Mahatma Gandhi and Gulzarilal Nanda
This is just a start of this section, only from my memory so far, and without any references, formally. I shall correct any factual errors later in the light of references.
Gulzarilal Nanda (Dadaji) was from an early age involved with the freedom movement and inspired by Gandhiji. Soon after his marriage he expressed to Gandhiji his desire to work actively and full time in the movement. Gandhiji cautioned him that it would be a life of hardship without any steady source of income. Dadaji's wife was from a very well off family but still agreed to support Dadaji in this endeavour and Dadaji decided to go ahead. This process I understand involved one full night of thinking on Chowpatty beach in Bombay.
Once in Bombay, Dadaji met Gandhiji and a group of his senior colleagues in the movement. In the meeting was present Lala Lajpatrai who wanted Dadaji to work in Punjab. However, Gandhiji decided that Dadaji should work in Gujarat.Thus started Dadaji's decades long association with Gujarat and his career as a labour leader in Ahmedabad in its textile industry. The textile workers union was called Majoor Mahajan and still exists although there are very few textile mills still active in the Ahmedabad area. Ahmedabad at one time had a large number of textile mills and a flourishing textile industry. Dadaji was passionate in protecting the interests of the mill workers and prevention of their exploitation by the "capitalist" mill owners. He used to travel on a bicycle in Ahmedabad. Gandhiji was very supportive of Dadaji in these efforts. I am reproducing correspondence related to these matters including that acquired from the library at Gandhiji's Ashram on the banks of the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad. There are photographs of Dadaji from these times (late 1920's early 1930's) in the Sabarmati ashram and I have reproduced in following pages some of them. During a period of some years, Dadaji along with his family, used to visit Gandhiji once every week on a particular day of the week and sit with Gandhiji in his room while Gandhiji worked on his spinning wheel, which, by the way, became a potent symbol of the freedom movement. I shall be posting in this site soon a set of videos in which Dadaji's daughter, my father's sister Dr. Pushpa Naik (deceased) describes those days of her early childhood sitting at the feet of Gandhiji in his room in Sabarmati.
I have also reproduced on this site, scans of correspondence beween Gandhiji and Dadaji. Much of this was procured in CD form from the library at Sabarmati ashram and some from the GLN museum at Kurukshetra in Haryana.
Dadaji, under the influence of Gandhiji and along with other followers of Gandhi and workers in the freedoom movement had adopted the practice of wearing clothes made only from Khadi ie homespun/ domestically spun cloth and had sworn off wearing any imported cloth. Dadaji had always been very religious (unlike myself by the way) and became an avid follower of Gandhiji's religious, moral philosophies and even overall approach to life, and lifestyle. Letters from Gandhiji to Dadaji reproduced here show Gandhiji's counsel to Dadaji on religious and philosophical matters too.
There are references showing that Gandhiji and Dadaji were in jail together at the same time.
I have in my possession and reproduced here, a very old autographh book probably handed down from Dadaji, that has 3 unique/ important characteristics:
1) It is made of rough "homemade" paper
2) It has a photo of Gandhiji sitting with his wife Kasturba on a cot. The photo is signed "Bapu" in Urdu
3) Pages of the autograph book have autographs of most of the leading lights and senior personages of the freedom movement including.....
Gandhiji’s involvement in Nandaji’s work as labour leader in Ahmedabad>>>
Correspondence between Gandhiji and Nandaji>>>
In jail at same time>>>
The “Mahatma Gandhi Autograph Book” with me>>>
Other references of the connection>>>
This is just a start of this section, only from my memory so far, and without any references, formally. I shall correct any factual errors later in the light of references.
Gulzarilal Nanda (Dadaji) was from an early age involved with the freedom movement and inspired by Gandhiji. Soon after his marriage he expressed to Gandhiji his desire to work actively and full time in the movement. Gandhiji cautioned him that it would be a life of hardship without any steady source of income. Dadaji's wife was from a very well off family but still agreed to support Dadaji in this endeavour and Dadaji decided to go ahead. This process I understand involved one full night of thinking on Chowpatty beach in Bombay.
Once in Bombay, Dadaji met Gandhiji and a group of his senior colleagues in the movement. In the meeting was present Lala Lajpatrai who wanted Dadaji to work in Punjab. However, Gandhiji decided that Dadaji should work in Gujarat.Thus started Dadaji's decades long association with Gujarat and his career as a labour leader in Ahmedabad in its textile industry. The textile workers union was called Majoor Mahajan and still exists although there are very few textile mills still active in the Ahmedabad area. Ahmedabad at one time had a large number of textile mills and a flourishing textile industry. Dadaji was passionate in protecting the interests of the mill workers and prevention of their exploitation by the "capitalist" mill owners. He used to travel on a bicycle in Ahmedabad. Gandhiji was very supportive of Dadaji in these efforts. I am reproducing correspondence related to these matters including that acquired from the library at Gandhiji's Ashram on the banks of the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad. There are photographs of Dadaji from these times (late 1920's early 1930's) in the Sabarmati ashram and I have reproduced in following pages some of them. During a period of some years, Dadaji along with his family, used to visit Gandhiji once every week on a particular day of the week and sit with Gandhiji in his room while Gandhiji worked on his spinning wheel, which, by the way, became a potent symbol of the freedom movement. I shall be posting in this site soon a set of videos in which Dadaji's daughter, my father's sister Dr. Pushpa Naik (deceased) describes those days of her early childhood sitting at the feet of Gandhiji in his room in Sabarmati.
I have also reproduced on this site, scans of correspondence beween Gandhiji and Dadaji. Much of this was procured in CD form from the library at Sabarmati ashram and some from the GLN museum at Kurukshetra in Haryana.
Dadaji, under the influence of Gandhiji and along with other followers of Gandhi and workers in the freedoom movement had adopted the practice of wearing clothes made only from Khadi ie homespun/ domestically spun cloth and had sworn off wearing any imported cloth. Dadaji had always been very religious (unlike myself by the way) and became an avid follower of Gandhiji's religious, moral philosophies and even overall approach to life, and lifestyle. Letters from Gandhiji to Dadaji reproduced here show Gandhiji's counsel to Dadaji on religious and philosophical matters too.
There are references showing that Gandhiji and Dadaji were in jail together at the same time.
I have in my possession and reproduced here, a very old autographh book probably handed down from Dadaji, that has 3 unique/ important characteristics:
1) It is made of rough "homemade" paper
2) It has a photo of Gandhiji sitting with his wife Kasturba on a cot. The photo is signed "Bapu" in Urdu
3) Pages of the autograph book have autographs of most of the leading lights and senior personages of the freedom movement including.....
Gandhiji’s involvement in Nandaji’s work as labour leader in Ahmedabad>>>
Correspondence between Gandhiji and Nandaji>>>
In jail at same time>>>
The “Mahatma Gandhi Autograph Book” with me>>>
Other references of the connection>>>