Gandhi Journal Article-II (July 2015) : Half-naked Fakir

Gandhi Journal Article-II (July 2015) : Half-naked Fakir

By Emmo Tarlo
 

Of course, one can never fully know Gandhi’s ‘intention’ in wearing a loin-cloth, for what he actually wrote and declared in his speeches may have differed to some extent from his personal reflections. Yet through analyzing content of his expressed intention, one can gain considerable insight into how he tried to construct the meaning of his loincloth publicly. It is suggested here that Gandhi wrote and spoke so much about his dress because he wanted people to understand it and because he realized that it could easily be misinterpreted. Misinterpreted it was, but this does not mean that the misinterpretations were necessarily detrimental to Gandhi, or that Gandhi did not to some extent enjoy the ambiguity of his own sartorial gesture.

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Gandhi's deliberations climaxed in Madurai

Gandhi's deliberations climaxed in Madurai

Gandhi donned loin-cloth for the first time at Madura to identify himself with India's poor.

 “All the alterations I have made in my course of life have been effected by momentous occasions; and they have been made after such a deep deliberation that I have hardly had to regret them. And I did them, as I could not help doing them. Such a radical alteration - in my dress, - I effected in Madura.”

- M. K. Gandhi

Ninety-three years back, on September 22, 1921, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi took the brave decision to shed his traditional attire and get into a ‘loincloth,’ which remained with him till death. The historic decision of the Mahatma to identify himself with the common man embellished Madurai’s reputation as an ancient city that enhanced even an ordinary man’s spiritual strength. He later recalled that though he came closer to taking a decision on his clothing on a couple of earlier occasions, it was Madurai that gave him the necessary strength.

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