Publication Date:August 1984 Shipping:Eligible for Super Saver Shipping Promotion:Buy 4 eligible items in the 4-for-3 promotion offered by Amazon.com and get 1 of them free.Terms and Conditions Availability:Usually ships in 24 hours
Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-1 of 1
1
The most enigmatic platonic relation of the 20th centuryFebruary 24, 2007 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
`Spirits Pilgrimage' is a memoir-cum-autobiography of Madeline Slade who at the age of thirty-three came down to India from England renouncing an aristocratic upbringing to be with Gandhi and his cause. Mirabehn, as she soon came to know since she landed in India, spent next 33 years of her life working with Gandhi becoming the only western woman disciple of Gandhi who sustained so long in India. Even after the death of Gandhi, she spent another ten years in India working on different community projects before moving to Vienna to pursue her real dream: study of Beethoven, her beloved personality from the history of music. After all, it was Beethoven whom she served by serving Gandhi and after the death of Gandhi she continued to `serve' Beethoven until her death in 1983.
Considered as the most enigmatic platonic relation of the 20th century, their `relation' caught the attention of both historians and common folks alike on the exact nature of the bond between them. So, naturally, when she had written her autobiography, everyone expected that she would give some insight into her `relation' with Gandhi. Contrary to the expectations, she scarcely touched on the topic of their relation in her book but instead portrayed a woman destined to serve her life in India with Gandhi and his cause. Her portrayal of Gandhi leaves us with a picture of a man who was both spiritual and astutely political.
Reading between the lines of her book what is becoming more clear is the melancholy with which she was contracted all the while she was in India serving Gandhi, an emotion she could neither comprehend nor could escape from. Her physically challenging and mentally demanding life with Gandhi and frequent bouts of illness she suffered in India could be attributed to the state of her mind. Between them, they had many written communications that goes beyond the boundaries of `normal' relationship between a guru and his disciple. Their letters were also the source of all the bewilderment historians had on the exact nature of their relation. But, in her book, she clearly is trying to conceal the intricate details of her inner self from readers. For example, she said she moved to tears when she was barred from seeing Gandhi at Wardha, but she stopped short of giving any details on why she was barred and why seeing her would cause Gandhi's blood pressure to rise. Also, she has not given any details of psychological, spiritual and or political conversations she may have had with Gandhi.
Trying to understand Mira and her `exceptional' personality would have been helpful in unraveling the complex relationship that Gandhi had kept with many of his women disciples. But, in her memoir, she seldom touches on the details of their relationship and wherever she scarcely did, she rather preferred to remain aloof and thus leaving readers stranded. In his book `Gandhi and his Apostles' Ved Mehta explains his meeting with Mira at her cottage in Vienna during late seventies. She told him that for her both Beethoven and Gandhi were great souls to whom she had a destiny to serve. But, she insisted not to ask anything more about Gandhi saying that she is now with Beethoven. While working on the film Gandhi, Richard Attenburough also did meet her in Vienna and though Richard gives no more accounts of their conversation, he wrote in his book `In Search of Gandhi' that she told him whoever playing the role of Gandhi had to be very good. Yogesh Chanda, in his book `Gandhi- A Life', claims that Mira left for England for a while after having serious disagreements with Bapuji on many of his `experiments' conducted at his ashram. Sudhir Kakar, a well-known psychiatrist, has made an excellent attempt analyzing their relationship in one of his books.
Of all the varieties of analysis done by scholars on their relationship, the most striking one is given by Elizabeth Abbott in her book `A History of Celibacy' on the working mechanics of Gandhi's relationships with his women disciples in particular with Mirabehn. As she rightly pointing out with examples, Gandhi maintained purity of thought as well as sexual abstinence in his brahmachari life. She continues, "...though committed to controlling his bodily senses, he felt no need to restrain his passionate emotions. He permitted himself intense emotional relationships with many women and never attempted to sublimate his feelings, which he openly reflected upon and articulated. Instead, he cultivated and kindled love in the yearning breast of a succession of appealing acolytes then dampened it down whenever it threatened to rage out of control."
Subtle expressions of her despairs and disappointments, love and longings in her life with Gandhi and unexplainable sorrow and the feelings of incompleteness appearing in her memoir stand as the true testimonials of her `tumultuous' times in India. However, one would be surprised to know that she ended up spending thirty-three years in India despite her perpetual subliminal anguish and feelings of unfulfilling and that she continued to sustain in India even after the death of Gandhi for another ten years. Mirabehn had passed away and with her buried the `secret of the relationship' existed between them.
She wound up her first spirits pilgrimage at the end of 1960 and then entered the third phase of her life to start another spirits pilgrimage and this time with Beethoven. Does anyone know whether she wrote recollections of that pilgrimage?
This excellent book with a sincere introduction by Barbara Grizutti Harrison is a rare source of information into the some of the otherwise unknown details of the Mahatma's life.
