Empire Cricket Booklet

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GOOLAM VAHED AND VISHNU PADAYACHEE

offer from Dada Abdullah and Co. to represent them in Natal. His Natal and South African years, from 1893 to 1914, were critical to the transformation of his thinking. 31 Manilal Gandhi, Gandhi's son and editor of Indian Opinion, also articulated the notion that sport was vital in moulding character: In South Africa, sports and athletics take a very prominent place in life ... This is a good habit in a new country like South Africa where Nature herself is always telling us to be healthy and strong ... Football and cricket have a special value of their own. They teach people to play together, to play for the team, and to endure hardship, without becoming angry and losing one's temper. All these things are of immense value in training people to be good South Africans. 32 On another occasion, Manilal stressed the close rela tionship between sport and politics. Through sport, he felt, Indians could honour the Victorian ideas of 'civilisation' and 'fair play', and become 'civilised' to rightfully demand equal rights. Sport should never be played for its competitive aspects: If sport ever was intended to simply gain points or win cups, then our boys should pack and leave the game alone. It was instituted for healthy recreation and to give and take. Somehow or other, our young fellows have a wrong notion in their heads, they are to win cups and nothing else. What is required is someone who would have the pluck to lecture these unfortunate beings. 33 To ensure that sport fulfilled its rightful role in moulding the character of Indian youth in appropriate ways, elites urged teachers to spread the playing of sports among their students, for the right reasons of course. Thus the Reverend Bernard Sigamoney complained that the game ought to be pushed vigorously in the schools, and the masters must take an interest in the game. Generally speaking, there are few teachers in Indian schools who play cricket or football. It may be that nature has moulded them that way and they do not feel the call of Mother

in a disciplined manner in order to gain that particular purpose in life'. 30 The images of Gandhi in his later years should not distract us from his upbringing and place among the educated elite. Gandhi was born in Porbandar, Kathiawar, on the west coast of India in 1869. The youngest of six children, he completed his primary and secondary schooling in Rajkot where his family had moved in 1876. The opportunity that Gandhi had for a modern-style education must be seen in the context of colonial states increasing their functions from the middle of the nineteenth century. This created a need for educated individuals for state and corporate bureaucracies. In his famous minute on education, Lord Macaulay, architect of the new education system in India, alluded to this when he pointed out: 'It is impossible for us, with our limited means, to attempt to educate the body of the people. We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour but English in taste, in opinion, in morals and in intellect.' The expansion of English-language education led to the emergence of a Western-oriented elite comprising of individuals such as Gandhi. When asked why he had gone to London in September 1888 to study, Gandhi replied that it was because of ambition and a desire to take in the 'Motherland'. 'If I go to England not only shall I become a barrister ... but I shall be able to see England, the land of philosophers and poets, the very center of civilization.' Gandhi was 'intoxicated' by London and determined, in his words, to undertake 'the all too important task becoming an English gentleman'. He took lessons in dancing, violin, elocution and French. He bought the most elegant clothing and dressed as an English gentleman. This included a high silk hat, patent leather boots and carrying a silver-mounted stick. He even wrote a guide-book to English life for prospective Indian students. Being a London-trained barrister, Gandhi had hoped to secure a lucrative position when he returned to India in July 1891. These hopes were not realised immediately. Gandhi was unable to get any briefs in Rajkot, was struck by sh yn ess in his first court case in Bombay, and failed in his attempt to secure a teaching post. Struggling to earn a living as a barrister, he gladly accepted an