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Gandhi falls, an Indian rises

Derek Abraham to the South African station where Gandhi’s life changed.

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Wine, cognac, plum cake, mince pie, turkey, rice, curry, pudding—I had none of these on December 25, 2013. Why, I didn’t even go to church. Yet it was a very memorable Christmas.

In Durban to cover the second and deciding Test match between South Africa and India, a few television journalists and I drove to Pietermaritzburg. I am never inclined to overt displays of patriotism except, of course, during a game of cricket between India and Pakistan. But the prospect of visiting two places of historic significance gave me goosebumps.

“Church Street,” was our first entry into the ‘Made in China’ GPS device. Hurrah, it worked. The 90-km ride was as smooth as a Boeing flight. But we were in a little Suzuki Alto and an hour later (yes, that quick), we were there.On the kilometre-long stretch, there must have been about 30 people, mostly roadside vendors. “Do you know where the Gandhi statue is?” we asked a local. “Ghandy? Who Ghandy?” he shot back. That’s when I came up with this: “You see Madiba (Nelson Mandela) is the father of South Africa. Likewise, Gandhi is the father of India.” Trust me, it worked. “Oh yes, oh yes, Ghandy. Old man, no shirt,” he said rather excitedly and guided us to the spot.

The ‘Statue of Hope’, they call it. Erected on a four-feet high marble platform, the life-size statue of Gandhi is certainly worth a long, emotional look. “MY LIFE IS MY MESSAGE,” reads the facade facing you. The message on the other side explains, it was built to mark the 100th year since June 7, 1893, when Gandhi was forced out of a train at Pietermaritzburg station. That’s where we went next.

A UK-educated lawyer, Gandhi arrived in Durban to serve as legal counsel to a wealthy merchant, Dada Abdulla. In June, he undertook the life-changing trip to Pretoria, via Pietermaritzburg. A gold-plated plaque at the station quotes Gandhi as saying, “...On the train, I had a first-class ticket, but not a bed ticket. At Maritzburg when the beds were issued, the guard came and turned me out, and asked me to go into the van compartment. I would not go, and the train steamed away leaving me shivering in the cold. Now the creative experience comes there. I was afraid for my very life. I entered the dark waiting-room. There was a white man in the room. I was afraid of him. What was my duty? I asked myself. Should I go back to India, or should I go forward, with God as my helper and face whatever was in store for me? I decided to stay and suffer. My active non-violence began from that date.” For the record, Gandhi never wore a suit again. And it won’t be inappropriate to say that the seeds of the desire for freedom were sown in his heart on that night.

The station is just a five-minute drive from Church Street. Believe it or not, but there wasn’t a soul. Just two guards outside, sipping chilled coke from a coffee mug. “Two trains: one in the morning, one in the night,” they informed us. The platform was sparkling clean. That waiting room was locked. And surprisingly, the system in operation is metre-gauge. There are other plaques too, but none more momentous than the one unveiled by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, our former President.

The story of Gandhi’s travails at the station has now acquired another life. In a moving ceremony presided over by Mandela, the ‘Freedom of Pietermaritzburg’ was conferred posthumously on Gandhi in 1997. Mandela recalled “Gandhi’s magnificent example of personal sacrifice and dedication in the face of oppression”. Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who served as India’s high commissioner to South Africa, received the honour on behalf of his grandfather. “When Gandhi was evicted from the train, an Indian visiting South Africa fell but when Gandhi rose, an Indian South African rose.”

After reading every single plaque, our journey back to Durban was spent gorging on potato chips and soft drinks. It was hot! At Kingsmead Cricket Stadium, we received a hot piece of news. The Test match, starting on the morrow, would be Jacques Kallis’s last. It was back to cricket.  

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