familiarize herself with East

End life. As Wallis suggests, it was fortuitous that Lester should enter into her

consciousness-raising in Bow, where a history of social and political activism had

preceded her. Annie Besant, Charles Booth, Sylvia Pankhurst, Beatrice Webb and George

Lansbury all had been involved with the district in one way or another. The Christian

4. Although Pankhurst was anti-war as a socialist feminist, she was not necessarily a pacifist and her "faith" was in socialism, not Christianity.

5. According to one site, an Indian publisher reissued Pankhurst's book in 1985, an indication that is was considered a landmark book for its time. See: http://www.getcited.org/?PUB=102520857&showStat=Ratings. Pankhurst would ultimately devote her life to the cause of Ethiopia rather than India.

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socialist politician, George Lansbury, would become a staunch supporter of Lester's

work in Bow and eventually became a colleague when Lester served in the post-war

period as an Alderman on the Poplar Borough Council (which included Bow) during a

period when Lansbury served as its first socialist mayor.6 However, much was to happen

to Lester before she would enter into the formal political life of the area.

While Lester's involvement in Bow built gradually over a period of many years, it

will be summarized in brief here. Muriel Lester and her sister Doris, with whom she

shared her life and work, moved to the district and went through what Wallis describes as

their "apprenticeship" from 1902-1914. The sisters (Muriel focused on adult

programming, whereas Doris' talents lay in working with children) engaged in every

aspect of community life and their educational, recreational and health-related projects

steadily grew and required ever more space. In this dynamic and challenging

environment, Lester had a number of profound personal experiences that mirrored

Gandhi's own philosophical and spiritual development. While coming from a religious

family, at a certain point Lester realized that the Christian faith that she took for granted

required greater depth of commitment, particularly in light of her awareness that her non-

church-going East End friends seemed to understand intuitively and appreciate when real

Christianity manifested itself. In essence, Lester had a spiritual awakening that would

ground all her future work and thinking. Rather than adhering to church doctrine, she

chose to embrace the radical teachings of Christ, and, most significant of all, this

involved an embrace of pacifist principles. As in the case of Gandhi, the seeds of that

conversion grew from reading Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of Heaven is Within You.

Lester had not always been a pacifist. In her teen years, she had been enamoured

6. Wallis, Mother of World Peace, pp. 15, 53.

with military regalia, even collecting it, and she played war games with her younger

brother. During the Boer War, she had been dismayed when her older half-sister and

brother-in-law did not support the conflict. Reading Tolstoy changed everything. As she

was to write of the experience:

[0]nce your eyes get open to Christian pacifism you can't shut them again.. .you can't unsee it. You may bitterly regret the fact that you happen to be one of the tiny minority of the human race who have caught this angle of vision but you can't help it.7

Henceforth, pacifism became a cornerstone for everything Lester would do in her life.

Nothing would change that and whether she stood at a pulpit or on a soapbox, during

times of war or peace, she proclaimed her often unpopular faith in pacifism. And, like

Gandhi, Lester did not understand pacifism to be a passive force but rather a very active

engagement.

In the years leading up to the Great War, the expansion of programs that the

sisters initiated continued to require more and more space. In 1914, the tragic death of

their younger brother and the onset of war shook the family's world. Kingsley Lester,

very much a soul mate of his sisters, left money to Muriel and Doris to further their work

in Bow. They rented more space and the "Kingsley Rooms" became, at night, a mixed

social club (a somewhat daring idea for the time), and, during the day, a nursery school,

an after-school play program, and a meeting place for a mothers' club. Not long after this

addition to the other facilities, Muriel's father challenged his daughters further by giving

them the funds to buy a hall that would house all their programs. Thus, Kingsley Hall

came into existence,8 and it was to this establishment that Gandhi would come and live

7. Muriel Lester, It Occurred to Me (New York: Harper & Bros., 1937), p. 10. 8. Wallis, Mother of World Peace, p. 32.

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for three months in 1931 during the Second Round Table Conference.

Muriel Lester did not like to think of herself as someone engaged in charity work.

Socialist in her outlook, she believed in equality for all, no matter what race, creed or

origins. Her move to Bow, her eventual adoption of voluntary poverty (along with a

number of other like-minded activists) and relinquishing of personal wealth for the use in

the community all attest to her strong commitment to these principles. It will be

remembered that Polly Chesley also became part of a group in Britain who adopted the

ideals of voluntary poverty and she and the other Western women who joined in Gandhi's

work in India gave all their private money to the cause, receiving back only what was

minimally required. This common trait in the women who befriended Gandhi is

significant. Gandhi, himself, in choosing to wear only a loincloth dhoti and reducing his

consumption to the barest necessities, did so in order to identify with the poorest villagers

of the nation.

In the functioning of Kingsley Hall, everyone participated in its upkeep; no janitor

was hired; all helped in the cleaning and preparation of food. In some senses, the centre

shared commonalities with Gandhi's ashrams, more so than with the settlement houses

that had emerged in various parts of Britain and the United States during this period and

somewhat earlier. While Lester provided the creative spark and spiritual guidance for

Kingsley Hall, and her practical sister provided the organizational genius, the sisters

continually tried to devolve the decision-making to the community. Financially, the Hall

often relied on Muriel's fundraising talents—she knew people with means who were

inspired by her work and to whom she could go for donations. In spite of their obvious

outsider origins, Lester and her sister became accepted as full community members.

During the war, when patriotic fervor was at high pitch, there had been people in the

neighbourhood suspicious of Lester, a woman who blatantly preached pacifism.

Nevertheless, after the Hall suffered bombing damage, those who had previously

suspected Lester of harbouring German sympathies altered their opinions. A

neighbourhood Fire Watch Patrol group that was organized to monitor for air raids

requested the use of a room at Kingsley Hall, thereby solidifying full community support.

Lester was very open about her stand on war, but she did not rebuff those with different

views. Young girls who worked in munitions factories regularly took their meals there;

some may have actually become converts to Lester's thinking by the end of the war.

In late 1914 a group of Christian pacifists met in Cambridge, and out of this

conference the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) came into being. Originating in

Britain, over the years, chapters of FOR formed in many countries, with an overarching

international organization (IFOR) for which Lester would eventually serve for thirty

years as ambassador-at-large, travelling the globe in the interests of peace promotion. In

the earliest days of FOR, Lester threw herself into the peace work and invited well-

known pacifists to speak at Kingsley Hall. She visited conscientious objectors in prison

and helped their beleaguered families when the majority of Britons held them in

contempt.9 Like Polly Chesley, Lester was deeply affected by the stories of starving

children in Eastern Europe and, like Chesley, she mounted soapboxes in London parks to

preach the message of conciliation and to raise funds. No record that Chesley and Lester

knew each other has been found; however, because of their common politics and

concerns, it seems likely that they would have met at some time—at peace rallies, in

9. Wallis, Mother of World Peace, p. 41.

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Hyde Park, through the Women's International League or the Friends of India Society.

As previously discussed, Chesley was a charter member of WIL, joining in 1915. No

record of her paying dues appears in second and third yearly reports (she would have

been in France and possibly back in Canada in this period), but she reappears in the

fourth yearly report. Muriel Lester first became a member in the third year.10 In addition,

Lester and Chesley may have shared associations through Quakers. Although Lester has

often been mistakenly identified as a Quaker,11 she never joined the Religious Society of

Friends, even though she introduced silent worship into the daily routine at Kingsley Hall

and had many Quaker friends. Lester's biographer quotes from Lester's draft notes for It

Occurred to Me, recounting that she had, quite early on, considered joining the Society of

Friends, but her younger brother discouraged her. "He looked at me frowning... 'Just like

your cheek,' he said. 'Why?' I enquired. 'Quakers are wonderful people. You have to be

extraordinarily fine before you're fit to join.'" While she most certainly became the

kind of person "fit to join," it may be that, as she more fully developed her own

theological approach, the desire or need to join was never so strong again. Lester was the

unofficial, non-denominational spiritual leader of Kingsley Hall and she would end up

preaching her Christian pacifist message from pulpits across the world. A feminist, she

also firmly believed in the rightness of women being allowed to be ministers at a time

when most established churches did not accept women into the ministry.13 It is possible

10. Women's International League Annual Reports, 1915-199. WILPF 2/1, 2/2, LSE Archives. 11. One example of this appears in Stanley Wolpert, Gandhi's Passion: The Life and Legacy of

Mahatma Gandhi (New York: Oxford University Press), p. 8, a book already cited for other inaccuracies. 12. Wallis, Mother of World Peace, p. 25. 13. In Why Forbid Us?, a pamphlet first published in 1931, Lester outlined her arguments for women

in the ministry (Shanghai: The Christian Literature Society, 1935,2nd ed). Muriel Lester Archive, Box 2, Kingsley Hall, Dagenham, Essex. Lester also knew the famous feminist-pacifist preacher, Maude Royden, another person who had a long-distance friendship with Gandhi. Royden gave up her pacifist stance during the Second World War.

218

that Lester ultimately felt a greater liberty of expression by staying free of any

denominational affiliation.

In the decade following the First World War, in addition to her peace activism,

Muriel Lester devoted her energies to her chosen community of Bow, even serving for

several years as an Alderman when she was requested to run as a socialist candidate. She

worked very hard and successfully on behalf of her constituents; nevertheless, political

life did not suit her. It was, perhaps, too restrictive a path for someone like Lester, who

liked to follow her own leadings.14

Through her numerous contacts with people in labour politics, Lester was first

introduced to the Home Rule for India Movement and the Indian trade union leader, N.M.

Joshi.15 In childhood, Lester had been fascinated with India and now, in the mid-1920s,

her earlier interest in India was rekindled, although from a very different perspective. She

started reading about Gandhi and also subscribed to his newspaper, Young India, which

was the precursor to Harijan. She recognized the strong link between her own Christian

pacifism and Gandhi's non-violence. In 1926, Lester met the son-in-law of poet

Rabindranath Tagore who suggested that she visit India and stay with Tagore for a month

and then, perhaps with Gandhi. She leapt at the chance. Her trip to India proved

revelatory for both Lester and for the Indians whom she met. In spite of India's many

challenges, she found this new world alluring. On the Indian side, people were amazed to

hear of the work of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, which was very much in spirit with

Gandhi's program of non-violence. Lester impressed Gandhi with the kind of work she

was attempting in Bow. Lester, a teetotalling vegetarian who had embraced voluntary

14. Wallis, Mother of World Peace, pp. 54-56. 15. Ibid,-p. 69.

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poverty and pacifism, provided Gandhi and the ashramites with a new and very positive

perspective on Britain's anti-imperialist counter-culture—the "other West." Mirabehn,

who had joined the ashram the previous year, was the first Western woman to completely

throw in her lot with Gandhi; however, she was an anomaly—a loner without a history of

connections with social and political organizations. Gandhi had become friends with

other Western women earlier, such as the Danes, Petersen and Faering;16 but they had

lived and worked in India for years before coming into contact with Gandhi and they

were not British. The visit by Lester engendered new relationships and exchanges that

would profoundly affect both the Briton and the Indian. Not only did a friendship with

Gandhi open doors for Lester (during her trip she spoke to thousands of Indians in

colleges and schools about FOR, the work in Bow, and the principles of voluntary

poverty), but she was also able to gain access to some British officials in India and press

Gandhi's case in a way that had not occurred before.

In spite of her deeply serious commitment to social transformation, Lester was not

a sombre personality. She had great joie de vivre and knew how to have fun. It is likely

that Gandhi and Lester meshed so well because of this. Not only did they share common

values spiritually, politically and socially, they knew how to banter and challenge each

other good naturedly but with underlying serious intent. When Lester urged Gandhi to

come to England, his response was that he might consider it but felt that he still had some

work to do before he could come and teach anything to pacifists in Britain. Lester's

response both surprised and amused Gandhi. "But Gandhiji, I don't want you to come to

England in order to teach us. I want you to come and learn from us." Gandhi was

16. Gandhi's friendships with Western women in South Africa are not included here. 17. Lester, It Occurred to Me, p. 99.

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charmed by Lester's boldness and this exchange cemented their friendship.

This is not to suggest that Lester agreed with Gandhi in every respect and her

response to him clearly indicates that she did not see herself as a disciple. In a number of

letters written to people at home, Muriel forthrightly expressed her opinions. She thought

Gandhi "off the lines over marriage" and she commented that she was in agreement with

another woman at the ashram: "she.. .has put her finger on the weak spots here.. .No

games, no fun, under feeding, constant fever, no girl workers, not enough vitality in the

people."18 Based on other accounts, Gandhi had a great gift for playfulness with the

children of the ashram, but his levity was not necessarily contagious among the camp

followers.

In spite of differences, Lester and Gandhi had much in common; they continually

strived toward self-improvement and self-discipline, yet they also had enormous self-

confidence and an absolute faith in their respective but interconnected missions. Because

of this faith, Lester was capable of overcoming personal fears and uncertainties and

plunged into situations that were both politically difficult and physically uncomfortable

or dangerous. With regard to handling discomfort, though, unlike Mirabehn, Mary Barr,

Marjorie Sykes, Mary Chesley and Saralabehn, who seemed to adapt to (perhaps even

relish) rough physical living conditions, Lester was by nature more genteel; yet, as her

biographer comments, she managed to handle difficult and stressful situations with good

grace and humour because of her commitment to promoting peace.19 When tasks, such as

arranging meetings with high-ranking British officials, proved daunting, she would push

18. Box 10, SCPC/1 Doc. 3 Muriel Lester Archive, Kingsley Hall, Dagenham. This material is copied from originals held in Muriel Lester Archive, Swarthmore College Peace Collection, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

19. Wallis, Mother of World Peace, p. 77.

221

herself to go forward. Such meetings may not have made any perceivable difference in

British officialdom's response to India's demands for self-government, but, on a personal

level, she discovered that some representatives of the crown had sympathy for Gandhi's

position. In the case of Lester's meeting with Lord Lytton, then Governor of Bengal, a

lasting friendship evolved and he would prove concretely supportive of Lester's social

work in Bow. He also helped in official ways some years later when Lester briefly ended

up in Holloway Prison.

Muriel Lester left India with a promise to Gandhi that she would do everything in

her power to promote and support India's attempts at prohibition. The liquor and opium

trade by which Britain profitted and India suffered was an issue around which Indian

women, in particular, rallied. In India, Lester made a study of the socially devastating

effects of alcohol and drugs, gathering evidence to present to both the British public and

the politicians on her return home. To her shock, she discovered how the British

government had set up the taxes, funding the development of education and other

services through liquor revenues. Lester petitioned British politicians for prohibition,

suggesting that, by reducing the military budget, a shortfall in revenues could be

counterbalanced.20 Like other pacifists, Lester recognized the link between high

expenditures on military armaments and personnel and far lesser funds being dedicated to

social programs.

In 1931, when Gandhi came to Britain for the Second Round Table Conference,

in spite of the huge inconveniences of distance and limited facilities, he chose to stay at

20. Copy of letter to Sir John Simon from Lester, 1 February 1928, private papers, Muriel Lester Archives, Kingsley Hall, Dagenham.

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Kingsley Hall rather than closer to the conference because he wanted to be among

working class people rather than with the politicians and statesmen. Staying, as he did, in

Bow helped to boost the general public's interest in and sympathy for Gandhi and his

cause. During this visit, he travelled to Lancashire to meet with mill workers who were

suffering because of India's boycott on British goods.21 Appealing to their sense of

justice and explaining that Indians were even worse off than they were, Gandhi

successfully convinced workers in Britain of the rationale for the Indian position. One of

the iconic photographs from the period depicts women mill workers happily in solidarity

with Gandhi.22

Lester, like other women in this study, landed in trouble with British authorities

because of her activities. It is uncertain when the India Office began its surveillance of

Lester, but a 1940 intelligence report by one staff member indicates his previous

observations of her movements. At the time, Lester was on a speaking tour in the United

States and voicing her opposition to war. The agent was obviously not one of Lester's

fans:

Miss Lester is not a good ambassador for her country. My impression was confirmed that she is one of those disappointed souls whose unhappy experiences perhaps with England's 'upper crust' has caused a possible unconscious diversion of their energies into a field where they are more likely to be appreciated. Somewhere she had a grudge, manifested not too subtly in her references to class conventions, the Government, British Imperialism.23

And, in another secret document on Lester, the report refers to the Fellowship of

21. As outlined in the Introduction, Gandhi adopted the term swadeshi (made in, or belonging to one's own country) to promote the idea that Indians must make and wear their own textiles rather than wear foreign imports).

22. Mirabehn is also in the photograph. 23. Re: Muriel Lester, Memorandum, 20 November 1940, signed B.M., India Office Records

L/P&J/12/445, British Library.

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Reconciliation as "an extreme-pacifist organization," Lester as "an ill-balanced idealist,"

"anti-Imperialist [and] pro-Congress in her views." At the time, Lester must have been

hoping to travel to India, for the report recommended that she not be allowed to go. "Miss

Lester's case will be taken up by Miss Agatha Harrison (a bosom friend), Carl Heath,

Percy Bartlett, etc., but I see no reason for supposing they will be able to command much

sympathy in the face of what we know Miss Lester's recent activities to have been."24

Lester's "bosom friend," Agatha Harrison, also came under the watchful eye of British

intelligence.

Gender undoubtedly was a factor in how intelligence officers reacted to Lester,

Harrison and other women under surveillance. In a report on Lester, the agent wrote: "I

was impressed to notice the change.. .since I.. .saw her five years ago. Her dress has

become Americanized and more attractive.. .Her facial expression.. .still reflects a soft,

"happy" evangelicalism (in the unfortunate sense of the word)."25 To some degree, the

women under surveillance by intelligence represented more of an annoyance than a real

threat. Rather, the British Government was more concerned with Gandhi's influence over

Lester and Harrison than with their own individual agency. Ironically, by assuming that

the women were dupes of a more "sinister" force, the British intelligence underestimated

how revolutionary the women were, quite apart from any outside encouragement.26

24. Ibid. Dated 8 August 1941. Carl Heath and Percy Bartlett were Quakers and fellow pacifists. Heath headed up the India Conciliation Group and Bartlett worked for the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

25. Re: Muriel Lester, Memorandum, 20 November 1940, signed B.M., India Office Records L/P&J/12/445, British Library.

26. For a more recent example of such gender "profiling", see "Spying on our own Rita." The Chronicle Hera Id (Halifax), 5 August 2008: 1-2. This article, on declassified Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) files from the 1960s and 1970s women's movement in Canada reflects how secret service agents reacted to women perceived to be operating outside of prescribed female roles. In the RCMP reports, there was an undercurrent of annoyance, derision and lack of comprehension. As in newspaper coverage where women or minorities typically have been described by physical appearance in a way that white men generally are not, one of the RCMP memos read, "about one hundred sweating uncombed

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While Lester may have been considered something of a fool and a nuisance to

those in government intelligence, she garnered respect and admiration from those across

the globe who found her message inspirational. A number of activists have credited

Lester with their conversion to pacifist causes as a result of her charismatic addresses.27

Lester's long involvement in her East End social work and her promotion of world peace

and India's cause cannot be fully addressed in this dissertation. But two further examples

relating to recurring themes can illustrate her commitment and her effectiveness. As has

been shown in other chapters, a number of the women went to prison or entered war

zones, acting as go-betweens or conciliators at great risk to their own lives. Lester joins

this group, for not only did she attempt informal diplomacy and travel extensively in

countries such as Japan, China and India during times of civil unrest, war and military

dictatorships, but she also spent time in a detention camp in Trinidad and a few nights in

a Glasgow police cell and London's Holloway Prison because of her outspoken pacifism.

Following her US speaking tour in 1940, Lester went to South America on behalf of

IFOR. During a stop at port in Trinidad, she was forbidden to return to the ship that was

to have taken her back to the US. Instead, she was interned with other enemy aliens for a

period of almost three months. After much work on the part of her British and American

friends, Lester was repatriated, but in spite of having been relieved of all the false charges

women standing around in the middle of the floor with their arms around each other crying sisterhood and dancing." With the kind of blinders they were wearing, the agents were not all that vigilant: women supposedly being tailed actually slipped under the radar often enough to commit public acts of protest that the authorities had not anticipated. In the case of the women's movement in Canada, the police were fearful of Communist influence rather than looking at the changes that women were demanding.

27. http://labornotes.org/node/901; http://satyagrahaandahimsa.blogspot.com/2006/04/pebble-in-pond-by-arun-gandhi.html; http://www.counterpunch.org/kellyl2062007.html; http://deatspeace.tripod.com/muriel.html Accessed 2/4/2008.

225

made against her, when she arrived in Glasgow, she was again detained and taken to the

police station. Lester would spend a disturbing night in a filthy cell in Glasgow before

being transported to Holloway Prison in London. A sympathetic chaplain relayed a

message to IFOR and Lester's friends, including Agatha Harrison. They were able to

notify people of influence (such as Lord Lytton), who quickly arranged for her release.

Over the course of her life, Muriel Lester visited every continent (but Antarctica)

representing IFOR. She visited some countries numerous times with India, in particular,

holding a special place in her affections. As a representative of the "other West", Lester

endeared herself to the Indians she met. Her friendships with Gandhi, Nehru and many

other active participants in the independence movement opened doors and her talks in

schools, universities and church communities promoted greater communication and

collaboration between the East and West on peace and reconciliation issues. In late 1948,

the year that Gandhi was assassinated, Lester travelled to India with Bayard Rustin, the

African American who played such an influential role in mentoring Martin Luther King,

Jr. in the ways of non-violence.28 Rustin, a brilliant and multi-talented young man who

served time in prison during the Second World War because of his pacifism,29 helped

pave the way for the development of the American Civil Rights movement.30 Like

Howard Thurman and Benjamin Mays before him, Rustin was inspired by Gandhi's

philosophy and spiritual embrace of nonviolent activism. Rustin's exposure to Muriel

Lester came at a critical time and it is largely to her credit that he would become involved

with the Fellowship of Reconciliation, serving for a time as the Race Relations Secretary

28. Jervis Anderson, Bayard Rustin: Troubles I've Seen (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997), pp. 130-131.

29. Ibid., p. 99. 30. Ibid., p. 4.

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for the American FOR. Because of Lester's standing in India, many doors opened for

Rustin. While in India he met with C. Ragalogapachari (Rajaji), then serving as Governor

General, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and other important Indians.31 This trip helped

Rustin to further his understanding of and enthusiasm for Gandhian principles of non­

violence.

As has already been noted, Mirabehn's visit to Howard University came at a

critical time for Howard Thurman. Some months after meeting Mirabehn, Thurman had a

very fruitful exchange of ideas with Lester in Berkeley, California, which further

prepared him for his time in India. Thurman noted in his autobiography that Lester had

also been a guest speaker at Howard University, so he was aware of her friendship with

Gandhi.32 That Mirabehn and Muriel Lester should have figured in the timely and

meaningful development of relations between African Americans and Indians is another

example of the cross currents that helped to influence the unfolding of critical historical

events. Not insignificantly, Lester would also make a connection with another important

figure waiting in the wings. In 1950, she made her first trip to South Africa. During her

time there, she had been "stealthily conveyed to a meeting where she'd had an interesting

talk with a young black clerk who was studying law"—Nelson Mandela.33 She also met

with various non-Africans who were actively engaged in work to combat apartheid and

improve social conditions for the disenfranchised, one of whom turned out to be one of

"her" former children, a woman who had grown up in the inspiring environment of

31. Ibid., p. 131. 32. Howard Thurman, With Head and Heart: The Autobiography of Howard Thurman (New York and

London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979), pp. 107-8. 33. Wallis, Mother of World Peace, p. 243.

227

Kingsley Hall in Bow.34

A woman who relinquished personal wealth and comfort, Muriel Lester placed

her faith in divine guidance to direct her actions and provide for her needs. Although

coming from greater wealth than most of the women in the group (with the possible

exception of Mirabehn and Polly Chesley), Lester shared this quality of allowing faith to

guide her with all the others. Lester died in 1968 at the age of 84. Her life work in IFOR

and friendship with Gandhi placed her on the international stage with a remarkable group

of activists that included Mirabehn, Harrison, Barr, Sykes and Chesley, during a time of

huge political upheaval and change. Concrete examples of Muriel Lester's legacy include

her published writings and the ongoing operation of Kingsley Hall in Dagenham.35 The

cooperative housing at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor has one residence

named the Muriel Lester House (and like Lester, the residents eat only vegetarian food),

giving some indication of America's longstanding regard for Lester. She is still

remembered within international activist circles for her inspirational talks, leadership of

retreats and peace-making visits to political hot spots and war zones around the world.

In contrast, Agatha Harrison, Lester's good friend and colleague, is no longer so

well remembered, particularly in the West. In her time, Harrison had a significant profile

in social, political and women's organizations internationally.36 While she tended to work

behind the scenes, by the time of her death in 1954, she was widely recognized in certain

34. Ibid. 35. The Lester sisters initiated the second Kingsley Hall in Dagenham, a post-World War One

community established to re-house East Enders from Bow and Poplar. Kingsley Hall continues to provide programming and social services for all ages. It also houses some of Lester's archival material. The bulk of her archives is in the Swarthmore Peace Collection, Swarthmore, PA.

36. While not publicly renowned today, with increasing regularity, Harrison's name crops up in the work of historians covering the time in which she was active internationally, in particular dealing with China and India from the period covering the 1920s to 1950s.

circles for her work as a conciliator. Following her death, the Women's International

League for Peace and Freedom, of which she had been an active member for many years,

published a collection of remembrances in her honour.37 It included entries from well-

known feminists, peace activists, politicians, diplomats and institutional and spiritual

leaders in Britain and India primarily, but also in Pakistan, USA, Sweden and Scotland.

In addition, one of her sisters also wrote about Harrison's life and work.38 Those

contemporary efforts to honour her memory testify to the esteem in which she was held

in her lifetime. Over fifty years after her death, she is a mere footnote in the story of

India's independence struggle. In some regards, Harrison herself might be content with

such a placement; she eschewed a high public profile, in part, because she believed that

she could best exercise her talents for diplomacy in quiet, background ways. Careful to

respect and give weight to arguments made on opposing sides of the political spectrum,

she garnered trust in unlikely places. It was no secret that she was sympathetic to Gandhi

and the Indian cause; nevertheless a recognition by divergent parties of her commitment

and ability to facilitate understanding enabled Harrison to maneuver her way into the

offices of politicians and important administrators of the British government—a

surprising feat considering that she held no official position and, unlike Lester or

Mirabehn, she did not come from a privileged background.

From 1931 until the time of her death in 1954, Harrison engaged in peacemaking

efforts, first in India and then, in later years, as a member of an international team of

Quaker observers at the United Nations. During her many years of work with the India

37. Agatha Harrison: Remembrances (London: Women's International League for Peace and Freedom) [British Section], n.d.

38. Irene Harrison, Agatha Harrison: An Impression By Her Sister (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1956).

Conciliation Group (ICG) she had no formal employment and placed herself in the rather

unusual position of being supported financially by one of Gandhi's Indian benefactors.

Unlike some other activists in Britain in the early twentieth century, she did not come

from the upper classes or have private money to sustain her endeavours. From an early

age she had earned a living and helped to support her family. When Harrison first met

Gandhi, she had been working as a secretary and "caretaker/organizer" for Charles Freer

Andrews, one of Gandhi's closest friends from the West. As already mentioned in

Chapter Four, Gandhi's friendship and association with Andrews went back to days in

South Africa and continued in India. When Gandhi asked Harrison to do what she could

to improve understanding between Britain and India, he arranged for her "salary" through

G.D. Birla, an Indian industrialist who believed in Gandhi's work. This arrangement

operated solely on an informal basis; nevertheless, Birla continued to honour the

commitment even after Gandhi's death. Harrison was given free rein to do what she felt

was needed to further India's cause and, in turn, the Indians saw to it that her basic

financial needs would be met.39

What led Agatha Harrison to commit herself to collaborating in the huge and

mostly frustrating attempt to dismantle British imperial rule in India? As will be revealed

in a sketch of her background, her work experience before her recruitment to Gandhi's

camp would have stood her in good stead for other forms of employment that might have

offered more security, both financial and otherwise. Unlike most of the women who

joined in the Indian struggle, Harrison was not an ascetic. Fond of smart clothes

39. With the awareness that Harrison had no private means beyond what she received from Birla, some of her Quaker friends (initially without her knowledge) began fundraising in order to set up an annuity in anticipation that money from India might eventually dry up. Letter to Alexander Wilson from A.H. 10 April 1950. Agatha Harrison papers Temp MSS 883/1/11. Friends Library, London.

230

(although always operating on a restricted budget), an inveterate smoker and someone

who enjoyed the occasional drink, she hardly fit the profile of a typical Gandhi associate.

Although Agatha confessed to shyness and generally avoided the limelight, friends and

colleagues also recognized her as something of a "drama queen" with a flare for mimicry

and a slicing wit. Harrison never lived in India, although, over the course of twenty years,

she spent seven separate periods there, some ranging up to six or eight months. While in

India, she seemed to handle with equanimity both the basic accommodations of the

ashram and uncomfortable travel on third-class trains, as well as more luxurious

surroundings offered by top British officials and wealthy Indians with whom she came

into contact. There are many concrete details that are missing from the book written by

her sister (for example, few dates); nevertheless, as Irene Harrison's title indicates, one

does get an "impression." Though not stated in the account, Agatha Harrison was born in

1885, placing her just two years younger than Muriel Lester and slightly older than Polly

Chesley, Mirabehn, and Mary Barr. Like Chesley and Barr, Harrison was born into a

Methodist family. And like Chesley's grandfather, Harrison's father was a Methodist

minister. Both Chesley's and Barr's parents played active roles in the church. Barr herself

went to India under the auspices of the Methodist Missionary Society.

A letter written to Agatha from her father when she was a young girl gives the

impression of affection and tenderness in the family.40 There were at least five Harrison

children and, at the time of her father's untimely death, when Agatha was in her mid-

teens, the family was living on the Isle of Jersey where the Reverend Harrison was

serving the Methodist church and Agatha was attending the Jersey Ladies College. Soon

40. Harrison, Agatha Harrison: An Impression, p. 13.

231

after her father's death, Harrison's family moved to Bristol, where Agatha went to high

school. The headmistress, recognizing the financial constraints in the family, offered to

waive Agatha's school fees in exchange for her working part time in the classroom. From

the age of sixteen onward, Agatha earned a living, combining work with night school at

Kent College in Folkstone. She obtained a certificate in Froebel early childhood training,

sharing this background education in common with Mary Barr; however, when Harrison

went for an interview for a position at a well-known school, she was not eligible for the

job because her training had not been at the Froebel College. Although initially

disappointed, she herself might have felt in later years that this turn of events helped pave

the way for a far more exciting life than would have been offered had she succeeded in

getting that early teaching position.

After various employment stints, Harrison found her metier as a welfare worker in

a tin box factory in Hull. It seems that the skills for which she would become well known

in her later years were honed while working with and for the young women in the

factory. During her time there (1915-1917), she gained the respect of both the workers

and the factory owner as she strove to improve conditions and benefits and provide the

young female workers with opportunities for educational, cultural and recreational

enrichment.41 It is interesting to consider that, in another part of Britain, Muriel Lester

was offering similar programs for young factory girls during this same period. Harrison's

record of achievement was remarkable enough that she came to the attention of a Social

Sciences faculty member of the London School of Economics (LSE). In the fall of 1917,

Agatha joined the staff of the LSE as the first welfare tutor to be appointed. She and Polly

41. For a more detailed account of all that Harrison accomplished during her tenure at the factory, see Agatha Harrison: An Impression, pp. 17-22.

232

Chesley would have just missed crossing paths, for Chesley graduated from the LSE in

1916. During her tenure at the school, Harrison made her mark as an innovative teacher

and coach in the field. She visited factories and continued to keep abreast of the issues in

labour relations. She aimed for excellence in the program, pushing for changes and

improvements amidst the cynical voices of the naysayers. As one colleague stated, when

Harrison entered any room, "she ruffled the waters, disturbing the calm of complacency

or inaction.. .she conjured up a range of responses.. .inspiration, opposition, admiration,

but.. .never indifference."42

The writing and editing that would become a major part of her life's vocation had

its beginnings at this time. While teaching at the LSE, Harrison edited the Welfare

Institute's first journal Welfare Work. Over the course of her association with C.F.

Andrews, Gandhi, the India Conciliation Group and other voluntary organizations,

Harrison wrote countless letters, minutes, reports and articles for journals and newspapers

as well as editing the work of others. She shared this in common with other members of

the study group. Muriel Lester, Marjorie Sykes, Mary Barr, Saralabehn and Mirabehn all

wrote extensively in some form or another. It is in her extensive personal

correspondence with family and friends that Harrison revealed much about her work and

her personality.43 Although she commented occasionally that she would have an amazing

story to tell if she were to write a book on her experiences, Harrison never carried

through on the idea. Her relatively early death (late sixties) while still actively engaged in

work at the United Nations may have precluded the possibility of retirement or retreat

from the world for such a project. Instead, through their memorial volumes, her family

42. Harrison, Agatha Harrison: An Impression, p. 24. 43. Agatha Harrison papers Temp MSS 883/1/11, Friends Library, London.

and friends acted upon their urge to record something of her life and work.

Harrison's work at the LSE led to other opportunities. A professor on furlough

from a university in China along with the head of the YWCA in Shanghai pressed her to

come to China to investigate industrial working conditions and lobby for improvements

for Chinese women factory workers, under the auspices of the American YWCA.

Although her professional ability was unquestioned, Harrison expressed in letters home

that she felt humiliation in the interview process with the World Committee of the

YWCA when interrogated about her spiritual qualifications. Harrison belonged to no

church. She observed that the committee grasped at the slender straw of her occasional

attendance at Maude Royden's unconventional non-sectarian church as some form of

reassurance that they were not hiring someone entirely bereft of religious feeling.45

According to historian Emily Honig, Harrison's appointment heralded the beginning of a

move away from the Y's focus on Christian education.46 Obviously the organization was

more interested in Harrison's potential to make changes in labour conditions rather than

any attempt at Christian proselytizing. Taking a two-year leave of absence from her work

44. Harrison's good friend, writer and pacifist Vera Brittain, tried without success to interest a publisher in a biography of Harrison. Although feminists and even some significant political and religious leaders valued her contributions, it is likely that publishers felt that her lack of high public profile would adversely affect sales to a wide audience. Correspondence between Vera Brittain and Irene Harrison, V.B. to I.H., I.H. to V.B., 1 August 1956,15 May 1959,19 December 1959, 9 February 1960. Vera Brittain Papers, Outgoing Correspondence (Series K) and Incoming Correspondence (Series J), William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections, McMaster University.

45. Maude Royden was a well-known feminist and social activist who preached in an independent church in London because at the time no women were allowed to be ordained in the Church of England of which she was a member. She was a member of the India Conciliation Group. Royden travelled and lectured extensively across the globe and made visits to India in 1928, 1934,1935. She knew and corresponded with Gandhi. Agnes Maude Royden papers 7/AMR/2/2 India File, Women's Library, London.

46. Emily Honig, "Christianity, Feminism, and Communism: The Life and Times of Deng Yuzhi," Christianity in China From the Eighteenth Century to the Present, ed. Daniel H. Bays (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1996): 255. Honig also quoted from a letter Harrison wrote to Grace Coppock who worked in Shanghai for the YWCA, stating emphatically that she was not a member of any church but that she had a definite faith.

234

at the LSE, Harrison left for China via America in 1921.

Before embarking for China, Harrison spent two months on a speaking tour in the

United States. Even though she had twenty years of work experience to her credit (at the

relatively young age of 36), she had not been prepared for the reception she received in

the U.S. Hailed as a British industrial expert, she visited cities across the country,

garnering much press and attention along the way. She visited factories and spoke to

employers, labour leaders, educators, workers and committee and board members.

American reporters noted her shyness and modesty; however, Harrison thrived on the

demanding schedule and forthright energy that she found in America. By the time she left

for China, she had made many friends and future contacts.47

Harrison's work in China was to break new ground and, after assessing the

industrial scene, she recognized the immensity of the task. She asked if the YWCA would

be willing to have her there for two years and possibly have nothing to show at the end of

the time. Grace Coppock, the General Secretary of the Y in Shanghai assented and gave

Harrison a free hand to find her own way in the work. Harrison would spend over three

years in China, resigning from her position at the LSE in order to complete what she

regarded as her part in the work in Shanghai. Involved in the daunting task of persuading

both foreign and Chinese factory owners to improve conditions in the factories, Harrison

argued convincingly against the many excuses for why each party could not take the first

steps to change things. Knowing the importance of making allies in many places, she

gained the interest and regard of the editor of the leading British newspaper in Shanghai.

Henceforward, the press kept the issues of child labour, health and safety, sanitation and

47. Harrison, Agatha Harrison: An Impression, pp. 29-31.

235

shorter working hours in the forefront of the news. Harrison nudged the churches; a year

after she arrived in Shanghai,, she spoke at the National Christian Conference, putting

forth the labour standards that she wanted the churches to endorse. The conference

adopted her proposals.

During her tenure in China, Harrison put into motion the mechanisms for major

improvements for factory workers. Her skill lay in her ability to convince seemingly

opposing or competitive forces to work together for the greater good. Idealist though she

was, she knew that she needed hard data and proof of precedence to convince business

people and the government that all would gain in the process of improving the conditions

of the most oppressed. Harrison did her homework and was also willing to witness

unspeakable conditions firsthand. She took others on her tours to the factories so that they

would have the images of deprivation seared into their memories and be compelled to

speak out. Had the possession of a great sense of humour and a concrete record of

success not tempered Harrison's earnestness, she might have remained in the realm of the

well-meaning "do-gooder." However, her knowledge and her ability to come up with

realistic solutions combined with her empathy for the oppressed and diplomacy in dealing

with those in high places came together to produce results. Eventually, the Municipal

Council in Shanghai was persuaded to set up a Child Labour Commission. Other

organizations in Shanghai backed up the work of the commission. One manufacturing

firm voluntarily agreed to make the proposed improvements, thereby opening the way for

others to follow. However, there were still many challenges. When it was known that

Dame Adelaide Anderson, another British labour expert, was on a world tour, Harrison

cabled to see whether she would come to Shanghai to help with the commission work.

Anderson agreed, arriving in December 1923. Not long after, Harrison left China

having completed what she felt was her part in the work.49

By this time, Harrison's reputation as a mediator had been established. After

returning to Britain, she was asked to give talks all over the country. She also received a

request from the National Christian Council in India to go there to do similar work in the

field of labour relations. In the letter she wrote to decline the offer, Harrison revealed a

growing awareness of a change in her attitude regarding religiously or spiritually inspired

endeavours.

[B]y reason of what I saw [in China] I have had entirely to alter my mind about Christianity. You don't come to. a change of mind like that without a certain amount of conflict. Though I am convinced on the matter, I feel I need time to assimilate that conviction and not be forced into a position, as I should be forced in India, of helping to lead out the Christian forces.50

Harrison was well aware of the fact that "Christian forces" were too often associated with

colonial agendas. She was not alone in coming to this conclusion. There is growing

evidence to suggest that among YWCA workers in China, Harrison found like-minded

Christian women who were more finely attuned to Chinese aspirations and, as Karen

Garner suggests, they were "rethink[ing] their relationship with imperialism and

4%. Ibid., pp. 31-44. 49. In the end all the work of the labour commission came to naught when anti-imperialist protests

culminated in the May 30th, 1925 Incident, also referred to as the "Shanghai Affair." The Chinese had good reasons for revolting against foreign power and privilege and among various actions taken on the part of Shanghai workers was obstruction of the introduction of child labour laws. For more details, see Karen Garner, "Redefining Institutional Identity: the YWCA Challenge to Extraterritoriality in China, 1925-30," Women's History Review, 10:3 (2001): 409—440; Nancy Boyd, Emissaries: The Overseas Work of the American YWCA 1895-1970 (New York: The Woman's Press, 1986): 137-8. Alison R. Drucker, "The Role of the YWCA in the Development of the Chinese Women's Movement, 1890-1927," Social Service Review (September 1979): 421—440. For further references to Harrison's work in China, see Karen Garner, Precious Fire: Maud Russell and the Chinese Revolution (Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 2003); Roger Boshier and Yan Huang, "The Untold Story of 'Foreign Devil' Adult Educators in Shanghai Silk Factories (1920 to 1949)," Adult Education Quarterly, Vol. 57, No. 4 (August 2007): 329-345.

50. Harrison, Agatha Harrison: An Impression, p. 46.

237

governmental power."51 While it is difficult to pinpoint when and how Harrison

developed her thinking on issues of class and "race," in particular, it is apparent that her

earlier work with factory girls in Britain coupled with her years in China opened her eyes

to systemic inequalities and imperialistic agendas. Obviously, the quality of the people

with whom she worked in China helped to lessen her general skepticism about those

involved in efforts organized by religious bodies. Garner's biography of American

YWCA worker Maud Russell reveals that some Westerners in China moved away from

Christianity as they absorbed a more Communist perspective. Harrison, on the other

hand, found herself gradually moving from a religiously ambivalent stance towards

eventual membership in the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), but not before

considerable "assimilation" of conviction and long association with the India Conciliation

Group and Gandhi.

Instead of going to India at this juncture, Harrison accepted an invitation to the

United States to head up a department of social sciences and economics for the YWCA.

She spent three years in the United States, a vibrant but also restorative period of work

and friendship building after the intensity of China.52 After her return to Britain in 1928,

Harrison's next undertaking moved her away from the more established institutions with

which she had been involved and into the political realm of women's peace activism

through association with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

51. Garner, "Redefining Institutional Identity," 409. Ruth Compton Brouwer, in Modern Women Modernizing Men: The Changing Missions of Three Professional Women in Asia and Africa, 1902-69 (Vancouver-Toronto: UBC Press, 2002), p.3 also notes that at the very time when "self-conscious moderns in the West" were questioning Christianity's role in the world, Christian missions abroad were serving as agents of modernity in colonial and non-Western settings.

52. "Y.W.C.A. Meeting Brings 3000 Here. Eighth Biennial Convention Notable Foreign Guests," New York Times 27 April 1924. This article lists Harrison as a speaker. Another article, "Chinese Labor, Menaced by Exploiters, Forming Unions," The New York Times, 4 May 1924, reports on Harrison's work in China.

(WILPF). It will be remembered that Polly Chesley and Muriel Lester were both early

members of this feminist peace organization. For six months, Harrison toured throughout

the country under the auspices of WILPF, helping to organize pre-election work among

women voters and candidates with particular concern around issues of peace and

disarmament.53 Again, documentation is missing on when Harrison formulated her own

commitment to these issues; however, this pre-election work was the beginning of a life­

long association with WILPF during which Harrison served in many capacities.

Furthermore, her international experience in China and subsequently in India would

prepare her for playing an important role in educating and informing Western women

concerning the oppressive nature of imperialism, a point not always recognized by

feminists, who often assumed an imperialist stance in dealing with their "sisters" in other

lands.54 Harrison's promotion of understanding among women from diverse cultures and

political perspectives and her contributions to the work of WILPF were internationally

recognized. In turn, the network of friendships formed within the organization

undoubtedly helped to sustain Harrison in both her personal and professional life.

Harrison's introduction to India came unexpectedly when, with only nine days'

notice, she was asked to accompany a team of twelve members (six British and six

Indian) who made up the Royal Commission on Labour, established by the British

Government in 1929. Not a member herself, her task was to serve as a personal assistant

53. Harrison, Agatha Harrison: An Impression, p. 50-51. Minutes 9 July 1929, WILPF Executive Committee, WILPF 1/5, LSE Archives, London.

54. For citations on international feminists and India, see Chapter 1. On the Chinese front, see Sarah Paddle, "The Limits of Sympathy: International Feminists and the Chinese 'slave girl' Campaigns of the 1920s and 1930s," Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History 4(3) (2003): 1-22.

to Beryl Power, the only woman on the commission. Because of her reputation as

something of a maverick, Harrison's acceptance of a position with a royal commission

took friends and associates by surprise. However, Power must have understood the

potential value of Harrison's unconventionality and thought that she might be able to

pave the way for discussions with those who would otherwise shun the commission

(labour leaders in India were encouraging a boycott of the commission). This proved to

be the case. People were willing to talk with Harrison and she, in turn, was able to

facilitate communication, outside of the formal hearings, between workers or union

leaders in India and commission members. Harrison, through her letters home, painted a

vivid picture of the schizophrenic shift required to flip between the extravagance and

pageantry of formal dinner parties with majors, colonels, business and government

officials and the appalling conditions experienced by the women workers in mines and

factories. Harrison walked a fine line at times. Known for her ability to exercise skill in

diplomacy for the purposes of subtle conversion of those in power who were blind to the

suffering of Indian workers, she also could be forthright in her indignation when the

limits of her patience had been reached. Describing her frustration she wrote:

Sometimes I feel that I shall get up and hit someone on the head when I see men smugly sitting around saying things about women in the mines that were said in 1844. When I protested over the loads the women were carrying, one man said: 'Why Miss Harrison, I've seen a woman carry a piano on her back.' 'Would you let your wife do that?' I asked him. Then they get angry with me.56

Working either alone or in a minority of women among men, Harrison carved out

55. Beryl Power (1891-1974), a graduate of Girton College, University of Cambridge, had been an active suffragist in the women's movement and then went on to become a senior civil servant, holding key positions in several government ministries over the course of her career. Power's papers are housed in the Girton College Archives.

56. Harrison, Agatha Harrison: An Impression, p. 61.

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her own role much of the time. Empathetic to the sufferings of others (some opined that

she was overly so),57 Harrison made it part of her mission to try to sensitize men in power

concerning the problems caused by imperialist and capitalist practices, and indirectly

recruited the wives of such men for her project. In one letter she describes her approach:

Part of what I feel to be my job is to see that these women attend the sessions. In the coal fields a number of wives turned up. Afterwards an indignant husband told me his wife was quite Bolshevic [sic] on account of what she heard! How could

CO

she be anything else... ?

While Harrison was critical of the pomp and ceremony and attitudes attached to

colonial rule, there is a sense that she often enjoyed playing her part in the drama.

Described by one colleague as a "tragedy queen," and known for her theatrical flair and

wit, one can imagine that Harrison both loved and hated participating in the pageantry of

the empire. With her penchant for dressing up,59 she enjoyed the challenge of being in

style on a limited budget under difficult conditions. From India she wrote, "It is hard

wear on my evening clothes, I hope they last till I get back. I wonder whether any other

woman has achieved what I have—going round India dining with these important people

and wearing a Woolworth pearl necklace!"60 On another occasion, when the commission

arrived at Government House without their luggage and dinner was delayed, Harrison

showed her derision of upper-class etiquette. "Why we could not dine in our traveling

clothes beats me—but evidently the earth would open up if we did."

57. British Intelligence kept a file on Harrison from 1932-1947. One report said, "She is a worthy sort of person who distresses herself quite unnecessarily about the state of affairs in India." India Office Records IOR:/L/PJ/12/444, File 158/32. Public and Judicial Department, File on Agatha Harrison, 1932.

58. Harrison, Agatha Harrison: An Impression, p. 65. 59. According to Geoffrey Carnall, a member of the Friends' Service Unit (FSU) in India and Pakistan

from 1948-1950 (and who described her as the tragedy queen), Agatha Harrison always dressed formally in a long gown for dinner (amidst her casually dressed fellow Quakers) when she stayed at Friends' Ambulance Unit (FAU) headquarters in New Delhi.

60. Harrison, Agatha Harrison: An Impression, p. 61.

241

To some extent, Harrison's obvious pride and pleasure in looking her best within

the limits of a small pocketbook points to her peculiar positioning among different sets of

people. Based on photographs and her own correspondence which hints at an awareness

that she did not possess the beauty of other women she observed, it may be that Harrison

compensated by paying close attention to the details of dress. She carried herself with

dignity, yet within the casual world of Quaker relief workers, she appeared overly formal.

Among officialdom, on the other hand, she had to pull off the appearance of fitting in

with people far wealthier than she would ever be. This concern for appearances had both

a gendered and class aspect and, as one observer who knew her commented, Harrison and

her colleague in the India Conciliation Group, Horace Alexander, were polar opposites

with regard to such concern. Geoffrey Carnall states that in contrast to Harrison,

Alexander "was notoriously negligent" regarding care for appearance, but that it

"evidently had no adverse effect on his diplomatic skills."61 It is doubtful that a woman

could get away with such negligence and still be respected. As well, Alexander's

credentials as the son of a barrister and a graduate of Cambridge University placed him in

a class position that Harrison could not claim. The care with which Harrison dressed and

spent her money also had to do with financial constraints. Carnall recounts how, when

Harrison suffered a fall in Delhi and "an anxious bystander asked if she had hurt herself,

her immediate response was 'I have ruined a perfectly good pair of silk stockings'".

Over the course of her life, Harrison would meet many of the most politically and

socially influential people of the era. While she sought to keep a low profile in the midst

61. My thanks go to Geoffrey Carnall for sharing portions of his soon-to-be published manuscript on the life of Horace Alexander, Gandhi's Interpreter: A Life of Horace Alexander (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, forthcoming, 2010).

62. Carnall manuscript.

242

of many limelight opportunities, one senses that she enjoyed the glamour of socializing

with powerful individuals even if, at the same time, she might be critical of their politics.

For example, speaking of one of the Labour Commission members, Harrison recounted to

her sisters, "Sir Victor [Sassoon] has just come in with lovely saris he sent for from his

mills for Mrs. Whitely, Beryl and me. He is a queer mixture. As a mill-owner I don't like

his point of view—but he is a charmer."63 In another reference to Sassoon, Harrison

wrote: "As you know I make a point of visiting the latrines in factories. I hear that

wretch, Sir Victor, has given me the name of Latrine Queen! He is a comical creature. All

the same, he too inspects them."64 Historian Barbara Ramusack perceptively pointed out

that Harrison, without being aware of it at the time, had in common with Gandhi a

concern for sanitation.65

During this first trip to India, Harrison and Beryl Power "ran off from a meeting

in order to see Gandhi." She did not meet him but merely observed from a distance,

writing to her family, "I'll always remember that sight—a surge of people, and then

suddenly a roar as the slight, emaciated figure came in...." The following day, she was

introduced as "the humanising force on the Commission" by one of the Indian members

of the commission to Jawaharlal Nehru, of whom she wrote, "Remember this name, for

you are likely to hear a good deal about him in the future." 66 Little did Harrison realize at

the time how significant and enduring her ties would be with these two leading figures.

63. Harrison, Agatha Harrison: An Impression, p. 58. 64. Ibid., p. 64. 65. Barbara Ramusack, "Catalysts or Helpers? British Feminists, Indian Women's Rights, and Indian

Independence," The Extended Family: Women and Political Participation in India and Pakistan, ed. Gail Minault (Delhi: Charakya Publications, 1981), p. 132. Ruth Compton Brouwer also mentions that when the Canadian missionary, Dr. Chone Oliver, met with Gandhi, one of the "congenial topics of conversation" included latrine building. Modern Women Modernizing Men, p. 126.

66. Harrison, Agatha Harrison: An Impression, p. 57.

243

While in India she wished that she had more background knowledge of the country;

nevertheless, Harrison took in much while she was there. In reflecting on the mixed

opinions about Gandhi, she observed, "There is something underneath that I am

continuously aware of, a kind of grim spirit of determination...." Sooner than she would

have imagined Harrison would add her own determination to the Indian struggle.

Harrison spent six months in India. A little over a year after her return to Britain,

a Mrs. Alexander Whyte,67 for whom she was temporarily working, asked Harrison to put

aside the scheduled tasks in order to help a visitor at the house with his work. Gandhi's

close friend, C.F. Andrews, had arrived at the Whyte home and was involved in preparing

for Gandhi's stay in London to attend the Second Round Table Conference. Andrews, a

well-beloved Church of England theologian whose gifts for friendship and promotion of

international and interfaith understanding were world-renowned, did not have equal talent

for organization or maintaining focus. Along with the preparations for Gandhi's arrival,

Andrews had arrived with a brief case brimming over with unanswered letters and

numerous half-finished writing projects. Taking on Andrews as her next project, Agatha

Harrison began the challenging task of sorting and organizing this thoroughly

disorganized but famous friend of Gandhi, as well as Rabindranath Tagore and other

Indian luminaries. The timing could not have been more auspicious, for it would be

through Andrews that Agatha Harrison would come to the attention of Gandhi and that

the next major phase of her life's work would begin.

67. According to historian Hugh Tinker, Whyte was listed as a member of the India Conciliation Group and widow of the former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. "The India Conciliation Group, 1931-50: Dilemmas of the Mediator," The Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, Vol. 14 (November 1976): 240. In all references to her, she is called Mrs. Alexander Whyte. However, in biographical data concerning her son (Sir Alexander Frederick Whyte), her birth name is revealed as Jane Elizabeth Barbour.

244

During Gandhi's stay in London, Harrison became a key person in making

arrangements, in that Gandhi relied on Andrews's advice regarding engagements to be

made outside of the Round Table meetings and Andrews depended on Harrison to take

care of the details. Harrison must have impressed Gandhi because before he left England

to return to India, he asked if she would dedicate herself to working for mutual

understanding between India and Britain. With no other guidelines from Gandhi than

"God will direct your steps," Harrison began a loosely defined but demanding position

that would last for twenty years.

On the surface, it would appear that Harrison had extremely good fortune to move

from one job to another where she was given great freedom to be creative and to define

the work that she would do. However, while synchronicity worked in her favour, it is

more likely that the exciting and challenging work came to her precisely because she had

many years of experience behind her and had proved to be creative in problem solving

and conciliation work. Under the title of "honorary secretary" of the newly formed India

Conciliation Group (ICG), Harrison functioned in a vast number of roles, both in

professional and personal capacities. Because of Andrews's standing with Gandhi and

other Indians, he served as the group's plenipotentiary. According to her sister, one of the

ways that Harrison interpreted Gandhi's request for her involvement was that she would

help Andrews, in whatever way seemed useful.68 This commitment to assisting C.F.A.

(Harrison's name for him) involved a devotion to both the cause and the man and would

continue until his death in 1940. Apparently there were friends who thought that Charlie

would do well to marry Agatha. Hugh Tinker, one of Andrews's biographers, suggested

68. Harrison, Agatha Harrison: An Impression, p. 68.

245

that Harrison "might have longed for this to happen" and that she "accepted some of the

burdens of a wife without any of the benefits."69 However, it seems likely that Harrison

was no more interested in the bonds of marriage than Andrews. One suspects that Agatha,

with her talent for organization and commitment to the ideals of the work that Andrews

was carrying out, found the "burdens" easier to shoulder because she was not a wife. It is

evident that their relationship grew into one of mutual care and admiration; however,

there is nothing to indicate a desire for the intimacy of marriage. In a letter to C.F.A.

referring to someone's suggestion that the two should marry, Agatha said, "You looked

as though you were at bay, and I laughed for I know exactly how you were feeling. I also

have many friends who have wanted to possess me and I know how restive I get."70

Until the time of CFA's death in 1940, Harrison tended to many organizational

details for this beloved but scattered man. There is no indication that Andrews himself

paid for Harrison's services—more often than not, he lived almost from hand to mouth,

asking for advances from his publisher while at the same time, giving away what money

he might earn through his books. Harrison's work for Andrews was considered part of

her contribution to the Indian cause and thus her income derived from the funding

provided by Gandhi's benefactor, G.D. Birla.

In the early twentieth century, even feminists like Harrison who earned their

living working outside of the home often played that familiar "angel in the house" role so

poignantly described by Virginia Woolf, yet enacted in the public sphere. Gillian

69. Hugh Tinker, The Ordeal of Love: C.F. Andrews and India (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1979), pp. 259,261.

70. There is no indication in anything Harrison wrote that she had romantic notions about CFA. On the other hand, correspondence with her sisters spoke of a chance meeting up with someone whom she had known in the past and to whom she still felt some attraction although no relationship was possible because the man was married. Friends House Library, London, Agatha Harrison papers, Temp MS 883/2/7,29 and 31 December, 1936, 882/2/8, 26 February, 1939.

246

Thomas, in her study of women contributors to the 1910 edition of the Encylopaedia

Britannica, suggests that "many of the women who made their living as authors or

scholars interpreted their own professional role as one of helpmeet to their male

colleagues and employers."71 Harrison was not known to be a shrinking violet and in

spite of occasional confessions of self-doubt, she seems to have had, overall, a confidence

and sense of personal mission that did not readily place her in a submissive role. Her

work for Andrews and Gandhi seemed to come from a sense of common commitment to

the goals that these men were pursuing. As a "background" person, Harrison had carried

out similar functions when working with women such as those with whom she associated

in China and also with Beryl Power, while on her first mission to India.

Of particular relevance to this study is the work that Harrison carried out in the

name of the India Conciliation Group (ICG). Hugh Tinker referred to Agatha as the

"linch-pin" of the ICG.72 The ICG, formed while Gandhi was in London in 1931 for the

Round Table talks and comprised of British friends of India, took on the unenviable role

of go-between in an effort to support Gandhi's goal of a peaceful evolution of India from

a colony to an independent nation. The chair of the ICG was a well-regarded Quaker,

Carl Heath, who had been the former secretary of the National Peace Council. Among

ICG members there were several Quakers, leading clergy and other political and social

activists. Over the next twenty years, Harrison would play a highly significant role in

keeping Gandhi's lines of communication open with both the British government and the

British public. She carried on a prodigious correspondence with British administrators,

71. Gillian Thomas, A Position to Command Respect: Women and the Eleventh Britannica (Metuchen, N.J. & London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1992), p. 65.

72. Tinker, The Ordeal of Love, p. 252.

Indian politicians, and religious figures in the East and West. She wrote articles for The

Manchester Guardian and other journals.

Because the parameters of Harrison's job were unspecified, Agatha interpreted

her role in a multitude of ways. Part backroom negotiator, part social convener, part

"auntie' to Indian students studying in Britain, part rebel, part diplomat—Harrison, one

suspects, revelled in the freedom of such loosely defined employment. She also took her

job very seriously and, in spite of her faith in Gandhi's mission, she found herself not

always in agreement with a particular position he might take. Harrison's diplomacy,

combined with her penchant for truth-telling, did have the effect of influencing Gandhi to

modify his stance upon occasion. Where this did not seem possible, she respected

Gandhi's motives enough to allow that he might, in the end, be correct in taking a

position that she and others might not understand.

Harrison spent time in India for several critical periods during the independence

struggle. One particularly sensitive series of negotiations occurred in 1946 when Britain

sent out three Cabinet Ministers to discuss with Indians the basis on which independence

could come into effect. William Pethick-Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps, and A.V.

Alexander, First Lord of the Admiralty, comprised the delegation. The struggle for

independence had been such a long one that, by this time, Indians were hardly in the

mood to trust Britain. Devolution of British rule was to be further complicated by the

factional differences within India itself. It was, perhaps, inevitable that the mission was

doomed to fail, given the complexity of issues, compounded by mistrust on all sides;

nevertheless, Harrison, in collaboration with her fellow ICG member, Horace Alexander,

made valiant efforts as intermediaries, holding on to the faint hope that the differences

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that existed between the sides could be resolved in some way. In her role as go-between,

she experienced stress and disappointment when opposing sides could not close the gap

on their differences. At times, she felt that the Indian side was intransigent, at other times,

the British. She managed, occasionally, to persuade either one or the other party to

modify its position; however, in the end, Partition with its attendant violence and

devastation became the poor compromise and one that did not successfully meet the

hopes of any side. In military parlance one might say that Harrison and the ICG had the

occasional victory in the peacemaking "skirmishes," but ultimately lost the war. In truth,

as pacifists (and, therefore, idealists), they wished to eliminate the whole concept of war,

the language of war and the notion of opposing sides with irreconcilable differences.

Harrison's job as "interpreter" was put to the test many times and there were those

who found her to be meddlesome; nevertheless at a number of critical junctures when

tensions ran high between opposing parties, Harrison stepped in to help keep the lines of

communication open. As well, even though the India Office officials did not always want

to deal with her, Harrison managed to smooth the way for humanitarian consideration of

various Indians who required administrative intervention at crucial times. On more than

one occasion Harrison gave timely assistance and support to Nehru and his family.

Jawaharlal Nehru's wife Kamala had tuberculosis and when she lay dying at a sanatorium

in Switzerland Nehru was serving time as a political prisoner. Through Harrison's

pressure on the India Office, Nehru was released from jail in order to join his wife in the

last stage of her life in 1936. As well, on more than one occasion, Agatha served as an

adoptive aunt to Nehru's daughter Indira, helping her at times of sickness and confusion

during her schooling in Europe. A number of Indians, either studying or working abroad,

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depended on Harrison's help in both personal matters and circumstances that required

intervention with official bodies. Because her "job" had no formal description of duties,

she was free to interpret how best to help India and Indians.

A letter to her sisters as well as Horace Alexander's fascinating record of the

meetings at Simla give a picture of Harrison's ability to mix important political business

with more down-to-earth activities. Harrison and Alexander were the two members of the

Indian Conciliation Group most closely associated with Gandhi. When C.F. Andrews

died, Gandhi had asked Alexander to step into his shoes, a sometimes daunting task for

Alexander, for he readily admitted that he did not have the same awareness of Indian

sensibilities.73 It is obvious that Alexander had great respect for Harrison's skills at

diplomacy and capacity for building friendships and trust in unlikely situations.

Alexander's account of the various complex personalities and meetmgs at Simla is

interspersed with comments on Harrison's admirable handling of politically sensitive

situations as well as observing her more "feminine" side. "Then, on the veranda or the

front door steps after breakfast, Agatha spent half an hour each day doing flowers, and

thereby making the whole house seem gay and home-like."74 Harrison's own account to

her sisters indicates more fully the mixture of tasks that she obviously enjoyed.

I wish you could see the difference my massed flowers have made to this place. I have also borrowed a duster from Lady Maharaj Singh.... I feel quite domesticated. In between, I deal with important messages to Viceregal Lodge, pick up all kinds of information, eat a great deal of good Indian, vegetarian food,

73. In a letter to Dorothy Hogg, Muriel Lester's niece by marriage, and someone who also knew Gandhi and served as an "interpreter" of the Indian independence leader to British audiences, Alexander once wrote: "... which of course just shows that you have a real understanding of Indian ways of thinking, and that you misguidedly assumed that I have it, too. The fact of the matter is that I have a hopelessly matter of fact western outlook, and that it is only some curious perversity of fate that has mixed me up with the mystics of the East...," dated 11-10-42, Horace Alexander papers, Temp MSS 577/82a, Friends Library, London.

74. "Simla-May 1946-A Personal Account," Temp MSS 577/82c, Horace Alexander papers, Friends Library.

250

and wander to the lower part of the garden to have a cigarette. So it is a mixture of many things—a queer life.75

Agatha Harrison did not draw a fine line of distinction between the private and

public sphere. In today's jargon, Harrison had a great capacity for "multi-tasking."

Whether it was a matter of making a newcomer from India feel comfortable in London or

engineering high-level intervention in political issues, Harrison gave her considered

attention to each and every task. India Office staff may have found Harrison to be a thorn

in their side at times; yet, aware of the respect that she had earned in many quarters, they

knew that they could not brush her aside. She had the ear of Gandhi and in those times of

intense stress and difference between the Indian and British sides, Harrison could be

relied upon to keep looking for conciliatory measures to bridge gaps in understanding.

Within the British administration itself, there were contradictory opinions. One report

from 1934 on her activities in India follows:

[She] seemed not only fully prepared but even anxious to see both sides of the picture.... On return from the tour [of North Bihar], she interviewed His Excellency the Governor of Bihar and Orissa.. .to suggest that as Gandhi had insisted on 'tendering respectful cooperation to Government', he (the Governor) should take the opportunity of renewing contact between him (Gandhi) and the Government.. .emphatic that this move was entirely her own and had not been suggested by anybody in the Congress camp. She created a favourable impression on His Excellency who did not consider her of the class of Gandhi's admirers who can see no good in the British Administration.. .Her theme was the possibility of reconciliation and the return to the idealistic conditions which, she considered, might have resulted from a generous observance by both parties of the Irwin-Gandhi Pact.76

In contrast, another report in secret intelligence files summed up one officer's

opinion of Harrison's activities over the years:

Briefly she is a high-souled crank who with the best intentions continually made a nuisance of herself to those responsible for law and order, by encouraging

75. Letter dated 8 May 1946, MSS 883/2/10 Agatha Harrison papers, Friends Library, London. 76. India Office Records, L/PJ/12/444/4/SOCS/3/4-11, 1934.

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extreme Indian nationalists whom she regarded as the blameless victims of brutal imperialism.77

With these final words, in 1947 the British authorities wrapped up their file on Agatha

Harrison. Britain was divesting itself of India so the government no longer felt the need

to keep track of this problematic woman who had worked for the

Indian cause. By this time, Harrison was sixty-two years old. Gaining independence

ceased to be the issue; however, the violence and destruction wrought by the communal

division of the country into India and Pakistan continued to be of concern to India's

Western friends. Committed pacifists such as Quakers and members of the Fellowship of

Reconciliation (FOR), some of whom were also Quakers, went to war-torn areas to

continue in their role as conciliators, this time between Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and other

communities. As well, Quakers such as Margaret Jones and Harrison's colleague, Horace

Alexander, also participated in famine and medical relief efforts throughout this chaotic

period.

If officials from the India Office or Central Intelligence were not so keen on

Harrison's interference in international matters, she had established great credibility and

true friendships among Indians and even among those who would eventually become

Pakistanis. Along with Gandhi and many others, Harrison had hoped for a united

independent India. When this no longer seemed a possibility, Gandhi very regretfully

accepted the inevitability of the division, realizing that to go against the will of the

Muslim League to create its own state would defeat his goal of a new, free India. In the

lead up to Partition, Harrison made a house call to Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the president

of the Muslim League, with no expectations that it would make any political difference in

77. IOR, L/PJ/12/444/22. 17 September 1947.1 believe that the same officer reported on Muriel Lester.

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the outcome, but more as an attempt to keep communication open and as a gesture of

friendship. Her letter recounting this meeting to fellow ICG member, Carl Heath,

captures the icy tension of Jinnah's first response, yet also reveals Harrison's ability to

find common ground with someone as apparently forbidding as Jinnah. Not without

humour, she wrote:

For a split second there was a deathly silence. Then he asked if I smoked. And the silence was broken over the friendly act of giving me a light!! Many of you who look with perhaps dismay on my 'vice', can have no idea what it meant at this juncture. For he too is a great smoker.78

Harrison had met Jinnah on more than one occasion, but it was her expression of

appreciation for his support of the early women's movement that helped to create the real

bridge between the Briton and the austere future president of Pakistan. Jinnah had spent

his early university years in England during the time when the Women's Social and

Political Union (WSPU) was at its most active. Harrison had been a member of the

WSPU (yet another indication of her feminist roots) and remembered Jinnah's prominent

support of women's rights. Although the two wrapped up their meeting with the hope of

seeing one another again, it did not happen. Jinnah lived barely more than a year after the

founding of the new Pakistan. However, Harrison took one more opportunity to pay her

respects, at Jinnah's memorial gathering held in London. In her autobiography, the

Begum Ikramullah, one of Pakistan's first Members of Parliament, made it clear that she

deeply appreciated Harrison's tribute to Jinnah. In her concluding remarks, Harrison had

said, "Even then [during WSPU days] he was not afraid of championing an unpopular

cause." At a time when Pakistan (and Jinnah) had fewer international friends than India,

78. Letter to Carl Heath, 2 April 1946, MSS 883/16 Agatha Harrison papers, Friends Library, London. 79. Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah, From Purdah to Parliament (Oxford: Oxford University Press,

1998), p. 186. This book was first published in London by Cresset Press in 1963.

253

such an acknowledgement must have meant a great deal to those representing Pakistan.

In 1949, Harrison returned to India.80 Urged by her friend Rajkumari Amrit Kaur

(one of Gandhi's supporters and now Minister of Health in the new government) and

backed up by Jawaharlal Nehru, now Prime Minister of the newly independent India,

Harrison returned to the country to experience how freedom from imperialism might feel.

Kaur wrote:

I spoke to Jawaharlal and he too agreed that you should come out this winter.... You and your Group [ICG] are doing extremely valuable work for us, I think it necessary that you should see for yourself what this Government is trying to do and how far we are trying to live up to Gandhiji's teachings under the most difficult circumstances.81

Harrison was warmly welcomed and feted by all the major political figures,

mostly former associates of Gandhi, and it would seem that even low-level civil servants

knew who she was. Among several similar instances, she recounts how, at Customs,

when she showed her passport, the officer, seeing her name said, "You worked with the

Father of our Nation—there is nothing for me to ask." The man did not even want to look

at her luggage. She gleefully wrote to her sisters, "You should have seen the faces of two

'I have been 30 years in Poona' men (one with a monocle) whose luggage was carefully

inspected! !"82 Her initial experience of post-colonial India was one of relief. "I felt I

go

could breathe, could meet people as an equal."

Harrison experienced joyful reunions and encouraging signs of change. For

example, while visiting a hospital in Karachi, she observed one nurse on rounds with a

80. Harrison made two trips to India in 1949, one from January to May and another in November, staying on until May 1950. A subsequent trip had been planned for late 1954; however, Harrison died in May of that year.

81. Harrison, Agatha Harrison: An Impression, p. 123. 82. Ibid., p. 127. 83. Ibid, p. 123.

254

doctor in a men's ward, and discovered that only three months previously, the young

woman had been in purdah. The feminist in Harrison commented, "Another silent

revolution."84 In spite of her age and relatively high-profile status in India, Harrison's old

spunk and adaptability is apparent in her description of the return voyage:

There are four in our cabin, two married women—one with a small boy, three and a half. The wives are kept busy washing their own, husbands' and children's clothes, for the laundry—save for the ship's needs, is not functioning. Picture your small bedroom with four people, luggage, four berths and now a clothes line-full! It's an experience in living! Happily the things dry swiftly. I have an upper berth, so no one can be sick over me and I can read and play patience at night. I feel very lucky for I was prepared for anything.85

The primary purpose of Harrison's second trip later that year was to attend the

World Pacifist Conference. All the delegates were present on December 7, 1949, when

Harrison officially opened the C.F. Andrews Memorial Hall at Santineketan, Tagore's

famous school and the site for part of the conference.86 After Andrews's death in 1940,

Gandhi had initiated a memorial fundraising campaign and this was the culmination of

that effort. After the conference Harrison stayed with her friend Amrit Kaur and attended

various celebrations inaugurating the new republic. Her plans to leave in February

changed when new troubles broke out in Bengal. Harrison cancelled her return flight to

London and stayed on to help in whatever way she could. She stepped into the fray of

communal unrest and labour stoppage involving a large jute factory, helping to organize

relief as well as to play her familiar role as conciliator. Writing to friends after her return

to Britain, Harrison both hinted at the horror she witnessed and also framed her own

involvement with a humility and understated courage common to other women in this

S4.Ibid,-p. 125. 85. Ibid, p. 126. 86. The second part of the conference convened at Sevagram, Gandhi's ashram at Wardha.

255

study. Her letter, which circulated among friends and associates, also reveals the

enduring optimism of the committed pacifist:

[F]or two months I worked with the members of the Friends' Service Unit in both Calcutta and Dacca (Pakistan). There are no words to describe that time. If any of you have been similarly placed you will know the toll such uprisings take in spiritual and physical energy. Contact between the two [republics] was ruptured; thousands of frightened refugees streaming from one side to the other. In this situation we worked, privileged to pass between the two sides. This experience taught me much about 'practical peacemaking'. The Pact that resulted from the meeting of Nehru and Liaquat Ali Khan was referred to as a 'miracle'. I can testify to the truth of this. And though much may be said about the subsequent difficulties of implementing it, the fact remains, despite unsettled Kashmir, that two countries are at this moment working out their disputes by peaceful means.87

Harrison left India in May of 1950 and was soon invited to become a member of

an international team of Quaker observers with consultative status at the United

Nations.88 At the time, tensions between Russia and the West were of serious concern. Of

her appointment Harrison wrote, "I suppose I was chosen because of my Far Eastern

contacts."89 In her role, she continued doing the kind of background diplomatic work for

which she was well known. It would seem that Harrison had that rare combination of

intelligence, compassion, wit and practicality that made her both personally appealing

and highly respected by ordinary souls and world leaders alike. At the time of her death,

she had been in the midst of bringing Chinese Communists into communication with

other politicians at the UN. The news of her rather sudden death in May of 1954 in the

midst of meetings in Geneva was broadcast throughout the world. Hallam Tennyson, who

was at the time working in an Indian village, heard the news on the radio and commented

87. Letter from Agatha Harrison, 17 August 1950. Vera Brittain Archives, Incoming Correspondence (Series J), William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections, McMaster University.

88. Harrison, Agatha Harrison: An Impression, p. 138. 89. Letter from Agatha Harrison, 17 August 1950. Vera Brittain Archives, Incoming Correspondence

(Series J), William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections, McMaster University.

256

that the villagers had probably never seen Agatha but that they knew who she was. Such

was her status in India that, upon her death, the government set up the Agatha Harrison

Memorial Fellowship for Indian doctoral students studying at Oxford. This fellowship

continues today. To have a sense of her standing within political, social and religious

circles, it is worth quoting at some length from the account of her memorial service, held

at Friends House in London.

[Flowers] were from India House.. .the Women's Council of India, Pakistan and Ceylon.. .family.. .friends. [Company included] High Commissioner for India, a Counsellor from Pakistan House, representatives of the Commonwealth Relations Office and the Indonesian Embassy... the Women's International League, the East-West Friendship Council, the National Peace Council, the India League, the Fellowship and International Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Peace Pledge Union, the United Nations Association, the Women's Freedom League, the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, the Methodist Peace Fellowship, the Y.W.C.A., the London School of Economics, ...the International Missionary Council.91

There were Members of Parliament, well-known writers, activists, Indians and Quakers

present. Messages were read from both the Prime Minister and President of India, Lady

Mountbatten, the United Nations staff in New York, Lester Pearson (then Canadian

Minister of External Affairs), Prince Wan of Thailand and numerous other international

r- 92

figures.

If there are few people still alive who remember Harrison, and if knowledge of

90. Quoted in Harrison, Agatha Harrison: An Impression, p. 155. Hallam Tennyson (great-grandson of Alfred Lord Tennyson) knew several of the women in this study—Mary Barr, Marjorie Sykes and Agatha Harrison. He carried out relief and reconstruction work in India for three years. A writer and broadcaster, he credited Agatha Harrison and her "meticulous files" with inspiring him to write the book India's Walking Saint: The Story ofVinoba Bhave (New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1955) concerning the Bhoodan movement. In the Preface, Tennyson states that Harrison supplied much of the background information and Marjorie Sykes, a "dear friend," gave him the necessary encouragement. In a conversation this writer had with Tennyson in London in January 2004, he confessed that he had found Harrison somewhat forbidding, but that he recognized her great integrity. At the time of meeting her, Tennyson would have been in his late 20s or early 30s, so it is possible that he was incapable of tapping into the lighter side of Agatha Harrison.

91. "At Friends House," The Friend, 14 May 1954: 430. 92. Ibid.

her part in historical events tends to recede as the years go by, what can be said of her

legacy? 93 Perhaps, Harrison's own words in response to her friend Vera Brittain, who

desired to put her name forward for the Queen's Birthday Honours list, reveals something

important about the nature of "invisible" work carried out by individuals such as herself

without fanfare. In referring to her refusal to be named for honour, Harrison said:

It is difficult to put into words why I react so strongly against it. Much of conciliation is of necessity done in the background. Any result that may accrue is due to the co-operative effort of many men and women who believe in the more excellent way of working. Therefore to single out one, seems to me to lose sight of the nature of this kind of work.94

Foregoing the limelight, Agatha Harrison articulated her belief in the importance

of the sometimes anonymous "background" work, recognizing that any success involved

the cooperative efforts of many. Agatha Harrison, Muriel Lester, and all the women in

this study understood that their participation as Westerners in the Indian story had to be

one of support, rather than of leadership. They had a particular interest in India and its

emancipation from imperialism, but their concerns were far broader. The women

recognized that the Indian struggle, both in reality and symbolically represented a more

global problem. As pacifists with an international perspective, they gave their energies to

community service and peace building, largely in India, with a faith that their work might

help to create a better world, free of war. Idealists they may have been, but they were not

blind to reality. Through their faith, they strove to change reality.

93. Although, as previously mentioned, her name is cropping up in more recent historical writings about the period.

94. Quoted in Harrison, Agatha Harrison: An Impression, p. 135-6. Reference to this matter is included in Vera Brittain papers, Incoming Correspondence (Series J), Frederick William Pethick-Lawrence file, and Outgoing Correspondence, Series K, Box 9, letter to Pethick-Lawrence, 12 January, 1951, William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections, McMaster University.

CONCLUSION

Peace is not a passive but an active condition, not a negation but an affirmation. It is a gesture as strong as war.

— Mary Roberts Rinehart

In order that their lives and works are made visible, this dissertation has focused

on the Western women who played, by and large, background roles in the story of India

and its struggle for independence. Rather than making Gandhi the central figure, in this

treatment he functions more as a way of bringing together this collection of women

linked to him and his work. Some writers have focussed on these women individually and

some have interpreted them through what they understand as the women's discipleship

under Gandhi. What this dissertation has argued is that each of these women came to

know and associate with Gandhi not solely because they fell under the spell of his

charisma, although Gandhi had that in abundance. Rather, they each came to be friends

with Gandhi because they already had very strong social, political or spiritual directions

that were largely in sympathy with Gandhi's own vision. These strong-willed women did

not blindly agree with all of Gandhi's ideas or actions but, because one of the remarkable

aspects of Gandhi's personality was that he encouraged critical thinking, his friends and

associates were generally able to maintain the freedom to express their differences with

him while still in agreement with his overall program of change. Gandhi could be

controlling, but he also had the capacity to acknowledge when he was wrong, a

characteristic that inspired respect in his friends, allies and even some of his opponents.

His great faith in equality across sex, religion, class and caste lines appealed especially to

those disadvantaged by or who understood the negative effects of traditional prejudices.

259

The women in this study certainly had a global perspective but they chose to

contribute much of their energies to countering injustice on the Indian subcontinent. Had

they stayed in their own countries (in most cases England1), their political focus might

have remained within feminist and pacifist circles, yet in the context of India, their

strongest allegiance during the pre-independence period was to Gandhi's movement for

political independence and social reconstruction. Gandhi's great faith in the power of

women allowed feminists, whether Eastern or Western, to join the Indian movement

without feeling that they needed to compromise their feminism. Because of Gandhi's

adherence to non-violence, pacifist women (and men) could easily identify with the

movement. The very fact of choosing to live and work in or for India placed these women

outside of British/European class constraints. Coming to India as single women, they

were not restricted by the colonial Raj culture that circumscribed the wives of British

civil servants and military personnel. Some came to teach under the auspices of church

organizations and, as they gained familiarity with India and the aspirations of its people,

they eventually had to make a choice about their allegiances. By leaving the missions and

allying themselves with the nationalist cause, these women stepped further outside of

British/European cultural life. As evidence of their commitment, those among them who

remained in India after Indian independence became citizens of the new nation.

As this dissertation argues, not all Western women living in India held imperialist

views. Likewise, not all anti-imperialists were in agreement with Gandhi and his

philosophy of non-violence. Kumari Jayawardena's study of Western women in South

Asia who did not fit the colonial mold highlights a number of socialist women who were

1. The fact that most of the women came from England most likely can be attributed to the fact that India was part of the British Empire. Also, in the time prior to going to India, some of the women had exposure to Indian intellectuals who, like Gandhi, had gone to Britain for their education.

anti-colonial but not necessarily non-violent. In contrast, a deep commitment to non­

violence as a political, social and spiritual path was a consistently common thread shared

by the women associated with Gandhi.

To what extent were these women overtly political? Mary Chesley (Tarabehn),

Catherine Heilemann (Saralabehn), Muriel Lester and Agatha Harrison had a history of

radical political thinking and activism prior to going to India. It is uncertain what

exposure to radical politics the others had before arriving in India. One can assume that

Marjorie Sykes gained some alternative political views while at Cambridge. Others

became more political once they chose to support the Indian call for independence.

Coming from non-conformist religious traditions and believing in non-violence, their

political and social outlook was anchored by a spiritual faith which made their attraction

to Gandhi a natural fit. Mary Barr, in recounting her emerging interest in Indian politics

wrote: "Although it is always Gandhi's religious and constructive ideas which attract me

most, I could not be in touch with Congress people without getting some interest in the

political movement." Barr's political conviction would later be demonstrated by her

willingness to go to prison in solidarity with Indian women in South Africa and by the

stand that she took at the East/West German border.

While each woman in this study had a unique personality and history, the

commonalities are striking. Most of the women discussed here had elements of

unconventionality in their upbringing or experiences previous to their arrival in India.

With the exception of Saralabehn whose family life was riddled with difficulties and

2. Kumari Jayawardena, The White Woman's Other Burden—Western Women and South Asia During British Rule (New York: Routledge, 1995).

3. F. Mary Barr, Bapu: Conversations and Correspondence with Mahatma Gandhi (Bombay: International Book House [Private] Ltd., 2nd Ed., 1956), p. 36.

261

unhappiness, the others came from supportive families and were allowed freedoms and

opportunities not typical for the times, particularly for female children. As inheritors of

the gains made by the generation of feminist women that preceded them, they pursued

their goals without appearing to be constrained by gender. Stepping out of

British/European culture also allowed them a certain freedom. Single women with no

birth children,4 they were free to lead independent lives and take risks that women in

traditionally gendered roles could not. As Western women in India, they had the liberty to

be different. Constrained neither by Western nor Eastern conventions, they found a

middle ground where they could work within Indian village life, yet not be limited by

local gender expectations. Accepted by Indians because they were willing to live simply

and contribute to the betterment of the community rather than hold themselves apart, they

provided a counter to the prevailing imperialist Westerners that most Indians had grown

to distrust. According to Saralabehn, she did at times encounter initial mistrust on the part

of Indians who feared that she was an agent of the British. Nevertheless, when people

recognized her commitment to India's movement for independence, she became a hero in

the eyes of many for her daring stand against colonial rule. Furthermore, as "Other,"

these women were not judged by the same standards as Indian women. Despite this

somewhat privileged position, the Western women nevertheless offered Indian women a

view of new possibilities and served as important mentors.

Adaptability, courage, and respect for cultures other than their own marked these

women. All those among the study group who lived in India learned at least one or more

4. The one exception is Esther Faering Menon who is mentioned in this study for comparative purposes; once married and with children, she fell out of active involvement in India's independence struggle.

262

Indian languages.5 Mirabehn, Saralabehn and Mary Barr served time in prison because of

their willingness to stand up to oppressive regimes. Lester was interned and briefly

imprisoned because of her pacifist stance during wartime. Others, like Marjorie Sykes,

Margaret Jones and Agatha Harrison risked their lives by serving as conciliators or

intermediaries in zones where fierce fighting between religious and political factions took

place. All developed a blend of deep spiritual faith with a radical political perspective and

worked for the betterment of society, whether on a local or global level, with little regard

for personal gain or comfort. As Mary Barr articulated in a notebook from 1931, months

prior to meeting Gandhi and at a time when she was debating whether to remain in

Europe to work on peacemaking at the border between France and Germany or to return

to India, "All of a sudden I saw that my business was much more with India".6 Mary

Chesley likewise eschewed all Western privilege and paid the price with her life by not

easing more gradually into the world of the poorest Indian villager. Even Muriel Lester

and Agatha Harrison who were not "naturals" for the rugged life adjusted good-naturedly

and with a sense of adventure when "roughing it" in India. Furthermore, for all the years

that Harrison worked, on Gandhi's request, as an unofficial ambassador for India's

aspirations of independence, she lived without a real job title or salary on the faith that

she would be provided for. Marjorie Sykes and Saralabehn, who both taught within the

model of Gandhi's Basic Education program, lived frugally, grew their own food and, as

much as possible, operated on a model of self-reliance. Mirabehn left her upper class

British world in order to serve India's cause, willing to do the most demanding kind of

5. Agatha Harrison, Muriel Lester and others who did not live in India but travelled there periodically would not have learned an Indian language.

6. "Frances Mary Barr", p. 6.

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labour conceivable, down to removing human waste from village roads and cleaning

latrines.

There was nothing easy about the lives that these women chose. Because of their

class and educational backgrounds, they had other options. Why would they throw in

their lot with the poorest Indian villagers? No doubt, some felt a need or desire to atone

for the sins of their government or Western imperialism, in general. Altruism based on

faith in India's right to self-government, better education, health, and work opportunities,

a spiritual strength that allowed a fearlessness that few can attain, a belief in the

sacredness of all life and commitment to right living without waste, excess, privilege: all

these qualities made them far removed from the world of their compatriot memsahibs and

missionaries. Nevertheless, in a true sense, these women were on a mission, not to

promote the Christian God but, for most of them, to live their lives based on the radical

teachings of Jesus rather than as advocates of the Church. Saralabehn and Mirabehn may

have leaned more heavily towards a Hindu faith; but, for all the women, the translation of

spiritual, political and social ideals into concrete action placed them in consonance with

Gandhi. Gandhi maintained that for people to feel whole they needed love and work.

Work done with love was service. These women served India with love.

Service was made manifest among leaders such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King,

Jr. and Nelson Mandela. They brought a radically different approach to politics and social

change. Gandhi and King paid with their lives. Mandela's remarkable ability to follow

through on a process of truth and reconciliation after having spent twenty-five years in

prison showed what is possible when forgiveness rather than vengeance is used to create

change. In India, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis and Jains participated in the

264

struggle for independence. The horrific post-Independence violence between Hindu,

Muslim and Sikh factions represented not so much a failure of non-violence as a method

of resolving inequities and differences as a failure of people to embrace non-violence.

Gandhi promoted the idea of power with the people rather than power over the people—a

radical notion that proved to be threatening to those who had something to lose.

Ultimately, the British in India held on to power until it was no longer in their interest to

maintain a crumbling empire.

For many, Gandhi's political and social ideas seem as timely today as they were

almost a century ago. In the face of horrific wars still being waged, the seriousness of

environmental degradation, and the failure of capitalism when combined with greed,

producing financial collapse on a global scale, Gandhi still speaks to people—not

because he led the Indian independence struggle but because his cause was as much about

making peace and creating social equality in the world. Gandhi drew inspiration from

thinkers such as Tolstoy, Ruskin, Arnold and Thoreau. As already noted, Lloyd I. and

Susanne Hoeber Rudolph refer to these thinkers, some of whom have been considered

anti-modernists, as the "Other West."7 Gandhi, too, because of his critique of the modern

world, has been accused of anti-modernism. However, the Rudolphs have put forward an

argument placing Gandhi as a post-modernist, using the term in a way that they hope

readers might accept as a positive rather than a negative attribute.

In his essay "Postmodern Gandhi" Lloyd Rudolph suggests that in both the

historical and epistemological meanings of modernity, Gandhi countered prevailing

beliefs. He views Gandhi's 1909 essay Hind Swaraj as seminal in its questioning of

7. Lloyd I. Rudolph and Susanne Hoeber Rudolph, "Preface," Postmodern Gandhi and Other Essays: Gandhi in the World and at Home (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006), p. ix.

265

"progress" and the widely accepted notion that science and technology would provide all

the answers. Gandhi did not believe that harnessing and conquering nature would

necessarily bring about positive results. Furthermore Rudolph sees Gandhi's

understanding of truth as experimental and situational as postmodernist. In his ever

changing understanding of truth, Gandhi did not hold with "modernism's commitment to

the epistemology of universal truth, objective knowledge and master narratives,"8 thus

foreshadowing postmodernism. There are those who assumed that Gandhi was anti-

technology and science, yet those close to him argue that he welcomed the appropriate

use of tools and machines, provided that the machines did not supplant human beings and

further impoverish the poorest people. Gandhi's reverence for the earth, echoed by all the

women but, in particular, Mirabehn, Saralabehn and Marjorie Sykes, foreshadowed the

environmental movement.

While the First World War should have disproved the theory that material and

social progress were either benign or inevitable, for the most part, the world powers have

continued to pursue a path that has assumed otherwise. It has been one hundred years

since Gandhi wrote Hind Swaraj. The same year it was published, Mary Chesley (the

mother of Polly Chesley), in her role as Superintendent of the Department of Peace and

Arbitration, wrote the following in her WCTU annual report:

Christian England is spending $300,000,000 a year on her army and navy as against $82,000,000 on education, science and art. Germany, the home of the reformation, has, in one generation, increased her national debt from $18,000,000 to over $1,000,000,000, chiefly by expenditures on her army and navy. Russia is planning a billion dollar navy and is spending $200,000,000 a year on armaments as against $20,000,000 on education, and the military expenditures of the United States—the nation that is in every way qualified to lead in the cause of Peace—

8. Ibid, p. 4. This collection is co-authored; however, the essay "Postmodern Gandhi" is by Lloyd I. Rudolph.

266

have during the past ten years, increased 300 per cent while its population has increased but 10 per cent.

.. .In the meantime it is painfully evident to any one who reads or thinks, that the real enemies against which the nations need to defend themselves are poverty, ignorance, vice, graft, greed and oppression. What is any government doing to lessen the sum total of these enemies?9

This quote, coupled with Gandhi's words to Agatha Harrison concerning the outbreak of

violence in India in 1933, have an eerily contemporary ring as one reflects on the fallout

from the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. Gandhi wrote:

I know that terrorism is taking a deeper root owing to the counter-terrorism of the Government. The counter-terrorism is much more mischievous in its effect, because it is organized and corrupts a whole people. Instead of rooting out terrorism it creates an atmosphere for the approval of terrorist methods and thus gives them an artificial stimulus. It may not show immediate results, but it certainly prepares the future for wider activities along those lines.10

Gandhi and the women and men with whom he worked understood that

modernism was too closely allied with a destructive materialism and a lack of awareness

or concern for the future. War has often been considered good for business, yet there

seems to be something fundamentally suspect when more money is devoted to destroying

than to preserving or enhancing life. While the economic and environmental bankruptcy

that is currently creating chaos on a global scale cannot be entirely linked to war making,

the underlying "principle" of greed in which power and possessions are more important

than the wellbeing of the community leads inevitably to the rationale for wars.

Spirituality, not religious dogma, played a large role in the lives of every woman

in this study. That the women were either Quaker or had strong ties with Quakers is

significant. Always in the vanguard, the Religious Society of Friends early on

9. WCTU Annual Convention 1909, PANS MG20 Vol. 256 #9: 71. 10. Letter to Agatha Harrison, 29 September 1933, CWMG, Vol. 56: 33-35.

267

championed such causes as equality for women and the abolition of slavery, making it a

welcoming organization for women such as those in this study. Quakers have been

known for making great personal sacrifices to uphold the tenets of their faith. Remaining

anchored within a Christian tradition, the women were able to work in collaboration with

someone like Gandhi, an eclectic Hindu, whose radical and idealistic faith matched their

own.

Such faith was not unique to the particular struggle in India. In cases where non­

violent resistance has been a deeply held principle and not merely passivity or a tactical

tool, movements have generally been rooted in spiritual or ethical conviction. The

American Civil Rights Movement and the struggle against apartheid in South Africa are

two examples. While one can argue that in these situations non-violent change of policy

or regime has not eliminated violence, the examples from India, South Africa and the

American South have provided evidence that change is possible when moral rather than

military force is deployed. It is telling that the leading inspirational figures in the world

today and within the past century are, or have been, "Other"—people of colour or non-

Westerners. Alive today are Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu from South Africa, the

Dalai Lama from Tibet, Thich Nhat Hanh from Viet Nam, and Aung San Suu Kyi of

Myanmar (the lone woman). Though no longer alive, Gandhi, and his spiritual

descendant, Martin Luther King, Jr., still inspire new generations of activists. All of these

leaders have understood that without an ethical base or a genuine concern for the rights of

all humanity it is impossible to bring about peace or freedom from imperial power.

Personal experience of oppression and the power to move people to different ways of

268

thinking and acting has been rooted in their ability to forgive oppressors while holding

firm to their convictions.

In the post-World War I period, with the shift towards secularity in reaction to the

fact that institutionalized religion had played too powerful a role in political governance

for so long, the acknowledgement of personal faith or spiritual conviction lost favour

among those working for social democracy. While separating church from state was

rightly considered a necessary political step, the denial of faith-based radicalism has

helped to create a situation in which more rigidly conservative evangelical or

fundamentalist forces have managed to claim the religious/political high ground.

Nevertheless, Gandhi and the women in this study provide examples of how political

activism could be informed and inspired by spiritual conviction. Today, the cross-

pollination of ideas across borders continues and coalitions of international, faith-based

and non-denominational groups focussing on peace, justice and environmental issues

carry on their work for positive change in spite of the moral vacuum of the formal

political systems.

Sudarshan Kapur's book Raising Up a Prophet: The African-American Encounter

with Gandhi explored the many influences that ultimately went into "raising" Martin

Luther King, Jr. to become the prophet for the Civil Rights Movement. While dealing

with the specifics of King, the book highlighted the fact that a leader emerges through a

complex and fortuitous set of conditions. Individuals and experiences both known and

unknown go into the formation of a human being and their particular thoughts and

actions. Those, like King or Gandhi before him, had many mentors. Gandhi credited his

mother and wife as his greatest teachers. Gandhi's genius lay in the fact that he was open

269

to learning from everyone and everything along the way—from the thinkers of the "Other

West," the early Suffragettes, British vegetarians, from his mother's Hindu Vaishnavite

upbringing and his many experiences in South Africa. All these factors "raised up"

Gandhi as the prophet of his time and, along with the nameless thousands, the women in

this study were part of this process. This dissertation argues that without this group of

Western women, the story of Gandhi might not have captured the attention and

imagination of the world in the way it has. The women in this study, through their

writings and the lives they lived, helped to make Gandhi's life and mission accessible and

relevant to a Western audience. Gandhi, or "Bapu", the father (he liked to say that he was

a mother as well) carried a great burden of responsibility for his country. The women

around him, both Indian and Western, provided him with moral support, inspiration and

active commitment to the cause. Gandhi was a man with both an Eastern and Western

past. Indian women, most especially his mother and his wife, Kasturba, grounded him in

his Indian culture. Because of his Western academic training and years abroad, the

women in this study spoke to a different side of Gandhi. The symbolic and concrete

importance of Western "Others" supporting the struggle cannot be fully measured, but it

should not be underestimated. For a group of women who may or may not have

individually defined themselves as feminists, surely the fact that Gandhi regarded them

with respect and as autonomous human beings must have been convincing reasons why

they could work with him. Younger generations have continued to find relevance in

Gandhi's ideas. What may be lost is acknowledgement of the role that these women

played in making that possible.

270

American writer, Marilynne Robinson, in a recent interview, referred to the

women heroes of the nineteenth century abolition movement, who were revered at the

time but are now mostly forgotten: "These women who had so many strikes against them

seemed to have so much more self-possession. People will trip over the smallest obstacle

now... [and] conspire in erasing history that would be very valuable for them to have."11

The women in this study did not have all the same constraints or challenges of those

nineteenth-century women. They were the "new women" of the early twentieth century,

with more rights and privileges; however, they did not squander those rights or forget that

they had been hard earned by an earlier generation. Taking on the Indian struggle as their

own, the women understood that while other human beings still lacked basic freedoms,

there was work to be done and they did what they could. Individually and collectively,

they deserve assurance of a place in history, not only for their participation in the Indian

independence movement, but also for their roles as agents of the international peace

movement. Their ability to identify with people across cultural and political divides, their

willingness to adapt to and adopt new languages and lifestyles placed them in the

category of "other West", and thereby allowed them the freedom to engage in East/West-

North/South dialogue and action in significant ways. Their friendships with Gandhi

undoubtedly enriched their lives, but Gandhi's life and work was also richer because of

them.

11. Emma Brockes "A Life in Writing: Marilynne Robinson", 30 May 2009. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/may/30/marilynne-robinson accessed 11/07/09.

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Walkowitz, Judith R. City of Dreadful Delight: Narratives of Sexual Danger in Late-Victorian London. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992.

Wallis, Jill. Mother of World Peace The Life of Muriel Lester. Enfield Lock, Middlesex: Hisarlik Press, 1993.

Wiltsher, Anne. Most Dangerous Women: Feminist Peace Campaigners of the Great War. London: Pandora Press, 1985.

Wolpert, Stanley. Gandhi's Passion: The Life and Legacy ofMahatma Gandhi. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

WEB OF WOMEN

Saralabehn (Catherine Heilemann}

Mildred Osterhout Fahrni Mirabehn (Madeleine Slade)

Name Dates Place of Birth

Barr, Mary 1892-1968 Great Britain

Chesley, Mary A. 1891 -1936 Canada

Harrison, Agatha 1885-1954 Great Britain

Heilemann, Catherine 1901-1982 Great Britain

Jones, Margaret 1910-1958 Great Britain

Lester, Muriel 1883-1968 Great Britain

Madden, Pearl 1876-1948 Canada

Slade, Madeleine 1892-1982 Great Britain

Sykes, Marjorie 1905-1995 Great Britain

[XII - Principal Subjects

Religious affiliation Education

Methodist, then Quaker Froebel Training

Methodist, then Quaker B.A. -Mount Allison Normal School, Truro B.Sc. in Pol. Econ., LSE Studies, Oxford and Sorbonne

Methodist, then Quaker Froebel Training

Congregational, then independent

unknown, then Quaker

Baptist, then independent

Methodist

No known affiliation, Likely family was Church of England

Misc. training in commerce, midwifery, early childhood education

Nursing

No post-secondary, self-educated

University of Toronto Business training

Self-educated

No affiliation, then Quaker B.A. -Cambridge

APPENDIX III

Conversations between Gandhi and Mary Chesley

The following two conversations between Chesley and Gandhi reflect both their serious and light-hearted sides.

Talk with Mary Chesley1

[On or before 15 December 1934]

Mary C. - Do you believe your guidance comes from sub-conscious reasoning or from God?

Gandhi - From God - but sub-conscious reasoning may be the voice of God. Often, after seeing the way to go, I consciously reason out why that is the best way. Mahomet was like this, very sure his voices were of God and he was no imposter.

Mary C. - Then does following conscience lead to mystical experience?

Gandhi - It may or it may not. But one thing is sure that the humility which feels itself nothing before God is necessary for mystical experiences, such as those of Saint Francis and Saint Augustine. On the other hand, a Bradlaugh or a Marcus Aurelius, though following conscience, felt themselves to be self-made men and not dependent on God, and so they could get no mystical experiences or joy. To me, following conscience is following a living force, not an ethical code.

Mary C. - How do you understand what is God's guidance for you when it is a question of choosing between two good things?

Gandhi -1 use my intellect on the subject and if I don't get any strong feeling as to which of the two I should choose, I just leave the matter, and before long I wake up one morning with the perfect assurance that it should be A rather than B. Always, of course, it is necessary to be utterly humble and go wherever the decision should take you, even though it should be to difficulties and suffering.

Mary C. - Is it not necessary to lead a disciplined life in order to receive these assurances as to what to do and not do?

Gandhi - Yes, of course, one's mind must be attuned to the five necessary rules of love, truth, purity, non-possession and fearlessness.2

Mary C. - Do you include bodily discipline such as fasting?

1. The Collected Works ofMahatma Gandhi, Vol. 59, Appendix, pp. 459-462. 2. These "rules" are remarkably similar to the attributes to which Quakers aspired.

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Gandhi - If you follow the five rules already mentioned, you will find that bodily discipline follows automatically. You should read Rajayoga by Swami Vivekananda on this point.

Just then word was brought to Gandhi that a certain rich man had donated a large sum of money to the All-India Village Industries' Association fund, and joy was expressed by the little group, Gandhi remarking quietly, but with obvious satisfaction, that loving service was receiving its reward. He had been saying previously that we who believed in non-violence should win the rich to serve the poor by our own devoted service and by showing out contentment and happiness in a position of less wealth and prestige than we might demand. He spoke about this again now.

Gandhi - If rich people could see us poorer ones really content instead of hankering after wealth, it would become the fashion to dispense with wealth. The fashion for brown bread grew because a few enthusiasts showed that they really believed in it and liked it. Unfortunately the higher castes have failed to identify with their humble fellows. This is the darkest hour of Hinduism. I have no excuse to offer for it.

Mary C. - What is your remedy?

Gandhi - Everything I am doing. Village Industries, Khadder, Harijan work, etc.

(At this point Kasturba and others came with Gandhiji's food. Mary Chesley left and joined him again during his evening walk.)

Mary C. - From what sources do you get your conception of God?

Gandhi ~ From my childhood, remembering my mother's constant visits to the temple. Sometimes these were as many as four or five a day, and never less than two. Also my nurse used to tell me I must repeat the name of God if I felt afraid.

Mary C. - Are not your own experiences sources of your conception too?

Gandhi - Yes, but they did not begin until later, in South Africa. Before that I had a period of doubt and it was during that time that I began to study Islam and Christianity.

Mary C. - How far have these two religions coloured your conception of God?

Gandhi - 1 began with a prejudice against Christianity because in my youth it had meant to me drink, eating meat, and Western clothes. I had no such prejudice against Islam. Later when I met some fine Christian people my prejudice went, and for a year I studied Christian books voraciously, attended the Keswick Convention, met famous divines and generally absorbed Christianity, honestly seeking to know if I should do as some of my friends were always beggmg me to do - become a Christian. But in the

end I honestly felt I could not do so. I believe in the historic Jesus, for the four gospels bear the stamp of the real experience of devotees.

Mary C. - Is the conception of God as Father only to be found in Christianity?

Gandhi - No, it is also to be found in Hinduism. Read the second chapter of the Gita in which the conception, not only as father, but also as mother is to be found. This is not the case with Islam, for among all its ninety-nine names for God, "Father" is not one. Mahomet, like Christ, had the authoritative note of God-consciousness. If you judge a religion by the changed lives of its adherents, Islam seems to me to have as much to show as Christianity. Anyway, two thousand years is a very brief time in which to judge the merits of a religion.

Mary C.-l know some people who are praying that you may become a Christian.

Gandhi - (laughing).. .Many are -

Mary C. - But wait until you hear the reason-it is because they feel that you can give a truer interpretation of Christianity than any yet given to the world.

Gandhi - There are others who feel that too. But if they wish me to say that Christianity is the only true religion, I cannot do so. I can truly say, however, that Christianity is a true religion.

Mary C. - What do you think is the special contribution of Christianity, Islam and Hinduism to the world?

Gandhi -1 think Christianity's particular contribution is that of active love. No other religion says so firmly that God is love, and the New Testament is full of the word. Christians, however, as a whole have denied this principle with their wars. The Ahimsa of Hinduism is a more passive thing than the active Christian love. The great contribution of Hinduism is its recognition of the unity of all life. Like Christianity, Hinduism has not lived up to its teaching. If either had done so, there would have been no need for Islam, for whatever is fundamentally good in a religion for the part of the world in which it has arisen is certainly good for the whole world. Islam's contribution has been the brotherhood of all men. Later this idea was limited to the Islamic brotherhood, so Muslims too have failed to live up to the teaching of their religion. Khan Sahib, with his teaching of the service of all humanity, is bringing them back to the original idea.

Mary C. - You once said that the idea of Jesus as the Son of God, was a mystical conception. Would you enlarge upon that, please?

Gandhi - 1 believe that Jesus was a man born in the natural way, and that people, seeing the wonderful things he did, ascribed divinity to him, and then described it mystically by saying that he was the Son of God.

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Mary C. - Do you think such writers were imposters?

Gandhi - No. They were just expressing their conception mystically. The whole book of Revelation is a description of mystical experiences. For example, it does not mean literally that streets were to be paved with gold. Many mystical expressions would be gross if they meant literally what they said.

Mary C. - Have you had any mystical experiences?

Gandhi - If, by mystical experiences, you mean visions, no. I should be a fraud if I claimed to have had such. But I am very sure of the voice which guides me. Of course, some unbalanced people have claimed to hear voices too-but I do not think anyone has suggested that I am unbalanced. (This remark was said in such a droll way that we all burst into laughter.)

Mary C. - You have spoken of your sense of uneasiness which preceded your twenty-one days' fast last year, and also said that generally, when obeying your inner voice, you find a reason for your action afterwards. Did you find a reason for the twenty-one days' fast?

Gandhi - It is true that a sense of uneasiness drove me to that fast. Usually, even under the greatest strain I can remain quite buoyant, but when I lost that buoyancy and could not even sleep, I decided to fast and immediately found peace. Yes, I did discover a reason for it, one which the fast itself brought to light; for several people, both at the time and afterwards, wrote to tell me of sins which they had committed and which they had now put right to the best of their ability. They said that the fast had brought them to a knowledge of the truth about themselves and that they would not allow such faults to occur again.

Mary C. - You have said sometimes that consciousness of sin brings a feeling of separation from God. Did you feel any such separation before your fast?

Gandhi - No. I felt only great uneasiness and restlessness. I could not even joke in my usual way.

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Discussion with Mary Chesley and Mirabehn3

[Before 22 July 1935]

Gandhiji: But why do you object to it?

(Mary Chesley had raised a question about the short-sleeved shirts and the shorts worn by some Ashram inmates,)

Mary Chesley: Because it is English.

Gandhi: But why should I not adopt whatever is best in English dress? I would not mind doing so, though Englishmen may look with contempt on Indian dress and disdain to adopt any part of it.

Mary Chesley: It is so inartistic. The English shorts go ill with the flowing Indian shirts.

Gandhi: Then I suppose you would be horrified if I asked people to wear the sola hat.

(Here Mirabehn took up the battle on behalf of the friend [Chesley] and said it would certainly shock her. The sola hat was most expensive and extremely unportable.)

Gandhi: That only shows that the hat you wore when you were in England was a misfit.

Mirabehn: No I had the best hats available in those days, but I never liked them. They cramp one's head and give one an ache.

Gandhi: Then perhaps your head was so ill-shaped What I do seriously feel is that the sola hat is a good protection from the sun.

Mirabehn: I would any day wear an Indian puggree in preference to the hat. It does keep off the sun as well.

Gandhi: It does not.

Mirabehn: Well, well. But these shorts are bad. Between the loin-cloth that you wear and the shorts these people wear there is all the difference between heaven and hell.

Gandhi: Oh! Then you will explain why it is so shocking.

Mirabehn: Perhaps I am putting it too strongly; I shall say there is all the difference that there is between day and night.

3. The discussion is extracted from Mahadev Desai's "Weekly Letter", published in the Harijan, 27-7-1935. The Collected Works ofMahatma Gandhi, Vol. 61, pp. 274-5.

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Mary Chesley: But that is not my reason. I simply can't stand this incongruous mixture. Your loin-cloth is Indian. Why should they not put on something like that? Let us be all Indian or all English.

Gandhi: Then to be all English I must go to a grogshop, too? As regards my loin-cloth I know that it is far superior to the shorts. But if they all adopted it they would be laughed at for trying to look like the Mahatma.

Mary Chesley: But why not wear the lower part of the shirt inside the shorts?

Gandhi: Yes, that is what you do. But it is hygienically bad.

A few references to the late Mary (Tarabehn) Chesley made by Gandhi

May 15/36 Letter to Mary Barr

I have just had a wire saying that Tara died at Hrishikesh. The news is stunning, unbelievable. I have no further particulars. I had warned her against braving the pilgrimage. But she had an iron will. Once it was made up it was immovable... Her forgiving nature and charity had captivated me. Her belief in the goodness of human nature was beyond all praise. She has sacrificed herself for the cause she believed in.. .1 am looking forward to Miss Madden's letter. I am glad she will be with you for one year. Tara wanted me to invite her to see me again... Only, she must go slow[ly] in making changes in her life. Europeans simply cannot make some changes. Each one has to recognize his limitations. You will take a lesson from Tarn's life and not overdo things.4

May 16/36 Letter to Narandas Gandhi

Yesterday I had a telegram telling me of the death at Rishikesh of a very benevolent lady, Tarabehn Chesley, whom you do not know. She was on her way to Badri-Kedar with two other women. She was a learned person, living an exceedingly simple life.5

May 21/36 Letter to Mirabehn

Tara's death has disturbed me much. She was an extraordinarily good woman, possessing great strength of mind. Her love was amazing. I have a graphic description of her death. Mahadevi was by her side all the time.6

4. Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 63, p. 404. 5. Ibid., p. 411. 6. Ibid., p. 425.

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May 21/36 Letter to Jamnalal Bajaj

Tarabehn was indeed an extraordinary woman. Her single-minded devotion, firmness of mind, purity, generosity and love of India baffle description. Mahadevi, too, rendered excellent service and also showed courage.7

May 21/36 Letter to Lilavati Asar

PS. Tarabehn passed away on her way to Badri-Kedar. Mahadevi nursed her exceedingly well. She had a severe attack of fever.8

May 22/36 Letter to Amrit Kaur

Did I tell you about Tara's death during her pilgrimage to Badri-Kedar? You will see all about this in Harijan. She was one of the noblest of women I had the good fortune to meet.9

May 25/36 Letter to Jamnalal Bajaj

I send herewith Gopal's letter for you to read. He seems to have been greatly shocked at Tarabehn's death...10

IN MEMORIAM - Harijan, 23-5-1936.

Miss Mary Chesley, an Englishwoman, came to India in 1934 when the Congress was in session in Bombay. As soon as she landed she came to my hut in the Congress camp and told me she knew Mirabehn and had expected to come with her but somehow or other she had preceded her by a week or thereabout. Her desire was to serve India through her villages. She did not prepossess me by her talk and I thought she would not stay in India many months. But I was wholly mistaken. She had come to know of Miss Mary Barr who had already commenced village work in Khedi, a village a few miles from Betul (C.P.). Miss Chesley found her way to Mary Barr. Mary brought Mary Chesley to Wardha and we were together for a few days. Miss Chesley showed a determination that surprised me. She began work with Mary Barr in Khedi, adopted the Indian costume and changed her name to Tarabehn and toiled at Khedi in a manner that alarmed poor Mary Barr. She would dig, carry baskets full of earth on her head. She simplified

7. Ibid., p. 426. S.Ibid., pp. 427-8. The cause of death is not clear. 9. Ibid, p. 431. 10. Ibid, p. 443.

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her food as much as to put her health in danger. She had her own handsome income from Canada from which she kept only a paltry sum of about Rs. 10 for herself and gave the rest to the A.I.V.I.A. [All India Village Industries Association], or to Indians with whom she came in contact and who seemed to her to give promise of being good village workers and who needed some pecuniary help. I came in closest touch with her. Her charity was boundless, she had great faith in the goodness of human nature. She was forgiving to a fault. She was a devout Christian. She belonged to a Quaker family. But she had no narrowness about her. She did not believe in converting others to her own faith. She was a graduate of the London School of Economics and a good teacher, having conducted together with a companion a school in London for several years. She realized at once that she must learn Hindi and was regularly studying it. For being able to pick up conversational Hindi she lived for a few months in the Wardha Mahila Ashram and there with two members formed a plan of going to Badri-Kedar during summer. I had warned her against the adventure. But it was difficult to turn her from such adventures when once her mind was made up, so only the other day she started with her friends on her perilous pilgrimage. And I got a brief message on the 15th from Kankhal saying, "Tarabehn expired". In her love for India's villages she was not to be excelled by anybody. Her passion for India's independence was equal to that of the best among us. She was impatient of the inferiority complex wherever she noticed it. She mixed with poor women and children with the greatest freedom. There was nothing of the patron about her. She would take service from none, but would serve anybody with the greatest zeal. She was a self-effacing mute worker whose left hand did not know what the right hand had done. May her soul rest in peace.11

Before May 31/36 DISCUSSION WITH DR ERIKA ROSENTHAL

[Wife of a doctor who, following the Nazi persecution of Jews, had come to India. She was doing welfare work in Mysore.]

E.R.: Could you teach me how to make them co-operate with us? [She had asked Gandhi 'the secret of teaching people to help themselves'.]

Gandhi: ...Dumping educated patrons amongst them or even mere enlisting the help ofmonied men cannot go a long way. One must do as the late Mary Chesley did.

And with that he narrated the pathetic life-story of Tarabehn Chesley...

"But," said Dr. Rosenthal, "that was, if I may say so, a rash adventure and I should not imitate her."

U.Ibid, pp. 433-4.

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Gandhi: No, I do not want you to. I am talking of her spirit - the spirit in which she tried to identify her self with the poorest...12

12. Ibid., pp. 465-67

Appendix IV

[An eye witness report by Mirabehn]

Exemplary Behavior of the Police

During these days when the authorities in Whitehall and Simla are never tired of extolling the behaviour of the police, I thought I would go and see for myself how this exemplary behavior has affected the Satyagrahis at Dharasana.

I reached Buslar at mid-day on 6th, just as the wounded were being brought in there from the 'raid' of that morning. Many of them were being carried in on stretchers, others could just struggle from the motors to the hospital wards.

'The beating and torturing has been most merciless today' said the doctors and attendants. I proceeded round the rooms to visit the Satyagrahis more closely, and to take notes from the doctor as to the nature of their wounds.

Literally I felt my skin to creep and my hair to stand on end as I saw those brave men, who, but a few hours previously, had gone forth absolutely unarmed, vowed to non­violence, now lying here before me battered and beaten from head to foot.

Here was a young man with his shoulders and buttocks so beaten that he could not be on his back, yet his arms and sides were so damaged as well, that he did not know how to turn for rest. There was another gasping for breath with his chest badly battered; and nearby was a tall, strong, Musalman [Muslim] lying utterly helpless.

'What are his damages?' I asked. 'He had received fearful blows on the stomach, the back and right leg,' they replied,

'Also his testicles are both swollen having been badly squeezed by the police'. We went on upstairs - here my attention was attracted by the sound of sharp drawn

whistling breathing, intermixed with heart-rending groans. It was a young man writhing in agony. He kept catching at his stomach, and at intervals he would suddenly sit up as if he were going to go mad with the pain.

'He has had a deadly blow right on the abdomen,' they said, 'and he has been vomiting blood. He has also had his testicles severely squeezed, which has shattered his nerves'.

They fetched ice, and applied it to the head and damaged parts, which gradually soothed him.

And on we went from this house to another, where we found still more and more wounded.

Everyone to whom I talked gave the same description of fiendish beating, torturing, thrusting and dragging, and one and all spoke with burning horror of the foul abuse and unspeakable blasphemy which the police and their Indian and English superiors had poured upon them.

So this is some of the exemplary behavior of the police, of which the English lords and gentleman are so proud. Do they not know what is going on? No, that surely cannot be, for such high-placed English officials as the Commissioner N.D. and the Collector of Surat have been all along on the field of action.

What, then, has become of English honour, English justice? No amount of argument can excuse what they have been doing at Dharasana.

The object of the Satyagrahis has been a civil breach of the Salt Laws (which are universally admitted to be unjust). The Satyagrahis were ready to accept unresistingly the legal punishment of arrest and imprisonment, but the authorities thought it preferable to employ other methods. Then, on 22nd May, perhaps to try and lend a shade of legality to their actions, the authorities brought in to force Section 144, making any gathering of more than four persons an unlawful assembly.

With this emergency law in force, it might be argued, by the official world, that it is justifiable to try and disperse a collection of people by lathi-charge, if they refuse to go away when ordered, even though the individuals are absolutely non-violent, and known not to be going to hurt a single person.

That much brutal argument one might understand from their point of view. But nothing could excuse the manner in which they have actually dealt with the

Satyagrahis. Who could dare to uphold as means of dispersing a non-violent gathering:

1. Lathi blows on head, chest, stomach, joints; 2. Thrusts with lathis in private parts, abdominal regions, chest etc; 3. Stripping of men naked before beating; 4. Tearing off of loin-cloth and thrusting of stick into anus; 5. Pressing and squeezing of the testicles till a man becomes unconscious; 6. Dragging of wounded men by legs or arms, often beating them; 7. Throwing of wounded men into thorn hedges or into salt water; 8. Riding of horses over men as they lie or sit on the ground; 9. Thrusting of pins and thorns into men's bodies, sometimes even whether they are

unconscious; and 10. Beating of men after they had become unconscious?

And other vile things too many to relate, besides foul language and blasphemy, calculated to hurt as much as possible, the most sacred feeling of the Satyagrahis.

The whole affair is one of the most devilish, cold-blooded and unjustifiable in the history of nations.

India has now realised the true nature of the British Raj, and with that realisation the Raj is doomed.

{Young India, 12.6.1930)

1. Reprinted in Mirabehn: Gandhiji's Daughter Disciple, pp. 58-60.

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APPENDIX V

Exchange of letters between Mirabehn and Gandhi concerning Mirabehn's proposed plans for her own ashram project

June 6,1944

My dear Madeleine, You will bear with me in addressing you thus. I wonder whether I did right in

giving you another name. The moment I feel that I did right I shall resume the old style. Enough to know that the same love that gave you a new name has prompted the withdrawal.... Narandas writes to me that your account having been discontinued, he will take a little time in tracing the amounts received from time to time.... If you want money badly, I can have a fairly large sum transferred in your name at once....

June 11, 1944

Chi. Mira [in Devangari]

.. .It hurt me yesterday when Ammajan told me that you had doubt about my willingness to part with the money that you gave me from time to time. The fact is that you having parted with the money even resented it standing in your name in the Ashram books and insisted on the money being made part of the Ashram funds and the expenses on your account being treated as from the Ashram funds. I felt a delicacy in mentioning that it could be retransferred to you without any deduction. I, therefore, allowed Ghanshyamdas to tell you that you could have the money back whether the condition of the Ashram funds permitted the return or not. So when you told me that you would be glad to have the money, the measure of esteem in which I held you went down. It is due to you that I should not withhold this fact from you, but this is not written to affect your decision. The return of the money is irrevocable.

The second thing I want to tell you is the things I have been hearing from reliable sources about Prithvi Singh. They are terribly disturbing.... His profession of non-violence when he came to me and in his letters from the jail appears to have been a deep-laid plot to deceive me and through me some day or other to secure his release from the life of hiding which was worrying him. Thus, my prejudice is deepening. I should love to know from experience that the prejudice has no basis.

It is generally believed that the Communist Party is exploiting you through him....

In the circumstances my advice to you is that you should hold your project for a season and judge the situation and watch developments. I do not know how Devdas and those who are connected with you will be able to guide you or interest themselves in your activities. Anyway I shall have to let the public know

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somehow or other that I am not at the back of any of your activities which are being undertaken in spite of my disapproval.

This letter is my last warning. I shall trouble you no more. God be your only guide....

June 12, 1944

Beloved Bapu, I have your letter. I had not realized the position regarding the fund kept in my

name, and that my expenses were being drawn. I had the impression that the whole sum was being kept intact and that I was receiving food, clothing, travelling expenses, etc., like some others who gave their whole time to the cause according to their individual capacity. But this was a misunderstanding. So, I will gladly put the matter straight at once. I cannot bear any bargaining in such matters. I, therefore, ask that Rs. 20,000 should be deducted from the total, which should cover the expenses incurred by the Ashram for me during these 20 years. The remainder can be transferred to my name.

I had understood that when I had this money I should be free to do constructive national work without let or hindrance, so long as I made it clear that the scheme of work was entirely my own and without your personal approval. I did not realize that you would feel called upon publicly to express disapproval of my work.

You have given me my freedom with one hand and taken it away with the other. To give me my money and freedom, and at the same time to say that as soon as I begin to use them you will publicly disapprove, is to sabotage anything I may try to do. You at the same time sabotage any chance of my being able to prove to you that you are wrong.

You have brought up a whole lot of reports and prejudices against Sararji [Prithvi Singh]. I have avoided discussing these matters with you because I could see that everything I said excited you. The result is that you have not understood my position. You have made up your mind that I am completely under his influence. It is you who have tried to urge me to that position, but as you know, I have protested all along. You said I should have to join the Communist Party. I said no. You said as a true Hindu wife I should have to follow him in everything. I said my opinion was the opposite, and that my whole instinct told me that I must resist him wherever necessary and live my own life according to the ideals in which I believe, by which means, he would some day know that I was right. If I had followed his advice, I should not have undertaken my scheme but I knew that I must resist him and I did. My faith in God is my guide. But now you propose to throttle, by the warning of public disapproval, any attempt on my part to put my ideals into practice. My ideals have not changed in the last few days. I am the same person that I was when we used to talk happily together.

Believing, as I did, that everything was finally settled I started the ball rolling. I have put out enquiries regarding co-workers, land, maps and other details. I have

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explained the scheme (as my personal idea) to many people. Must I now understand if I go on with my plans you will feel called upon to disapprove? The fact that there will be Rs. 20,000 less does not worry me at all. I can start in a smaller way and make up with donations. But the possibility that you might broadcast public or semi-public disapproval of my work, which statement I should feel obliged equally publicly to answer, means that for decency's sake I must avoid any such catastrophe and therefore cancel all my projects of work. I would, in that case, take the balance of the money after the deduction of Rs. 20,000, invest it somewhere, and go to live in seclusion until such time as you [have] revised your ideas. Your ever devoted daughter, Mira

June 12, 1944

Dear Miss Slade, This is nothing wrong with being formal. "Familiarity breeds contempt." The

letters will not be destroyed. I have nothing to be ashamed of. I wrote after intense prayer. My language failed to transmit the love and the greatest goodwill that prompted it. The only regret is that I dared to be familiar. My love would have been as true as now if I had refused to call you by any other name than Miss Slade. I like the English coldness and correctness. But my regret is superficial. The change is good and substantial. I have given the warning. You have no reason to change your course because of any opinion I express. What I did was to suggest your waiting. But you need not since it does not commend itself to you.

Yes, time and action will show what we are and what we meant. I have patience. Yours, M.K. Gandhi

June 14, 1944

Dear Miss Slade, Of course you are to me what you have been always. I have been writing to

you so that I may be rid of the fear that has possessed me. Your decision to go to Panditji soothes me. I was and am against haste which

often proves to be waste. When I am filled with fear and distrust of wisdom, you should suffer the adopted parent's warning. Of course I shall dance with joy when I discover that my fears were groundless and my suspicion unjustified. From the foregoing it should be clear to you that I have never doubted your devotion.

The change of form in addressing you was necessary because I saw my mistake. My love for you remains wholly unaffected by it. I have already left the rest to time. Yours, M.K. Gandhi

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July 18,1944

Chi. Mira, Your best and descriptive letter is before me. Devdas described your grief

over my reverting to your original name. I have capitulated. I am having rich experiences of life. I am learning every day. I must not cause dear ones grief when it is avoidable. This was and is avoidable. I know you forgave me long ago. But it is good to ask for forgiveness.

My love never suffered any diminution. My fears about you have not left me. I know you have given me your assurances. But I must inform you of my doubts if I have any. I like your choice of trustees. .... when you need the money for your adventure you have but to tell me and I shall place a sum at your disposal.. ..love Bapu

July 24/44

I have your letter^ Without yet having any definite statement from Narandas, I have already arranged for transfer to Devdas of Rs. 25, 000/— to be placed at your disposal. You are not likely to want more at once. I hope to transfer more as soon as I hear from Rajkot.

Aug 28/44

Chi. Mira,

Yours of 22nd received yesterday. You are having a bad time. You must take care of yourself. If you feel like coming here, of course you will not hesitate. You will not fear me. I am a changed man I hope. You may look to me to find you Rs. 50,000. Narandas is over head and ears in work. I do not care to trouble him. You can either recall what was received or tell me what is the limit up to which you would spend.1

1. Letters written by Gandhi are in the CWMG, Vol. 94: 113,116,118,119,130,135,155. Letters from Mira are to be found in same volume, Appendix I: 401-2.

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APPENDIX VI

Glossary

Ahimsa - non-violence, love

Ashram - Abode of spiritual leader, place for disciplined community life.

Bapu, Bapuji - Father, term of affection used for Gandhi

Bhakti - Devotion

Boodan - Land gift

Brahmacharya - Celibacy, code of conduct involving strict observance of chastity or continence in the pursuit of learning, philosophy and God.

Jharu - Small whip or broom.

Khaddar, khadi - Hand-spun and hand-woven cloth.

Lathi - A heavy bamboo rod with an iron or steel-covered end, used by police to beat people in controlling and dispersing crowds.

Mahila ashram - Women's ashram.

Memsahib - Madam Sahib, wife of the Sahib, a foreign master.

Nai Talim - Literally, 'new education', name given to Gandhi's basic education program.

Sarvodaya - Social uplift for all.

Satyagraha - Nonviolence civil disobedience.

Satyagrahi - One who practices Satyagraha.

Sevagram - Gandhi's ashram in Wardha: seva (service) + gram (village).

Susu - Urination, "pee-pee".

Swadeshi - Belonging to or made in one's country.

Swaraj - Self-government or independence.

Tapaysa - Self-sacrifice or willingness to suffer for a cause.

Curriculum Vitae

SHARON M. H. MACDONALD

• M. A. Atlantic Canada Studies—Saint Mary's University, Halifax, N. S.—1999. • B. A. with distinction—Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, N. S.—1988.

WRITTEN WORKS: Thesis: • "Hidden Costs, Hidden Labours: Women in Nova Scotia During Two World Wars," unpublished M. A. thesis, Saint Mary's University, 1999.

Book: • Old Nova Scotian Quilts, co-authored with Scott Robson, Halifax: Nimbus Publishing, 1995.

Refereed Articles: • '"As the Locusts in Egypt Gathered Crops'—Hooked Mat Mania and Cross-border Shopping in the Early Twentieth Century," Material History Review, 65, Fall 2001. • "The Bell Club: One Hundred Years of Women's Cultural and Literary Life in Baddeck, Nova Scotia," Atlantis, 20:1, December 1995.

Other Publications: • "Public or Private? Women's Volunteer Labour in Nova Scotia - A Personal Perspective," in Canadian and American Women: Moving from Private to Public Experiences in the Atlantic World, eds. Valeria Gennaro Lerda and Roberto Maccarini, Milano: Selene Edizioni, 2002. • Book Review of Creating Historical Memory: English-Canadian Women and the Work of History, eds. Beverly Boutilier and Alison Prentice, in Labour/Le Travail, 45, Fall 2001. • "The Canadian Story," with Matthew Baglole et al, Review essay of Citizens and Nation An Essay on History, Communication, and Canada by Gerald Friesen, in Acadiensis, 30:2 Spring 2001. • "Quilt Books for all Occasions: A Reader's Guide," The Occasional, Vol. 13, No. 1, 1992. • "In Their Own Words: Writings of Early Club Members," commissioned for the 100th Anniversary of the Alexander Graham Bell Club, Baddeck, N. S., 1992.

Forthcoming: • "A Passionate Voice for Equality, Justice and Peace: Nova Scotian Intellectual and Writer, Mary Russell Chesley (1847-1923)" - a chapter in book on Atlantic Canadian Women and the State in the Twentieth Century, 2009.

PAPERS PRESENTED: • "Hooked Mats and the Economy in Nova Scotia," Neocraft: An International Conference on the Crafts and Modernity, NSCAD University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, November 2007. • '"As the Locusts in Egypt Gathered Crops'—Hooked Mat Mania and Cross-border Shopping in the Early Twentieth Century," Second Annual International Graduate UNB-UMO Conference, Orono, Maine, October 2000. • "Public or Private? Women's Volunteer Labour in Nova Scotia - A Personal Perspective," Third International Conference of the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies, "Women in Private and Public Spheres: The Role of Women Between Family and Work, In Times of War and Peace," University of Genoa, Italy, September 1999. • "Patriotism and Propaganda in their Gendered Dimensions," History Colloquium, Universite de Moncton, April 1999. • "Farewell to the 'Last Man' - Conceptualizing a Past with Women: The Nova Scotian Context," History Colloquium, Saint Mary's University, April 1998. • "The Bell Club: One Hundred Years of Women's Cultural and Literary Life in Baddeck, Nova Scotia," Thomas H. Raddall Symposium, Acadia University, September 1992.