Abstract
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Bapu, or Mahatma is no longer perceived as a person but a belief now. His views on non-violence, love and care, and the quest for Truth are far reaching than one can imagine. Apart from many virtuous deeds, Gandhi was instrumental in abolishing the Indenture System in India: a system synonymous with narak or hell. In South Africa, he fought for the rights of the Indian indentured labourers. His experiences amongst the labourers shaped Gandhi’s makings and markings. The end of the Indenture System freed over one million Indian bonded labourers in sixteen different colonies (Cohen 63). For a diasporic writer like Satendra Nandan, a descendant of an indentured labourer in Fiji, Gandhi has a particular room in his heart and writings. No other Indo-Fijian writer has given Gandhi the attention in their works like Nandan. Most of his works have direct references or allusions to Gandhi and his ideology. For this reason, Nandan’s view is unique. In this paper, I will discuss two of Gandhi’s ideologies that feature prominently in Nandan’s works: the search for Truth and the act of reading and writing.
Highlights
The labour shortage propelled the Indenture System when slavery was abolished in 1833
Apart from many virtuous deeds, Gandhi was instrumental in abolishing the Indenture System in India: a system synonymous with narak or hell
In South Africa, he fought for the rights of the Indian indentured labourers
Summary
The labour shortage propelled the Indenture System when slavery was abolished in 1833. As a result of their sordid experiences, the labourers formed ‘Girmit Ideology’ (Mishra Indo-Fijian Fiction 171-183) and later a consciousness ‘Diasporic Imaginary’ (Mishra The Literature of the Indian Diaspora 1-21). “Impossible mourning” for home (Mishra 9) and the idea of “homing desire” (Avtar Brah 180) form key concepts in diasporic literature. In this respect Gandhi, for Nandan, becomes the representative of his mother/mythical land— India. Nandan in his fiction expresses Gandhi’s impact on him and the Indians in Fiji. Two of Gandhi’s ideologies feature prominently in Nandan’s works. They are the search for Truth and the act of reading and writing. This paper explores how Nandan captures these ideologies in his fiction
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