Gandhi

Mahatma
THE CEASELESS CRUSADER
Who said, ‘Frailty, thy name is woman’?

Mahatma Gandhi was a ceaseless crusader of women’s equality. He brought

the women out of their homes and made them equal participants in all walks of life
– social as well as political. His entourage always consisted of several women and
many of his closest associates were women. Under Gandhi’s leadership thousands
of women took leading roles in several movements. Gandhi never considered
women to be unfit for any position or task. Because of Gandhi’s support and
initiative, women’s groups were formed all over India and there was hardly a week
when Gandhi did not address a women’s group. It was mainly because of Gandhi
that the first Cabinet of Independent India consisted of two women ministers. What
is significant here is his image of woman and his hope for her, so radically different
from that of any earlier reformer. He was not the first to address women’s issues
in India. Before the advent of Gandhi on the scene, the attitude to women, though
sympathetic, was patronising; leaders and social reform groups functioned in such a
way that made women look helpless. They wanted to protect, uplift and bring relief to
women. No doubt there was value in all of it. Yet, with Gandhi a new, unique element
emerged. Woman to him was neither man’s plaything, nor his competitor, struggling
to be like him. What she needed most was education, the recognition of her birthright
to be free and equal, to steer her own destiny side by side with man. He argues:

Therefore, ultimately, woman will have to determine with authority what she
needs. My own opinion is that, just as fundamentally men and women are one,
their problem must be one in essence. The soul in both is the same. The two live
the same life, have the same feelings. Each is a complement of the other. The one
cannot live without the other’s active help. But somehow or other man has dominated
woman from ages past, and so woman has developed an inferiority complex. She
has believed in the truth of man’s concept that she is inferior to him. But the seers
among men have recognised her equal status.

Gandhi was no advocate of blind adherence to tradition; its strong current

could help us swim far, or sink us; for him the deciding question was whether it would
take us closer to God (Truth), selfless service and love of all human beings. He
declared to a tradition-bound India:

I do not subscribe to the superstition that everything is good because it

is ancient. I do not believe either that anything is good because it is Indian... Any
tradition, however ancient, if inconsistent with morality, is fit to be banished from the
land. Untouchability may be considered an ancient tradition, the wide prevalence
of child widowhood and child marriage also may be considered to be a part of our
ancient tradition along with some of the horrible beliefs and superstitious practices
which offend the human dignity. I would sweep them out of existence if I had the
power.

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 What do our ancient books say about women? The woman’s father protects
her in her childhood, her husband protects her in youth, and her sons protect her in
old age; a woman is never fit for independence.

Gandhi saw how wrong that was, how unjust, how harmful to all; he spoke out
strongly against child-marriages, the isolation and subjugation of widows, the cruel
domination of men over women, and women’s own subservient mentality. He says:

True morality consists, not in following the beaten track, but in finding out the
true path for ourselves and in fearlessly following it.

Gandhi’s life-long “experiments with truth” served that very purpose. And when
he felt sure he knew the way of truth, he not only followed it fearlessly himself, but
inspired millions of men, women and even children. The title of his life story he aptly
called, ‘An Autobiography - The Story of My Experiments with Truth.’ For, to him
God was Truth, but whereas the definition of God, he said, was difficult to grasp, the
definition of truth every person could find in his or her own conscience. Even from his
childhood he was such an extraordinary lover of truth that he tried to understand and
verify the truth of any new thought he came across, and every personal experience.
Among various youthful experiments with truth, the most pertinent in relation to
women was his relationship with his wife, Kasturba. They were both born in 1869,
and married very young in 1882, when she was thirteen and he was but twelve years
old. Having read that a wife must always be subjugated to her husband’s will, he took
on the role of a domineering husband, and a boy husband at that!

Little was he prepared to face the challenge posed by his strong and spirited
wife, who stood up to him for her rights with dignity and self-possession, which, in the
early years he construed as stubbornness, and later extolled as moral courage. He
evolved his ideas on women, and the relationship between men and women, thanks
to a series of experiences with his wife during his formative years. He wanted implicit
obedience from her. He never allowed her to go out without his permission. Once, in
South Africa, he had wanted her to clean the chamber pot of a low-born clerk with
a smile. When she had resisted and cried, he behaved rudely to get the work done,
using the words, “Have you no sense of shame? Must you so far forget yourself?”
That was enough for the sincerest of all votaries of truth; he thought a great deal,
constantly, all his life. He never forgave himself for causing Kasturba to suffer pain.
His own pain and regret are evident in his words:

Of all the evils for which man has made himself responsible, none is so
degrading, so shocking or so brutal as his abuse of the better half of humanity - to
me, the female sex, not the weaker sex. It is the nobler of the two, for it is even today
the embodiment of sacrifice, silent suffering, humility, faith and knowledge.

He valued these qualities highly, considering them to be indispensable for

resistance by satyagraha, whether in the home or in society. He held ancient models

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of womanhood - Sita, Savitri, Damayanti, Draupadi - in high reverence and venerated
them for their moral strength; they were not passive, weak women. Passive
resistance, he explained, was not the right translation of satyagraha, which means,
“soul force” or “truth force”, the power of enlightened non-violence, neither passive
nor timid.

According to Gandhiji:

To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to woman. If by

strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by
strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior. Has
she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers
of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her man could not be. If non-
violence is the law of our being, the future is with woman. Who can make a more
effective appeal to the heart than woman?
.........

The wife is not the husband’s slave but his companion and his help-mate and
an equal partner in all his joys and sorrows – as free as the husband to choose her
own path.

.........

Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacities. She
has the right to participate in all debates, deliberations and activities and offer her
suggestions along with men for bringing about a better social order and she has an
equal right of freedom and liberty with him.

...........

If only the women of the world would come together they could display such
heroic non-violence as to kick away the atom bomb like a mere ball. Women have
been so gifted by God. If an ancestral treasure lying buried in a corner of the house
unknown to the members of the family were suddenly discovered, what a celebration
it would occasion. Similarly, women’s marvellous power is lying dormant. If the
women of Asia wake up, they will dazzle the world. My experiment in non-violence
would be instantly successful if I could secure women’s help.

.........

I would love to find that my future army contained a vast preponderance of

women over men. If the fight came, I should then approach it with much greater
confidence than if men predominated. I would dread the latter’s violence. Women
would be my guarantee against such an outbreak.

........

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 ‘Ahimsa’ means infinite love, which again means infinite capacity for suffering.
Who but woman, the mother of man, shows this capacity in the largest measure?
She shows it as she carries the infant and feeds it during nine months and derives
joy in the suffering involved. What can beat the suffering caused by the pangs of
labour? But she forgets them in the joy of creation. Who again suffers daily so
that her babe may wax from day to day? Let her transfer that love to the whole of
humanity, let her forget that she ever was or can be the object of man’s lust. And she
will occupy her proud position by the side of man as his mother, maker and silent
leader. It is given to her to teach the art of peace to the warring world thirsting for that
nectar.

.............

My suggestion is that women can play a very important role in establishing

peace. Instead of being carried away by science and its marvel they should follow
the path of non-violence because women by nature are endowed with the quality
of forgiveness. Women will never succeed in aping men in everything, nor can they
develop the gift nature has bestowed on them by doing so. They should neither allow
their family members to have, nor should they themselves have any connection with
anything relating to war. God has endowed women with hearts overflowing with love.
They should utilise the gift properly. That power is all the more effective because it is
mute. I hold that God has sent women as messengers of the gospel of non-violence.

..........

But it is my firm conviction that if the men and women of India cultivate in
themselves the courage to face death bravely and non-violently, they can laugh to
scorn the power of armaments and realise the ideal of unadulterated independence
in terms of the masses which would serve as an example to the world. In that women
can take the lead for they are a personification of the power of self-suffering.
..........

My work will be finished if I succeed in carrying conviction to the human

family, every man or woman, however weak in body, is the guardian of his or her self-
respect and liberty, and that his defence prevails, though the world be against the
individual resistor.

Is the society ready to give equal status to women? Equal status to women is
a far cry. Does it mean that we will continue to be a male chauvinistic society? Who is
to blame?
..........
I blame the men. Men have legislated against them. Man has regarded woman
as his tool. She has learnt to be his tool and in the end found it easy and pleasurable
to be such, because when one drags another in his fall the descent is easy.

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 .........

Woman, I hold, is the personification of self-sacrifice, but unfortunately today

she does not realize what tremendous advantage she has over man.

How apt these words are and look at the faith Gandhi has both in nonviolence
and women -

If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with women.

Let us join Otway in saying -

O woman! Lovely woman!

Nature made thee to temper man;

we had been brutes without you.

Angels are painted fair to look like you;

there is in you all that we believe of heaven –

amazing brightness, purity and truth,

eternal joy and everlasting love.

Glossary:
crusader /kru:'seIdə/ : one who fights for a cause with determination
frailty /'freIltI/ : weakness of character or behaviour
Ω
entourage /ónt 'rå:Z/ : people who surround and follow
advent /’ædvənt/ : arrival
patronising /’pætrənaIzIŋ/ : supporting
complement /’kómplIment/ : that which completes another
seer /sIə/ : visionary
adherence /əd'hIərəns/ : sticking to
superstition /su:pə'stI∫n/ : a belief not based on reason or scientific
knowledge
Ω
subjugation /súbdZ 'geISn/ : suppression
subservient /səb'sə:vjənt/ : being slavish
pertinent /'pə:tInənt/ : relevant
libel / 'l a I b l / : a printed or written statement in bad taste about
persons
dormant /’dØ:mənt/ : inactive

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I. BON VOYAGE
‘The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.’

- H W Longfellow

“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”, said Neil Armstrong,
stepping on to the moon’s surface on 21st July 1969.

Well, when she stepped into space, not once but twice, it proved to be a real
leap for womankind, especially for the Indian woman. It was a leap bridging the gap
between the impossible and the possible. ‘You can’t cross a great chasm in two short
steps; it needs one big leap’. That’s exactly what she did.

...................

Having slept under a canopy of stars in Karnal, Haryana, a sleepy little town in
Northern India, where she was born, ‘A strong desire to travel beyond the blue yonder,
to fly into the heavens and touch the stars some day .......’, was all that Kalpana Chawla
dreamt of even as a child. Maybe she was rightly named Kalpana – ‘imagination’.

Even as a young girl she preferred to sketch and paint airplanes rather than
dress up her Barbie dolls. A close friend remembers that Chawla often spoke about
travelling to Mars as being her greatest ambition. Not only did she dare to dream but
she also went the distance to fulfil her motto, ‘Follow your dreams’. She went on to
clock an incredible 760 hours in space, travelling 10.4 million km, as many as 252
times around the earth! In realisation of her dream, she was to say one day, “I could
then see my reflection in the window and in the retina of my eye the whole earth and
sky could be seen reflected ........ so I called all the crew members one by one and they
all saw it and everybody said, ‘Oh, wow!’”

Kalpana Chawla was born on the 1st of July 1961, into a middle-class family, as
the youngest of four siblings. She maintained a brilliant academic record throughout
school. She took part in almost everything, from athletics to dance and science
modelling.

She graduated from Tagore school, Karnal, in 1976. She went on to pursue her
Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautical engineering through Punjab Engineering
College. She happened to be the only girl in the aeronautics branch. Though her
family initially resisted her decision to pursue a career in aeronautics, they finally
relented, knowing her determined nature. This led on to a Master of Science degree
in Aerospace engineering from Texas University in 1984, again after having to fight it
out with her father who was very reluctant. Finally a mere five days before the last date
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for admissions closed, he relented on condition that her brother, Sanjay, accompany
her to the States. Then followed her Doctorate of philosophy in Aerospace engineering
from Colorado University in 1988.

Chawla enjoyed flying, hiking, backpacking and reading. Her passion for flying
began very early in life. Even when she was in school, she drew airplanes in drawing
competitions and made models of the universe and constellations for geography
projects. Her friends remember how she incessantly talked about designing and
flying planes, “It was obvious that she wanted to do something special and she would
achieve it”. While she was pursuing her engineering, her brother Sanjay had enrolled
himself in the Karnal flying school. During a break from studies, Chawla accompanied
her brother to the flight school, but the authorities wanted a written consent from her
guardian before they would let her fly. Her father refused. It was then that Chawla
got some valuable advice from her brother that she remembered all through her life:
‘Everyone fights their (his) own battles’.

It was this advice which encouraged her, to later earn her pilot’s licenses for
airplanes and gliders. She enjoyed flying aerobatics and tail-wheel airplanes. In fact,
her inspiration to take up flying was JRD Tata, who flew the first mail flights in India.

As a first-year student at Punjab Engineering College, she had surprised

everyone by presenting a paper on time lapse in space. As secretary of the
aero-astro club of the same college, she had arranged for a screening of the movie:
‘Those magnificent men in their flying machines’. Her path to the ‘Milky Way’ was laid
then.

She had a single-minded determination to be an astronaut. Where did this grit

come from? Surely from the steely resolve of her father, Banarsi Dass Chawla who
had to flee Pakistan during Partition. He had tried his hand at odd jobs, and having
practically no money to invest he had succeeded in building a thriving tyre business
from scratch.

Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to go into space, in the guest column of a cover
story in ‘The Week’, featuring Kalpana Chawla, said, “Often I have been asked if, as
a child, I had ever dreamt of going into space. I answered truthfully in the negative,
explaining that India never had a manned space programme, and so dreaming about it
would have been futile. Kalpana, on the other hand, was a small-town girl who dreamt
big and had the self-belief to chase that dream. She chased it half way across the
globe, caught up with it and then, lived it. That was the difference between us.”

Don Wilson, her thesis guide at the University of Texas, Arlington, recalls her
as a “quiet and shy girl who was intimidated by her surroundings”. But this was not for
long. She adapted well, showing a burning desire to be an astronaut. “She just refused
to take ‘no’ for an answer. And she was also an amazingly good student,” he was to say
later.

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In 1988, Kalpana Chawla started work at NASA Ames Research Center.

Meanwhile she married Jean-Pierre Harrison, a flight instructor, drawn towards him
probably because of her fascination for flying. In 1993, she joined Overset Methods
Inc., Los Altos, California, as Vice President and Research Scientist. In December
1994, she was selected by NASA out of 2962 applicants as an astronaut candidate
in the 15th group of astronauts. According to NASA, her academic accomplishments,
intense physical fitness and experience as a pilot made her a natural choice. She
reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 1995. Her path to the ‘Milky Way’ was
paved now. She had to undergo a year’s rigorous training and evaluation. The training
was so arduous that it could deter an average human being, but not Chawla. It was
a training, which included experiencing the pull of gravity, which would increase the
pulse rate from 72 to 102 within seconds – a training where every movement could be
a discovery of pain. The training required immense levels of fitness.

In 1996, her dream became true. She started off on her path to the ‘Milky Way’.
She was assigned as mission specialist on STS-87 Columbia, for a 16-day mission
between November 19 to December 5, 1997, as part of a six astronaut crew. She
became the first Indian or Indian-American to fly in the US space shuttle. She made
history by becoming the first Indian born woman to achieve this feat, for she had sought
American citizenship in the early 90’s.

Though her dream became true, she was blamed for making mistakes that sent
a science satellite tumbling out of control. Other astronauts went on a space walk to
capture it. However a post-flight NASA evaluation absolved her of blame, rating her a
‘terrific astronaut’.

Following her first space flight, in 1997, Chawla said, “The Ganges valley looked
majestic, mind-boggling”. “Africa looked like a desert and the Nile a vein in it”.

She said sunrises and sunsets defined her experience in space. “It is almost as
if everything is in fast forward. Then the moon races away from us and is lost in the
glow of the earth’s curvature”.

She yearned for a second chance. The chance came in 2000, when she was
assigned to the crew of STS-107 scheduled for launch in 2003. Once again she had
succeeded. It was not only good fortune, but also her having worked very, very hard.

On being selected again, she said, “Just looking at Earth, looking at the stars
during the night part of Earth; just looking at our planet roll by and the speed at which
it goes by and the awe that it inspires; just so many such good thoughts come to your
mind when you see all that,” “Doing it again is like living a dream – a good dream –
once again”.

But this time it was to be her eternal voyage. She became one with the space
that she dared to dream about, and yet still dared to explore.

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The 16-day flight which began on January 16th 2003 was a dedicated science
and research mission. The crew successfully conducted 80 experiments. On February
1st 2003, a breezy blue day over Florida, during entry, the space shuttle exploded into
a ball of fire, sixteen minutes prior to scheduled landing. Kalpana Chawla and the other
six crew members died an unfortunate death leaving the whole world mourning.
Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.’
- R L Stevenson
Probably R L Stenvenson’s yearning was Kalpana Chawla’s too!

She had said after her first space flight, that as the shuttle repeatedly passed
over India, especially New Delhi, she pointed it out to the other crew members and
said, “I lived near there”. Now each time we look up into the sky, it’s our turn to say,
“She’s up there”.
..................

Kalpana Chawla carved an identity for herself in an otherwise men’s domain.

She will always inspire many young women as she has paved the way for them to dream
- to think beyond horizons and reach for the stars. Her passion for space exploration
has made her an inspiration and an icon to every little Indian girl. No wonder as many
as 28,000 web-sites host information about her.

In her last interview to the press, Chawla said, “ ‘I was not born for one corner.
The whole world is my native land.’ So said Seneca, the philosopher. I have felt that
connection for the Earth for as long as I can remember. And not just for Earth, but the
whole universe. In summers, while growing up in India, we often slept in the courtyard
under the stars. We gazed dreamily at the Milky Way, and once in a while caught some
shooting stars. Times like those gave me the opportunity to wonder and ask all those
very basic questions. That sense of awe for the heavens started there. The family
and the surrounding community were mostly folks who had come to the area after
Partition, most of them without many possessions. You couldn’t lose by working hard
and everyone seemed to follow that rule. It helped instil the notion that no matter what
the circumstances, you could indeed follow your dreams.”

In the same interview, her message to Indian children was, “....... the journey
matters as much as the goal. Listen to the sounds of nature......Take good care of our
fragile planet.”

When asked why anybody would want to climb Mt. Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary
replied, “Because it is there!”

To all the Hillarys, Armstrongs, Norgays, Pearys, Columbuses and Chawlas

who want to explore “because it is there,” in the generations to come, it is wishing bon
voyage!

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Glossary:

bon voyage /bónvØI'jå:Z/ : ‘have a good journey’

chasm /'kAzm/ : a deep narrow opening
canopy /'kAnEpI/ : a type of roof
yonder /'jóndE/ : over there
incredible /In'kredEbl/ : unbelievable
retina /'retInE/ : a layer at the back of the eyeball that
receives light and sends pictures of what
the eye sees to the brain
siblings /'sIblINz/ : brothers and/or sisters
aeronautical /eErE'nØ:tIkl/ : of the study of travel through air
relented /rI'lentId/ : gave in
constellations /kónstE'leISnz/ : groups of stars forming a pattern
incessantly /In'sesntlI/ : endlessly
glider /glaIdE/ : a light air-craft without an engine
Ω
aerobatics /eErE 'bAtIks/ : feats of flying performed for an audience
Ω Ω
aero-astro /eErE AstrE / : relating to the air and stars/space
Milky Way /'mIlkI weI/ : the galaxy of which our solar system is a
part
astronaut /'AstrEnØ:t/ : one trained to travel in a spacecraft
steely resolve /sti:lIrI'zólv/ : firm determination
thriving /†raIvIN/ : very successful
manned /mAnd/ : operated by men
intimidated /In'tImIdeItId/ : frightened
NASA : National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (Acronym)
fascination /fAsI'neISn/ : keen interest
rigorous /'rIgErEs/ : difficult
Ω
arduous /'å:dj Es/ : requiring a lot of effort
deter /dI'tE:/ : prevent
space shuttle /'speIs Sútl/ : a rocket-launched spacecraft
satellite /'sAtElaIt/ : a natural object moving round a larger object
in space or an artificial body placed in orbit
round the earth or another planet to study it

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absolved /Eb'zólvd/ : cleared of blame

terrific /tE'rIfIk/ : great
mind-boggling /maInd 'bóglIN/ : over whelming
curvature /'kE:vEtSE/ : the degree to which something is curved
Ω
domain /dE 'meIn/ : region
fragile /'frAdZaIl/ : delicate

Choose the synonyms of the italicised words from the options given.
e.g. A strong desire to travel beyond the blue yonder ....
(yearning, happiness, thrilling, enjoying)
1. Even as a young girl she preferred to sketch and paint airplanes.
(decided, hated, chose, enjoyed)
2. She maintained a brilliant academic record.
(outstanding, shining, twinkling, consistent)
3. “It was obvious that she wanted to do something special .....”
(unsure, apparent, obsolete, unknown)
4. Where did this grit come from?
(greatness, innocence, power, determination)
5. The training required immense levels of fitness.
(intense, strict, great, maximum)
Choose the antonyms of the italicised words from the options given.

e.g. Other astronauts went on a space-walk to capture it.

(seize, cease, free, photograph)
1. “The Ganges valley looked majestic.....”
(great, beautiful, humble, shining)
2. ...just looking at our planet roll by ........ and the awe that it inspires .....
(fear, disrespect, surprise, honour)
3. The heights by great men reached ... were not attained by sudden flight.
(swift, slow, calm, gradual)
4. Though her family initially resisted her decision .....
(accepted, prevented, disliked, proposed)
5. She had to fight it out with her father who was very reluctant.
(relentless, exultant, eager, pleasant)
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The following words are taken from the lesson. Supply the missing letters
to find their synonyms.
1. consent - app _ _ _ a l
2. dare - br _ _ _
3. accompany - esc _ _ _
4. special - ex _ _ _ ord _ _ _ ry
5. follow - _ _ _ sue
6. fragile - fee _ _ _
The following words are taken from the lesson. Supply the missing letters
to find their antonyms.
1. remember - _ org _ _
2. valuable - worth _ _ _ _
3. succeeded - fai _ _ _
4. mourning - rej _ _ _ ing
5. quiet - talk_ _ _ _ _
6. futile - _ _ _ ful
Comprehension:

I. Level I
1. What did Neil Armstrong say on stepping onto the moon’s surface?
2. What was Kalpana Chawla’s strong desire?
3. How was she different from others, as a young girl?
4. What was her brother’s advice? How did it help her?
5. Who was Chawla’s inspiration to take up flying? What was his achievement?
6. What was the difference between Rakesh Sharma and Chawla?
7. What did her thesis guide at the University of Texas say of her?
8. What sort of training did she undergo at NASA?
9. When and how did Kalpana Chawla’s dream become true?
10. What did Chawla say on being selected again to go into space?
II. Level II

1. Why did ‘it’ prove to be a real leap for womankind?

2. ‘Maybe she was rightly named Kalpana – ‘imagination’ ’. Why?

3. Why is Kalpana Chawla said to have inherited her grit from her father?

4. ‘She yearned for a second chance’. Why?

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5. ‘Probably R L Stevenson’s yearning was Kalpana Chawla’s too!’ Why?

6. Why is Kalpana Chawla an icon to every Indian girl?

7. ‘I have felt that connection for the Earth for as long as I can remember’ – What
is that connection?

8. How did Kalpana Chawla come to believe that one could follow one’s dreams?

III. Answer in a paragraph:

1. Kalpana Chawla’s education and initial career.

2. What was Kalpana Chawla’s achievement in space and how did she describe
her experiences?

3. Describe her second space-flight.

4. Describe her last interview. What was her message to children?

IV. Write an essay on:

1. Kalpana Chawla’s path to the ‘Milky Way’.

2. Her grit, dreams and realisation of her dreams.

Skimming

Task 1: Go through the following passages A and B. Do not read in detail. As you
give a cursory glance, keep the following questions in mind:

• What is the main content of both the passages?

• Which country/countries are involved in each?

• Which passage deals with a human being and which deals with an animal?

• Do both events take place in the same decade?

• Have any names been mentioned in each of the passages?

• Is there anything common in the achievement of the main characters in both

the events?

• Which passage involves training?

• Which passage involves conducting an experiment?

• In which passage is there a tragic ending involving loss of life?

• Which passage talks about a memorial and relates to the present also?

• Are there any scientific terms used in the passages?

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