Manu

This week's story is a work in progress. It’s less a story and more an outline of a novel, each post can perhaps be developed into a larger chapter. It may well reach completion or stand as a work abandoned. Whatever be the outcome, we commence the journey today.

__*__

Manu Sharma, in passing I note an uncommon name for a Tamil Brahmin, was a native of Mannargudi. This town was a taluk headquarter in Thanjavur district and like many men of his class he was a gentleman of leisure. His forefathers had left him a house, a few acres of wet land and a big mango orchard. These provided him enough income to have a comfortable life. Gentlemen like him spent their days in such useful pursuits like playing cards in the afternoons, often with stakes, and attending drama and music performances in the night. Revelries often went on till the early morning but we shall not dwell on the nature of these. Manu on the other hand found no joy in this life. He was an idealist and itched to do something for the society he lived in. The problem was he did not know the what and how of such an activity.

It was the early twenties. Around this time, a British missionary of a new religion -communism - came to India. He preached the gospel of Marx and some sensitive, educated youngsters got converted. One such youngster was Ramamurthy from Mannargudi. On his return from baptism, he ordained himself a priest and started preaching. When Manu heard him, he felt an immediate opportunity to address his disaffection and decided to take the communist path. The immediate effect was that Manu removed his sacred thread and gave up religious rites. But Ramamurthy was a mere preacher and none of his beliefs were put into practice. The result was that Manu remained disaffected and frustrated.

Much at the same time an Indian barrister named M.K. Gandhi returned to India. Even before his arrival his fame had reached the country. This fame rested on his experimentation with a new form of warfare he called “sathyagraha” which had met with partial success. This war was unique as it dispensed with arms. Indians are notorious for conferring honorary titles on all and sundry. They duly conferred the title of “Mahatma” on Mr. Gandhi. On his arrival in India, Gandhi began his war against the injustices he perceived in the Hindu religion. This included service to the depressed, exploited sections of society he called Harijans. Influenced by Gandhi, a few middle aged followers started the Harijan Sewa Sangh. The Sangh's work in Tamil Nadu was entrusted to a lawyer from Madurai. This gentleman immediately started a program to allow Harijans into Hindu temples. Disillusioned by communism, Manu felt a renewed opportunity to do good and joined this group. To prove his commitment to the cause, he got his eldest daughter married to a Harijan boy of his acquaintance. The family was unhappy with his decision; the daughter herself resented the marriage and her new life in a Harijan “cheri”. The Harijan boy too was uneasy in the presence of his Brahmin relatives. But the marriage born of Manu’s idealism could not be undone.

__*__

PS: I wanted to reconfirm a few facts in this story and one of the first documents of my google search was “Satyagraha in South Africa” by Gandhi. I have just begun reading it and it promises to be a lucid, interesting read.  Also, picture source here.