Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, 1909 by M.K. Gandhi

Posts

Showing posts from March, 2009

Hind Swaraj Centenary Event at Sarnath: 2nd and 11th April, 2009

Here are excerpts from the invitation mail by the organizers... Central University of Tibetan Studies, Sarnath and Gujarat Vidyapeeth, Ahmedabad As part of the Centenary celebrations the Central University of Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi and the Gujarat Vidyapeeth have planned a ten day camp (Shivir) at Sarnath during 2 nd and 11 th April, 2009 . Gandhiji had firmly held his conviction on the world view he had presented in the Hind Swaraj and also on the foundations he specified for the social reconstruction. Unfortunately, during his times and also soon after Independence, the leaders hardly paid any attention to work for the Hind Swaraj. Interestingly, after hundred years the situation world over is such that the fundamentals of Gandhian thought are being referred to and revisited. The threats from the nature and the threats from fellow men are intensifying and a search for sustainable solution has begun. The broad objective of the proposed shibir is to discuss, share a...

Hind Swaraj in Gujarati

Reading Hind Swaraj in original Gujarati is IMPORTANT for anyone who wants to understand this work in its completeness. Many parts that are not clear in the English version is due to poor translation and further edition. In comparison the Gujarati edition reads almost poetic in places and extremely strong in its presentation. The local idioms and phrases deployed are also important as they represent a certain world view. Their English equivalent is no match whatsoever. Gandhi must have had a tough time doing the first translation himself. Another problem seems to be that other Indian (and perhaps foreign) languages would have used the English rather than the Gujarati as the base (at least that seems to be the case in Tamil edition), if this is the case, then there are quite a few issues that need to be looked into.

Introduction to this Blog...

Hind Swaraj was written by Gandhiji in 1909 as a small booklet. He himself says that he just had to write it, that he could not hold it back. It was written on a ship on his way from London to South Africa almost at one go. In fact, he would not change much in it. It is also the only work perhaps that he wrote originally in Gujarati and later himself translated to English. In his opinion whatever he did in the next 39 years was only execute what he had written in Hind Swaraj. He always held it to be his manifesto, if there was one.

This small book even today elicits strong responses from people across the globe. It remains as one of the strongest critics of modernity written and a very good starting point for anyone who wants to challenge modernity or aspires to understand the roots of it and / or is seeking a solution from within. His powerful proposal of soul force in this book is equally significant and perhaps is the major source of discomfort for his own colleagues in the Indian National Congress in later days.

Many serious followers of Gandhiji even today hold this book as the beginning for understanding Gandhiji and his actions. Quite a few (including myself) think that some of the contemporary issues that challenge us today need to be addressed / viewed from the Hind Swaraj framework for a possible change.

This blog has been started as a web place for a discussion on Hind Swaraj. The book itself is available for a full download online, click here.