Mohandas K Gandhi continues to perplex: was he the father of his nation or the architect of Indian disunity? Since he was always a controversial figure it comes as no surprise that, on the eve of the 150th anniversary of his birth next year, he is under scrutiny again, this time in the context of the #MeToo movement because of his relationship with the women of his entourage.
It is always worth revisiting Gandhi, in a way in which it is not enriching to return to the British viceroys who were his adversaries. Herein lies the challenge: the sheer volume of material written by or about Gandhi makes the work of a biographer particularly daunting. There are not only the 100 volumes of the Collected Works, but also a ten-volume biography written by his principal secretary, Pyarelal Nayar, and Nayar’s sister Sushila, who was Gandhi’s doctor (and also took baths with him, which might be thought to have been beyond the usual physician’s remit – or even that of a biographer). Other biographies have come out at a rate of what seems like one a year.
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