Reflection on Gandhi by George Orwell

"Reflection on Gandhi" was an essay written by George Orwell. In this essay he analyse Gandhi's life. The essay is a reflection on Gandhi's life.

Orwell tried to understand Gandhi by reading his autobiography called "My Experiments with Truth". The book impressed him but Gandhi was not not an impressive person to him. He pointed out some reasons for his dislike of Gandhi;

1. Gandhi believed in mind power.
2. Gandhi supported vegetarian food.
3. Gandhi believed in the Khadi or homemade clothes.
4. Gandhi believed in the old fashioned village-based economics, which is not suitable for a big country like India. 
5. Gandhi was not a saint but a very shrewd person.

However, Orwell did not consider Gandhi as a bad person. He says "even Gandhi's worst enemy would also admit that he is an interesting and unusual man, who enriched the world simply being alive".

Orwell observes that Gandhi had an outstanding physical courage. Nobody ever suggested that he is corrupted or ambitious in a vulgar way. In spite of being the leader of great political movement, he had no personal security. Anyone could walk into his ashram and attack him; and that happened in 1948 when he was assassinated with a gun.

Orwell observes that Gandhi lived a very simple life. Gandhi was a man of great honesty and he openly admitted that he had done some crimes such as smoking a few cigarettes, eating some meat etc in his young days.

Orwell found some of Gandhi's principles ridiculous, because they look foolish from the European viewpoint. Some of these include avoiding alcohol, sex, spices in food and animal food. Gandhi followed all his principles very strictly. He was not ready to break his principles even to protect his wife or child; "On three occasions Gandhi was willing to let his wife or child die rather than administering animal food prescribed by the doctor." According to Orwell this is a point which questions the kindness of Gandhi.

Orwell also is surprised to see that Gandhi was against personal relationship. According to Gandhi close friendships are dangerous. He says "Friends react on one another" and through loyalty to friend, one can be led into wrong doing. 

Gandhi was successful in reaching his goal of life when India got independence in 1947. But Orwell thinks that India was given independence, because of the Soft Labour Party came to power in England. If hardliners like Winston Churchill were in power, Gandhi's non-violent methods could have never reached any success. 

Orwell doesn't think Gandhi as a saint. He also feels that Gandhi's basic aim were anti-human and reactionary. At the same time Orwell admitted that Gandhi was much cleaner than most of the politicians of his time.