Gandhi and Smuts in London
NOT so long ago, London used to be the cheapest city for a visitor, compared to the major cities of western Europe. No longer. A simple cup of coffee in an ordinary café can set you back by £2, or Rs 220. But there are inexpensive ways of getting around if you want to see the main sights of central London. A ticket on a red double-decker bus costs £1.75. Go to the upper deck, and get a front-row seat, which gives you a 180-degree view. The beauty is that you can get on and off the bus — and even take a different bus — on the same ticket, provided you don’t take too long between rides.
The best bus is number 26, which I took from Victoria Station, a major train and coach hub of London. The first major sight is Westminster Abbey, where kings and queens have been crowned but where, more recently, the much-loved Princess Diana’s funeral service was held, with Elton John’s soulful rendering of ‘Candle in the Wind’. Alongside the Abbey are the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Then, on to Whitehall, the equivalent of New Delhi’s Central Secretariat, the nerve centre of the British government. After that, Trafalgar Square, dominated by Nelson’s column, commemorating the great British naval victory during the Napoleonic wars, near the Cape of Trafalgar, between the British and the combined French and Spanish fleets. Admiral Nelson died in the naval battle, and remains one of Britain’s greatest heroes.
The place to linger on this route is Parliament Square, a small park facing the Houses of Parliament. Twelve statues have been erected there, mostly of iconic British leaders. But Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela also find a place. However, for a student of history, the three statues of most interest are those of Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi and Jan Smuts — all three of whom interacted famously with each other. Churchill, an imperialist to the core, had undisguised contempt for Gandhi, calling him a ‘half-naked fakir’.
Smuts was South Africa’s Prime Minister, upholding Apartheid, the policy of racial separation between whites and coloureds, when Gandhi was in that country, struggling non-violently for the rights of Indians settled there. Smuts sentenced Gandhi to long terms of imprisonment. Yet, the two men had a sneaking admiration for each other. Gandhi even sent Smuts a pair of sandals that he had made himself, as a present. Smuts wore them for many years, and on Gandhi’s birthday, just before the latter set sail for India, he returned them, with this note: ‘I have worn these sandals for many a summer... even though I may have felt I was not worthy to stand in the shoes of so great a man. It was my fate to be the antagonist for whom even then I had the greatest respect... He (Gandhi) never lost his temper, or succumbed to hate, and preserved his gentle humour even in the most trying situations. The manner and spirit even then, as well as later, contrasted markedly with the ruthless and brutal forcefulness which is the vogue in our day.’
What a tribute, what a man!
