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1. INDIGO
By- Louis Fischer
Prepared by
Raksha Soni
PGT English, KV No.1, Ajmer

2. ABOUT THE LESSON
 the story of how Gandhiji decided to urge the
departure of Britishers form our motherland.
 The chapter is an excerpt from Louis Fischer’s
book-‘the life of Mahatma Gandhi’.
 It is an account of British high-handedness and
oppression and the contributions made by the
masses to the freedom movement.
 The events and facts in the chapter help the reader
understand the method of Gandhian activism

3. THEME
effective leadership can solve any kinds of
problems without any harm to anybody.
Use of non- violence by Gandhiji to solve
issues for lasting results.
Self –reliance is the best weapon to win
battles
Holistic development of society is essential

4. VALUE POINTS
 Indigo-- deals with a battle between the oppressor and the
oppressed – is an uneven battle
 The issue of Indigo harvesting and high handed attitude of
the British becomes a road to freedom for the sharecroppers
 The only way out to win it is to develop qualities like self –
reliance, strong –will, courage
 Must openly stand up against injustice of any kind and not accept
it lying down
 Persistence and patience of Gandhiji helps him in procuring
justice for the peasants
 Talks about the need to fight our own battles in time of adversity
instead of depending on others
 It is very important to be first free of any kind of fear
 The account is also reflection of the affords made by Gandhiji to
improve the health conditions as well as social and cultural life of
the peasants
 Carries a universal message for all to adapt to.

5. JUSTIFY THE TITLE OF INDIGO
 The title ‘Indigo’ focuses our attention on the issue of exploitation of
indigo sharecroppers at the hands of cruel British planters.
 The British compelled them through a long-term agreement to
plant indigo on 15 per cent of their land and surrender the entire
harvest as rent.
 The injustice of British (extracted money from the peasants as
compensation for being released from the 15 per cent agreement.)
ref. synthetic indigo by Germany.
 The peasants who wanted their money back filed civil suits.
 Rajkumar Shukla persuaded Gandhi to take up the case of Indigo
sharecroppers.
 So indigo sharecropping exemplifies the injustice of the British and
the Indians’ submission to British authority.
 The Champaran movement that centred on indigo
sharecropping led to the social and cultural upliftment of the
peasants.

6. ROLE OF RAJKUMAR SHUKLA
 Poor, emaciated peasant from Champaran.
 Contacted Gandhi in 1916 in Lucknow.
 Gandhi dismissed him.
 Shukla came to complain about the injustice and
the landlord system in Bihar.
 Shukla followed Gandhi to Cawnpore Later at
Calcutta.
 was a man with strong willpower and
determination
 Impressed by the sharecropper’s tenacity and
story Gandhi relented.

7. THE ISSUE
 Arable land in Champaran divided into estates
owned by Englishmen, worked by Indian tenants.
 Chief commercial crop indigo.
 Tenants to plant on 15% indigo.
 To surrender entire indigo as rent.
 Synthetic indigo in the market.
 Landlords force new agreements.
 Ask for 15% compensation.
 Peasants resist, widespread unrest.

8. HOW GANDHI REACHED CHAMPARAN
Went to Muzaffarpur with Shukla.
Obtained complete information.
Discussed with Prof. Malkhani
Met lawyers, chided them, understood legal
angle.
Met peasants sensed unrest.
Realised peasant fear-strikes.
Feels he should arm them with the tool of
courage, fearlessness.

9. ROLE OF LAWYERS
 They represented cases in courts, collected fee.
 Gandhi criticised them for being misguiding the
peasants.
 They gave legal support.
 However, they were non-committal if he was
arrested.
 Gandhi appealed for justice for sharecroppers
when arrested.
 Lawyers feel guilty of desertion.
 They supported Gandhi’s Civil Disobedience
Movement.
 They helped him file grievances against landlords.

10. STEPS TAKEN BY GANDHI TO FIGHT INJUSTICE
 Reached Champaran- discussed the issue with lawyers
 Collected detailed information about the problem
 Personally met afflicted peasants
 Approached British landlord association. Commissioner, cold-shouldered.
 Proceeded to Motihari, got mass support from peasants, continued
investigation.
 Served official notice to leave Champaran. Signed, said would disobey the
order.
 Served summons, Motihari black with peasants.
 Peasants demonstrated outside the courtroom.
 Officials powerless, Government baffled.
 Gandhi was encouraged by mass support.
 Court arrest, says obeying the voice of conscience.
 Convinces lawyers to join the movement.
 Continues to collect legal evidence.
 Forced the government to set up the Inquiry Commission.
 Meeting, the deadlock over compensation. Agrees to 25%,
 landlords learned they were not above the law, peasants got courage.
 Battle of Champaran won.

11. QUALITIES OF GANDHI
 Simple, unassuming- (He was even mistaken as a peasant by Dr
Rajendra Prasad’s servants )and yet a force to be reckoned with.
 His humility is revealed by his comment on the victory of civil
disobedience ‘What I did was a very ordinary thing’.
 Firm and resolute-did not leave Champaran until the issue resolved
 Fearless, bold & courageous- faced the officials with boldness and
with conviction, disregarded the orders to leave Champaran,faced four
protracted interviews with the Lt. Governor for the justice of the indigo
sharecroppers as the sole representative of the peasants,
 Wise and Judicious-he proved his point. He broke the deadlock settling
for only a 25% refund. He agreed because the refund instilled
courage in the peasants as the landlords were obliged to surrender
part of their money and prestige.
 Connect with masses- Motihari black with peasants
 Organised -civil disobedience plan.
 Fairleader -won lawyers’ support.
 Visionary-improves social, the cultural backwardness of Champaran.

12. CHARACTER SKETCH OF MAHATMA GANDHI.
 Man of outstanding qualities
 Unassuming and modest
 Dogged determination
 Thorough and organized
 Empathy/compassion for sharecroppers
 Persistent worker
 Fearless
 Farsighted and practical
 Persuasive and good convincing power
 Humanitarian and holistic approach- thinks not only of
political or economic solutions but also concerned with
social and cultural progress as well as health issues.

13. CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE HAD TRIUMPHED THE FIRST TIME IN
MODERN INDIA.
 Gandhi visited Champaran to look into the problems of the poor
peasants. At Motihari, he was greeted by thousands of peasants.
This was the beginning of the peasant liberation from fear of the
British. A peasant had been maltreated in a nearby village.
Gandhi set out to see him. The police superintendent’s
messenger overtook him and ordered him to return. Gandhi
complied. At home, he was served an official notice to quit
Champaran. Gandhi signed the receipt and wrote on it that would
disobey the order. This was the beginning of Civil disobedience.
 Gandhi received a summons to appear in court the next day. The
peasants thronged the courtroom. They wanted to help the
‘Mahatma’ who was in trouble with the authorities for trying to
help them. The officials were powerless. Gandhi helped them
regulate the crowd. This baffled the officials.
 The magistrate postponed announcing the sentence by two
hours and asked Gandhi to furnish bail. Gandhi declined. The
judge released him without bail. The judge said he would not
deliver the judgment for several days. Later, the case was
dropped by the Lt. Governor himself. Civil disobedience had
triumphed.

14. SELF-RELIANCE, INDIAN INDEPENDENCE AND HELP TO
SHARECROPPERS WERE ALL BOUND TOGETHER.
 Help to Sharecroppers- When Gandhiji reached Champaran, He
came to know that the arable areas of Champaran were divided
into large estates owned by British landlords. As per the long-term
contract, these sharecroppers were supposed to grow indigo on
15% of the land and give it as rent. But due to the advent of
synthetic indigo in Germany, landlords got the compensation
agreement signed by these peasants, who later on felt cheated.
 Indian Independence-Gandhiji’s first triumph in the form of civil
disobedience at Motihari laid the foundations of the Indian
Independence Movement. No doubt this brought a good result for
sharecroppers in the form of a committee through which 25% of
the money was given by the landlords. Gandhiji taught the lesson
of unity and courage to the sharecroppers.
 Self- Reliance-His refusal to keep his friend Andrews at
Champaran to help him emphasized the importance of self-
reliance for him. He trained the peasants to be self-reliant and not
to be dependent on others.
 Thus, self-reliance, Indian Independence and help to
sharecroppers were all tied together.

15. ORDINARY PEOPLE’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE FREEDOM
MOVEMENT
 The author mentions several ordinary people who contributed to the
freedom movement.
 1.Rajkumar Shukla- was instrumental in arranging Gandhi’s visit to
Champaran.
 2.J.B.Kriplani- was waiting to receive Gandhi on his arrival to
Muzzafarpur.
 3.Professor Malkani - despite being a government
servant, harboured Gandhi when he arrived at Muzzafarpur.
 4. Sharecroppers -When the news of Gandhi’s advent spread through
Muzzafarpur and Champaran , Sharecroppers from Champaran began
arriving on foot to see their champion. Their gathering in huge number at
Motihari was the beginning of their freedom from the fear of the British.
 5. Lawyers- Gandhi and the lawyers conducted a detailed inquiry into the
grievances of the farmers. They prepared cases for about ten thousand
peasants and collected relevant documents. The lawyers also agreed to
court arrest in case Gandhi went to Jail.

16. 6. Mahadev Desai and Narihari Parikh and
their wives- volunteered to work
7.Devadas -Gandhi’s youngest son arrived
from the ashram.
8. Kasturbai-taught ashram rules on personal
cleanliness and community sanitation.
9. Several people came from Bombay ,Poona
and other distant parts of the land.
10.Moreover the masses volunteered to help in
bringing cultural and social reforms in the
village

17. CHAMPARAN EPISODE TO BE A TURNING POINT
 The Champaran episode began as an attempt to alleviate
the distress of a large number of poor peasants.
 became a turning point in Gandhi’ life.
 It build up Gandhi confidence that the British rulers could be
made to bend and concede a popular demand.
 He declared that British could not order him in his own
country.
 It was during this struggle in 1917 that he decided to urge
the departure of the British.
 an ordinary victory like Champaran had extraordinary
significance,
 Gandhi’s insistence on conquering the fears and
internalizing a sense of struggle gave Indians a credo to
adopt and cling on to.

18. His readiness to go to jail for the sake of seeking justice instilled courage
among ordinary people and motivated the lawyers for court arrest .
He led civil disobedience by refusing to leave Champaran even after he got
the official notice.
Civil disobedience triumphed for the first time when the case for disregarding
the official order against him was dropped. British's agreement to pay 25% of
the compensation made him and the peasants confident.
It made the peasants realise that they had rights and defenders and he
established that the authority of the British could be challenged.
He taught the lawyers a lesson of self reliance by dissuading them from
seeking the assistance from an English man, Charles Andrew.
Gandhi never contended himself with larger and political solutions. He also
made endeavour to bring about cultural and social upliftment in the village.

19. THE QUALITIES OF A GOOD LEADER.”
 A good leader is a torch bearer who shows the light to his
followers and to the masses at large. He brings them from
darkness to light, from ignorance to awareness, from fear to self-
reliance and from violence to non-violence.
 A good leader is a model for all. He has the personality traits of
fearlessness, bravery, initiatives, spot decision making and hard
work directed to the public welfare. His feelings of sacrifice for his
motherland and for his people make him a charismatic
personality for them.
 A good leader must be a man of words, of high integrity and
truthfulness. He is above all narrow feelings of caste, religion,
colour, creed, sex or regionalism and language barriers. His
punctuality, love for humanity, patriotism and sincerity to his
people, are the models for others to follow.
 All the time of national calamity he sets examples for others and
helps all through which and then. He is devoid of selfishness,
greed and even comforts. Though he is an advocated of world
peace, yet he is ready to sacrifice his life for his motherland.