GANDHI & DIET

A tribute to Gandhi on the occasion of his 153rd birth anniversary.

‘Mahatma’s experiments with food seem as elaborate as his experiments with Ahimsa and truth'.Though they were dismissed as fads during his life time,’many of Gandhi’s dietary concerns wereuncannily contemporary.’

It is astonishing that Gandhi who led millions of fellow Indians during India's freedom struggle survived mostly on a handful of fruits and nuts in his life time. Although of frail constitution, he could walk miles together, without feeling any fatigue. He would undertake periodic fasts, but did not seem to have any problem. Where did Gandhi get his strength, sustenance and stamina from?

Gandhi ate frugally. Nevertheless, he constantly experimented with his diet, and these experiments lasted all through his life.“I have been known as a crank, faddist, madman,” wrote Mahatma Gandhi in his weekly journal, Young India, in 1929, referring to his dietary experiments.

Evolution of Gandhi's diet Gandhi came from a Gujarati family whose members were strict vegetarians. He said in his Autobiography that, as a schoolboy, he ate meat for a brief period, prompted by his elder brother’s friend. The boy convinced young Gandhi that that the English were able to rule over Indians because they were meat-eaters! But soon he overcame this habit.

Before leaving for England to study law in 1888, he vowed to his mother that he would not touch meat or liquor. In England he kept his word to his mother. As he could not get vegetarian food, he always remained hungry. Finally, he could take food in a vegetarian restaurant on Farringdon Street. “The sight of itfilled me with the same joy that a child feels on getting a thing after its own heart” wrote Gandhi in his autobiography.

Vegetarianism was a new cult in England at that time. Gandhi was deeply influenced by a book on Vegetarianism written by Henry Salt. "From the date of reading this book, I may claim to have become a vegetarian by choice,” wrote Gandhiji in Diet and Diet Reforms.He joined the Vegetarian Society in England and made English friends who were part of the Society.

Gandhi's experiments in Dietetics, while he was in England, are well known. According to Gandhi, 'these experiments were conducted not from the point of view of religion, but from the point of view of economy and hygiene'.

Gandhi in South AfricaGandhi at the age of 23, set sail for South Africa in April, 1893. 'For 11 days in the summer of 1893, Gandhi ate nothing but raw food. But soon heconcluded that “The vital food, doesnot seem to agree well (with me)'. On September 2, Gandhi returned to his regular diet.  But Gandhi continuedhis experiments with raw food later in his life.

Gandhi, while living in Durban, made attempts at dietary reformswhich he felt encourage simplicity, good health and economy.He started using Hand-ground flour and unleavened whole meal bread at home.  At Tolstoy Farm in South Africa, at his behest, the residents started growing food in the farm and started consuming raw vegetables and fruits.

Return to IndiaAfter returning to India, Gandhi continued his dietary experiments. For years he subsisted on fruit and nuts.  In May 1929, Gandhi attempted another experiment by eating only raw, uncooked food.

While he was in India, on a visit to Hardwar for the Kumbh Mela, he took a vow never to take more than five articles of food in 24 hours, and to finish his last meal before sunset. He mostly kept the vow and finally stopped eating all spices and only consumed boiled or raw food.

Why Vegetarianism?Gandhi advocated that food should be taken "--as a matter of duty – even as a medicine- to sustain the body, never for thesatisfaction of thepalate.”

Conscious ethical choice was another reason. "Man was not born a carnivorous animal, but born to live on fruits and herbs that the earth grows".

Gandhi's food habits were deeply guided by his belief in the principle of non-violence, ‘the core principle on which his politics was based’.

Gandhi firmly believed that a meat diet was not good for health, because of the “defects of the animals from which it is derived.” 

To him the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. Wrote Gandhi"Man's supremacy over the lower animals meant not that the former should pray upon the latter, but that the higher should protect the lower, ---man eats not for enjoyment, but to live".

Gandhi’s experiments with his diet were closely connected to the vow of celibacy he took in 1906. Said Gandhi "The diet of a man of self-restraint must be different from that of a man of pleasure.”

Raw foodappealed to him for many reasons, chiefly due to its simplicity. Besides, it cleansed the body by getting rid of impurities. “That I could dispense with cooking, that I couldcarry about my own food wherever I went, that I should not have to put up with any uncleanness of the landlady or those who supplied me with food”—. He also believed that nutrients could be lost in the process of cooking. In an article he wrote in 1913, Gandhi stated "--If cooking could be avoided, much of the time of our womenfolk … would then be saved.” Once India had gone raw, women will be set free from the prison-house of the kitchen.” 

Gandhi believed that raw-food experiments would benefit the society as a whole. The cost of cooking oil and fuel could be saved in every home. It would do away with the inequalities that prevent poor people from having access to healthy food.

Views on Food ItemsOn consumption milkSaid Gandhi--“We are certainly not entitled to any other milk except the mother’s milk in our infancy’-- for the same reason for not consuming meat.

 Gandhi was literally in death bed,due to dysentery, during a campaign in Kheda, during World War I. When the doctors insisted on his taking milk, he agreed to drink goat’s milk, but refused cow’s milk. He felt that those who can take milk should have no objection to taking sterile egg.

Gandhi avoided refined sugars, fats and oils, but was favorablydisposed towards ghee (clarified butter). Gandhi did consume sweets occasionally and had a weakness for sweet mangoes. He considered sugar to be a harmful and advocated the use of Gur or jaggery instead.

 Gandhi’s routineIn his book Diet & Diet Reform he mentioned that his food was divided into two parts; the first meal was taken at 11 a.m. the second at 6.15 p.m. The only thing touched by fire is water. He took boiling water, lemon and honeyin the morning and once more during the day.  When on the move, he  favored a snack of plantains, with groundnut paste.

On fastingHe considered fasting too as his way of healthcare. It is said that Gandhi’s fasts altered the course of Indian history. He also fasted for religious and health reasons. Almost a century ago, Gandhi fasted on 17 occasions during the freedom struggle, the longest being 21 days. His 1948 “fast unto death” for peace in Delhi was a turning point.

Gandhi perfected a routine for long fasts. Before going for a fast, he would take lemon juice and honey, with warm water. He would take water, occasionally with salt or lemon juice, through the day. To save energy, he would sleep more than usual.

Eating locally Gandhi was of view that by eating local foods we get fresh, high-quality food. It reduces transportation, supports farmers directly, boosts local economy and helps the soil and ecology and it also meant self- reliance.

Mahatma advocated consuming wheat, rice, jowar, bajra and a range of locally-grown coarse cereals and millets as staple diet and locally-grown fruits and vegetables (Note: This year we celebrate the International Year of the Millets).  Instead of tea, coffee or cocoa, he suggested the use of honey, hot water and lemon as nourishing drinks.

Practicing vegetarianism Gandhi did not merely believe in advocacy, but practiced what he preached. Onhis frequent visits to the Viceregal Lodge, he would always carry curd made out of goat’s milk with him, and offer it to others. Gandhi politely refused the scones and ice creams that were offered. During lunches in his honor, he would opt for only clear soup or lemon water.

Bapu’s FiveHealthy Rules

1. Follow simple vegetarian diet

2. Avoid processed foods-only simple home cooked meals.

3. Fast in moderation.

4. Monitor saltintake

5. Reduce sugar consumption.

Don’t you think that they sound more like advice from modern doctors?

Healthcare Most of us do not know that Gandhi was interested in studying medicine and wanted to become a medical practitioner!! But the force of circumstances made him a barrister, political leader and social reformer.  He viewed health holistically that include healthcare, hygiene, nutrition and exercise. He was a follower of naturopathy.“Gandhi’s vocation as a healthcare and nutrition expert, even ifnot discussed often, was more pronounced than his career as a lawyer”.

Walking   Gandhi considered exercise essential for good health, along with a healthy diet. ‘Gandhi used to walk around 18 km every day for nearly 40 years. 'During his campaign from 1913 to 1948, he walked around 79,000 km, which is equivalent to walking around the Earth twice'.

Writings: Gandhi carefully recorded his experiments on diet.A prolific writer,he kept journals and regularly wrote on food, diet and health issues extensively, especially in Harijan, a weekly newspaper.  Gandhi also wrote books on diet and health which include ‘Diet and Diet Reforms’, ‘The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism’ and  ‘The Key to Health’.

Lessons from Gandhi's experimentsGandhi's unique dietary experiments and his unconventional approach to healthcare have valuable lessons for us.Today, many people are attracted to veganism and vegetarianism, out of choice. The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)set up by the United Nations has pointed out that high consumption of meat and dairy produce by western countries is one of the factors fueling global warming. It, therefore, recommended that there should be a major shift towards vegetarian and vegan diets. In view of the deep implications of climate change, it seems that we now have little choice, but to go for a largely vegetarian diet.

We might have banished Gandhi from our thoughts, but today a deadly virus has brought his thoughts again to the center-stage. It has imposed a Gandhi- like discipline on at least some of us, as never before-- self- reliance, simple living, minimizing wastage, upgrading skills, self- education, focus on preventive health,hygiene, sanitation etc. Of course, it is difficult for an ordinary person to practice everything that he advocated. But following even some of his easier advice could be beneficial. 

Only from our own experience can we realize that Gandhi was far ahead of his times, and that, he is as relevant today as he was, when alive.Ref: www.netmeds.com; hindustantimes.com; www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov; www.netmedst.com; www.theatlantic.com;  health.ucdavis.edu

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Note: This piece first appeared in Annual Issue 2020 of Life Stream e-magazine

 

The Pietà

“In every block of marble, I see a statue----I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it”-Michelangelo

I first came across the word Pietà (“The Pity” in English) as a high school student, when we were being taught ‘Italian Renaissance’ in our social studies class. We learned that the Pietà was a sculpture of the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus in her lap- a masterpiece by the great sculpturer and painter Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564). 

I heard about Pietà again when I was doing my post- graduation---that the sculpture was vandalized by a mentally challenged person wielding a hammer that smashed Mary's arm, her nose, and one of her eyelids. 

 I stayed in Rome for a short period as a trainee in the FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization), Rome. As the FAO worked only on week days, I had to find my own ways of amusement during the week ends. Armed with a monthly bus card from the Tobacconist, I started exploring the famous monuments and sites in the historic city of Rome.

Mary, my friend I gratefully remember my friend Mary (I forget her last name) who used to work in the library in the Nutrition Section of the FAO. We used to meet regularly in the FAO canteen during lunch. Mary was of Armenian origin, but was married to an Italian and settled in Rome. She could speak English fluently, and was virtually a scholar in Roman history. It was she who encouraged me to undertake the visits, painstakingly explaining the history of each site, well before my visits. Her lively briefings were invaluable to me, as I hardly knew any Italian.

The Pietà After having visited several monuments, I finally decided to visit Vatican to see the wonders of Italian Renaissance. Mary had told me the full story of the Pietà.

Michael Angelo, who was only 24 then, was commissioned by the French Cardinal Jean de Bilheres, to make a funeral monument for himself. It took Michelangelo two years to complete the work. The art work was executed in a single piece of Carrara marble. Then someone apparently told the Cardinal that it was not appropriate to have one’s tomb made, when one was alive. The idea was thus abandoned.

The sculpture was then moved to its current location, the first chapel on the north side after the entrance, in Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican.

It is the first work among other statues of the same theme by Michelangelo and is the only piece said to have been signed by Michelangelo (because he, by chance,overheard some viewers erroneously assign the work to some other artist).

The Visit to Vatican

I found out from the city map of Rome that St. Peter’s Basilica is located in the Vatican City, left of the river Tiber. This magnificent monument was built during the Italian Renaissance. The construction began in 1506 and was completed in 1626. Some of the greatest artists of that time like Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and  Lorenzo Bernini were associated with its design and architecture.

One fine morning I reached the St. Peter’s Square (Piazza San Pietro). Although it was only the beginning of summer, the sun was indeed very bright and hot.  A large crowd had assembled in the square to see and hear the Pope; some were pilgrims or visitors to the Basilica. The queue moved slowly. In the meantime, I admired Bernini’s beautiful columns supporting the main structure of the basilica.

As I entered the basilica, I could at once spot the statue on the left side. The sculpture has its back to the wall and faced the visitor. A glass wall separated the visitors from the sculpture.

Special features   I expected the statue to be of human size, but was disappointed that it was much smaller. The sculpture showed  the body of Jesus lying across the lap of his mother Mary, after the Crucifixion. The beauty of the statue lies in the details of its execution.

Mary had told me that it was a difficult piece to execute. Many artists before Michelangelo found it difficult to depict Jesus Christ- a fully-grown man -cradled full-length across the lap of the smaller figure of Mary. Michelangelo ingeniously overcame the problem by making Mary’s drapery very elaborate, sufficient to support Christ’s body. As a historian observed, ‘The statue widens progressively down the drapery of Mary's dress, to the base, the rock of Golgotha’.

Observers are usually struck by one anomaly- the youthful Mary, looking much younger than her son. One explanation was that her youth symbolizes her incorruptible purity, as Michelangelo himself explained to his biographer. Another explanation is that  Michelangelo  who was fascinated by Dante’s  Divine Comedy, developed the idea from a prayer in the poem by Saint Bernard  to the Virgin Mary “Virgin mother, daughter of your son” (Paradiso cantica 33 of the poem). Yet another explanation is that Michelangelo who lost his mother when he was only five carried the youthful image of his mother in his heart.

Many artists before Michelangelo had portrayed Mary as a grief-stricken mother. But Michelangelo’s sculpture of Mary shows her as sad, but peaceful and composed, radiating a sublime beauty. Although Christ is represented as dead, the underlining vision of the artist appears to be that of his future resurrection.

Impact Like other visitors, I too was deeply moved by the image of a loving mother, silently mourning the death of her only son. It evokes the feelings of melancholy, empathy and compassion in the heart of the onlookers. One is reminded of not only Mary, but also thousands of mothers who lost their children in conflicts across the world, or even in daily life.

 Immediately after going home, I tried to give expressions to my deep feelings by writing a poem-spontaneously (though I lost it). Before that I had never attempted writing a poem!

Damage to the sculpture   The Pietà was intentionally damaged at least twice in the past. Four fingers on Mary's left hand, were broken, but were restored in 1736. On 21 May 1972, a mentally disturbed geologist, attacked the sculpture with a hammer.  The missing parts had to be reconstructed from a block cut out of the back of the statue. I learned that recently someone had tried again to  desecrate the sculpture.

The three versions of Pietà

It was a surprise to me when I came to know later that Michelangelo sculpted three versions of Pietà in his life-time! We saw that the first piece he sculpted in 1499 is now kept in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome.

The second statue is called The Deposition of Christ (‘Pietà Bandini’), which Michelangelo sculpted between 1547 and 1555, when he was around the age of 72.  Michelangelo is said to have worked late into the night, in the light of a single candle. Historians say that  he intended the piece to  decorate his funeral monument in Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

 The sculpture shows the figures of the dead body of Jesus Christ, just after crucifixion, Nicodemus or possibly Joseph of Arimathea (who later buried Jesus), Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary. Virgin and Mary Magdalene are seen receiving the body of Christ, deposed from the cross by an elderly Nicodemus.  Nicodemus with a hood is believed to portray Michelangelo himself. Some historians point out to the possibility of the scene being depicted here perhaps relating to the entombment of Jesus. 

Michelangelo did not complete the piece even after working for eight years on it, instead he reportedly smashed the sculpture in anger, as he was either dissatisfied with the outcome or discovered a flaw in the marble or that the sculpture could not be completed without the addition of a piece of marble from another block (the left foot of the statue is still missing, perhaps for want of a suitable piece of marble or because he could not carve it in the same block as rest of the sculpture). The broken statue was laboriously pieced together by an associate, who, thereafter, sold it to a Roman collector named Francesco Bandini.

The sculpture was acquired by Cosimo- 111 Medici, the Duke of Tuscany who transferred it to the church of San Lorenzo in Florence and then to the Cathedral. It is now housed in  the museum Museo dell ‘Opera del Duomo  in Florence and hence known as the Florentine Pietà.

Interestingly I came across a write-up (italoamericano.org/restoration- article dated 12-10-21) on restoration of the sculpture, carried out in 2019. Although it showed no evidence of hammer blows (possibly, they got erased in the previous restoration), but confirmed that the block used for the Pietà was indeed flawed.

Rondanini Pietà The last in the series of three Pietà statues is called Rondanini Pietà.  Michelangelo is said to have worked on this piece from 1552 until the final days of his life in 1564. (This sculpture was started before the Bandini Pietà was completed in 1555). He is said to have worked on the sculpture all day, just six days before his death.

 Michelangelo perhaps intended that the work would be used for his own tomb, but he left it unfinished upon his death, when he was 89 years old. The sculpture remained in the courtyard at the Palazzo Rondinini  in Rome for a long time. In 1744, the Pietà was purchased from the Marquis Giuseppe Rondinini, and it has been kept in Castello Sforzesco, Milan, since 1952.  

The sculpture portrays Mary holding the dead body of Jesus Christ after his deposition from the cross. The ghostly representation of the Virgin and the Christ here is quite different from the styles earlier followed by Michelangelo. ‘The two figures appearing almost detached from the ground and reaching upwards, seeming to reflect the Resurrection and the Assumption’.  Perhaps Michelangelo visualized his own resurrection and assumption through this sculpture, by adorning his tomb with it. Although it looks unfinished, some say that Michelangelo conceived of a sculpture, as latent in the marble, to be perceived by the onlookers themselves.

For the first time, the three pieces of Pietà by Michelangelo were on display together in the Tribune Room at the Opera del Duomo Museum in Florence between from 24 February until 1 August, in 2022.

The legacy of Pietà

It is difficult to say whether the Western culture has produced any sculpture of visual and spiritual beauty, superior to the Pietà by Michelangelo, in the centuries following his demise.   

The three pieces of Pietà artistically depict the bonds of love and compassion that unite all human beings; it also symbolizes the sacrifice by one individual for the good of the entire humanity. Are these two themes relevant to us any- more, especially, when we are more individualistic than ever, cynically pursuing only one’s own goals of wellness and happiness?  

Symbols like the Pietà serve to constantly remind us that ideals like sacrifice and compassion give meaning to our life, and hold us humans together, even in a technology-driven age.  Pietà, no doubt, will remain an eternal symbol of grace, beauty, love, faith and sacrifice, that was made by breathing life into marbles by a divinely inspired master, and will continue to inspire generations to come.

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