Page:Fischer - A Week with Gandhi.pdf/131

 his hut at Sevagram, reading his correspondence, and listening to the Indians who visit him, sense the sentiment and hear the prayers of the Indian masses. He is persuaded that he knows what they want and is, therefore, entitled to act for them. Gandhi is immersed in India. He identifies him self with India. All his antennae are out to catch the voice of India. He hears it. He is sure he interprets it correctly. Such a certainty is often the motive power and guiding light of leaders. Gandhi may have doubts about his views on economics and sociology. He will consent to modify methods and the time-table. But he is undeviating, unyielding and uncompromising on the central issue of independence. Indians tell you Gandhi was born to achieve independence. He is ready to die for it. Sacrifice and renunciation rank very high in the Indian calendar of virtues.

Gandhi’s wisdom, his shrewdness, and his profound religiousness in a nation that is the most religious nation in the world further explain his preeminence. But his strongest popular appeal is his desire for national freedom and the impatient passion with which he drives towards that goal. I think the yearning for India’s independence takes precedence in him over everything else, even over his belief in non-violence. At least, he can work on terms of the friendliest cooperation with men like Nehru, Azad, and Rajagopalachari who,