Indigo

Chapter Summary

The story “Indigo” is based on the interview of Mahatma Gandhi that was taken by Louise Fischer. To write about him, Fischer had visited him in the year 1942. He was in the Ashram-Sevagram, where he came to know everything about the Indigo movement. This story features the struggle that was made by Mahatma Gandhi for the underprivileged peasants of the Champaran. Gandhi Ji also told him how he planned and initiated the process of departure of the British government. That is when in this interview he recalled one person named Rajkumar Shukla who was a sharecropper from Champaran, Bihar.

In this interview, he also reflects on the whole story and how Shukla continues to visit and follow Gandhiji everywhere, and at the end of the journey how he gets impressed by the dedication of the peasant. Eventually, Gandhi visited Champaran, with him. It not only features the struggle of Gandhi but also portrays the struggle of other prominent leaders who plays a huge role in safeguarding the sharecroppers from the atrocities of the landlords. They were used to living a very difficult life and were under the agreement to grow the Indigo. At that time, Biohar was under the landlord system, which makes the situation more complicated.

This was the time when Gandhi Ji decided to fight against the whole system and stand by the sharecroppers. He started a war that lasted for years to end the discrimination against them and to give them justice. It provides them the courage to fight back and made them, aware of their fundamental rights. Gandhi Ji not only handles the situation economically or politically but he made it a social issue, worth fighting for. He also worked his best to provide them with proper health hygiene and education, and eventually, that helps them to get the proper self-confidence.

Rajkumar Shukla Described as Being ‘Resolute’

In this story, Rajkumar Shukla is a sharecropper who belongs to the Champaran District. He then visits Lucknow to meet Gandhi Ji. He used to follow Gandhiji everywhere; he even followed him to Ashram that was near Ahmedabad. Gandhi was very much impressed by the Rajkumar Shukla and his dedication and eventually gave him a proper date so he can meet him. He met him in Calcutta, so Shukla can be back in Champaaran. That is the reason he was called a resolute.

Why the servants thought Gandhi to be another peasant?

The people of Champaran knew Rajkumar Shukla, as a poor Indigo sharecropper who used to work under his master. As Shukla was a peasant, and Gandhi Ji was accompanied by him, therefore the other servants thought that maybe Gandhi was too a peasant.

List the places that Gandhi visited between his first meeting with Shukla and his arrival at Champaran.

Rajkumar Shukla first meet Mahatma Gandhi in Lucknow. Then he came to Cwnpore and other parts of India to meet Gandhi Ji, then he returned to the Ashram that was near Ahmedabad. Later, he even went to Calcutta to meet Gandhi Ji, then Patna, and then Muzaffarpur, before they arrive at Champaran.

What did the peasants pay the British landlords as rent? What was the impact of synthetic indigo on the prices of natural indigo?

The sharecroppers paid for the entire Indigo Harvest, which they had cultivated on the 15 percent of the land, that was a rent to the British Government. The British agreed to release the peasants from their former agreement after they compensate for being released. They take that decision after knowing about the production of Synthetic Indigo that was done in German. As a result of the arrival of the synthetic indigo, the price of Natural Indigo started decreasing.

The events in this part of the text illustrate Gandhi’s method of working. Can you identify some instances of this method and link them to his ideas of Satyagraha and non-violence?

There are examples in the narrative that will give a clear idea about Gandhi Ji's idea of Noncooperation and Satyagraha.

• One example is the refusal of Gandhiji to obey the court's order when the court asked him to leave Champaran.

• The other one is that when Gandhiji's protest against the delay of the court proceedings, indicates his belief in civil disobedience. For Gandhiji, the truth is everything, and for hat he never faster to plead guilty in front of the court. That is the reason he chooses to follow the voice of conscience and obey the higher law of our being.

Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of a 25% refund to the farmers?

Mahatma Gandhi Ji agreed to a settlement of a 25% refund to the farmers, just so he can break the deadlock. He felt that the fact is more important where the Landlords had been obliged to surrender a part of the money along with the part of their pride, it is more important the amount.

How did the episode change the plight of the peasants?

The Sharecroppers or the peasants were saved from spending time and money on the court and in the cases. After a few years from that, the British government had given up control of their estates. It is reverted to the peasant and eventually, that helps in the process those results in disappearing the indigo sharecropping.

FAQs

Q1. What is the meaning of the term Sharecropper?

Ans. The term Sharecropper indicted those people who got permission from the owner of the land to use the land in exchange for the percentage of total crops that will grow in that land. The person who took the land from the owner is called the sharecropper. It was a very common practice in India for a long history.

Q2. What is meant by the Satyagraha?

Ans. The word, Satyagraha means the hold on to the truth. This is a movement that was started by Mahatma Gandhi. As he believed in non-violence, he chooses to seek the truth in a way that allows no violence and still gets the chance to seek justice.

Q3. What is the connection between the Champaran and satyagraha?

Ans. In the history of India, the Satyagraha in Champaran is considered one of the most crucial movements that gave the British government a major shock. Mahatma Gandhi stated this movement to provide justice to the peasant or the sharecroppers who were a part of indigo producing. The victory of this movement was a major drawback for the British government. That was the time when Gandhi Ji became a major threat to the British government, and was a threat to the smooth running of colonial rule for decades over India.