A Grain of Salt

Today's post touches on a turning point in Indian history. And Manu has another change of heart.

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In 1930, Gandhi waged the first sathyagraha on the issue of salt. The British government had levied a small tax on common salt. Gandhiji argued that salt was a gift from the sea involving little capital or manpower for production. Besides it was a necessity for poor and rich. Gandhi found it immoral to levy a tax on salt and demanded its abolition. The Government did not agree. Therefore the sathyagraha.

The methodology was like this: Gandhi appointed Sardars in various regions. It was their duty to select a sathyagrahi for each venue. The sathyagrahi selected would send a notice to the District Magistrate indicating the exact date, time and location when the law would be broken. On that day the sathyagrahi should carry with him a small earthenware pot, one gallon of sea water and a few sticks of firewood. He had to boil the water till a residue of black salt appeared. As the sathyagrahi had given notice, an Indian police sub-inspector would be present and wait till the residue was formed. Then he would smash the pot and arrest the sathyagrahi for manufacturing salt illegally. The Indian Magistrates usually sentenced the sathyagrahis to six months simple imprisonment. In keeping with our culture, this too would turn into a festive occasion. On the appointed day the sathyagrahi would be taken in a procession from his house to the venue. He would be heavily garlanded on the way and the air would resound with cries of Jais! from the processions. A large crowd would therefore always be present when a sathyagrahi broke the salt law.

The local Sardar selected Manu as the sathyagrahi for Mannargudi. Expectedly he was arrested. In prison the mercurial Manu had another transformation. The authorities exercised great caution in selecting books for the prison library. The result was a library largely stocked with philosophical material. Manu read many books, the monthlies of the Ramakrishna Mission, Divine Life Society and the like. He felt that he had for long been on the wrong course. The purpose of his life shifted from social service to “moksha”.

During his prison time, several events took place. Gandhi as a sathyagrahi selected the seaside village of Dandi for breaking the salt law. This village had extensive salt pans owned by the government. There was a salt inspector to collect tax from traders who took salt from there. Gandhi decided to march on foot from his ashram at Ahmedabad to the venue, a distance of 100 miles. When Gandhi marched, thousands followed him - men, women, children, the old, the severely disabled. When he reached Dandi, a mass of humanity was with him. As they entered the salt pans, a lathi charge by the police resulted. Yet the people pressed on. Many arrests were made. But Dandi was the culmination of a sathyagraha which ended with the abolition of the salt tax.

When Manu was released, even the embers of this sathyagraha war did not remain. Nobody met him at the gate. He, along with many others like him, were lost in the multitude of India's population.