After he left Maharaja College, Ram Narayanji moved to Ramgarh in Rajasthan to make a living by teaching at an industrialist’s school. But staying in Ramgarh restricted his involvement with nationalist activities. In 1917, he decided to leave the job and dedicate his life to the nationalist movement. He contacted Jamnalal Bajaj, a doyen of Indian industries and a staunch follower of Gandhiji, who became his mentor. Jamnalalji wanted to engage him at his school in Wardha from where it was easier to take part in and mobilize for the freedom struggle.
But a surprising turn took place: Gandhiji wrote a letter to Ram Narayanji asking about his availability for a teaching job in Champaran in Bihar. Ram Narayanji was elated but also in two minds. He had already committed to work in Wardha but he did not know how to refuse Gandhiji’s offer. Once he revealed his dilemma to Gandhiji, the great saint appreciated his frankness and suggested to proceed to Wardha. In turn, Ram Narayanji settled in Wardha to teach at Marwadi Education Society run by Jamnalalji and Krishnadas Jaju. Sometime later, he asked Shri Chhotelal Jain about Gandhiji’s impression about this entire incident and he was more than glad to find out that Gandhiji was heartened to learn about Ram Narayanji’s commitment towards the nationalist cause.
Taste of Khadi
Ram Narayanji and Anjana Devi wore clothes made only of khadi sometime after the Nagpur Congress convention in 1920. But, Ram Narayanji’s mother, Chhotibai, did not know about this development. It was only in late 1922 when both of them visited Neem ka Thana that Chhotibai came to know about their newly acquired sartorial taste! She was visibly frustrated especially as her daughter-in-law did not wear any jewellery. On this visit, Ram Narayanji proposed to her mother to teach him the art of spinning cotton. She vociferously reprimanded him: “Now you want to learn women’s work!” It was only after repeated conversations about Gandhiji’s principles and values that she appreciated and made peace with his son’s new habits!
While Ram Narayanji shifted to Wardha, Anjana Devi stayed at a nationalist colleague’s house in Mumbai. For Anjana Devi, this period completely changed her mindset and opened her to new ideas in living. Soon, she left observing purdah and took further language lessons. But, after about six months of her stay in Mumbai, Anjana Devi fell sick to the influenza virus during the global pandemic of 1918. Ram Narayanji immediately shifted her to Wardha to personally care for her. It took a couple of months for Anjana Devi to fully recover from the deadly virus.
Ram Narayanji and Anjana Devi began to imbibe Gandhiji’s ideas in their personal life when residing in Wardha until 1920. Taking Gandhiji’s path of nonviolent resistance and sacrifice, they gave up luxuries, including tremendous family wealth and settled for an austere living. Anjana Devi stopped wearing jewellery, a mark of social status in Indian society.
In late 1920, Ram Narayanji met Gandhiji, both on their way to the Nagpur convention of Congress party — a moment of personal pilgrimage for Ram Narayanji. Even more inspired and affected by Gandhiji’s life and principles, after this convention, he and Anjana Devi began to wear only clothes made of khadi which frustrated his mother, Chhotibai as illustrated by this incident.
Fighting Princely Feudalism in Rajasthan
At Congress party’s Nagpur convention, Gandhiji suggested to social workers from Rajasthan, including Ram Narayanji, to consolidate their efforts through a common platform. Consequently, Ram Narayanji, along with Vijay Singh Pathik, Shobhalal Gupt, Maniklal Verma, Haribhai Kinker and Bhanvarlal formed Rajasthan Seva Sangh in December 1920. Anjana Devi, too, joined as the only woman founding member of this group meant to work among the poor farmers and landless labourers oppressed by the princely states of Rajputana region.
Immediately after its establishment, Rajasthan Seva Sangh took over the leadership of Bijolia Satyagraha started by Pathikji in the mid-1910s seeking to abolish repressive taxation policy of feudal lords imposed on farmers and labourers from vulnerable communities such as Dhakads.
By one estimate, the land tillers had to pay 87% tax on their produce, apart from exorbitant interest on loans. In fact, Gandhiji was so curious to know about the Bijolia Satyagraha that he sent his personal secretary, Mahadev Desai, to Bijolia to investigate and observe work done by Pathikji and later by Rajasthan Seva Sangh. Ram Narayanji and Anjana Devi settled for a monthly wage of fourteen rupees as part of Rajasthan Seva Sangh. This sum could not match their lavish upbringing but they had already settled for a simple life of austerity.In 1921, the group started the newspaper, Rajasthan Kesari, published from Wardha with Ram Narayanji as its publisher and assistant editor. In just a few months, this publication became popular among the intellectual classes and came on the government’s radar. Soon, a news item opposing the British administration frustrated the government and provided a perfect excuse to arrest Ram Narayanji and Shri Satyadev Vidyalankar, the newspaper’s co-editor. This term was Ram Narayanji’s first time in jail where he spent three months until mid-December 1921. Both of them were released in time for the Ahmedabad convention of Congress — the first mass annual meet of the party under the helm of Gandhiji.
Rajasthan Seva Sangh shifted to Ajmer after Ahmedabad Congress convention. Consequently, Ram Narayanji and Anjana Devi also moved to Ajmer from Wardha. From here, Ram Narayanji published a weekly Tarun Rajasthan (originally started as Naveen Rajasthan) based on Gandhiji’s ideals of nonviolence resistance of British Empire. Again, he was on the government intelligence bureau’s radar. In 1922, as revolutionary writing supporting the overthrow of the British government was published in Tarun Rajasthan, Ram Narayanji was jailed again — this time for a period of 15 months! Not only that, but he was also barred from entering Jaipur princely state while his father lost his nobility position.
But none of this stopped Ram Narayanji and Rajasthan Seva Sangh’s work. In fact, the group’s expanse had grown and its activities had begun to bore fruit. In 1922, Mewar princely state, after repeated demonstrations by the group and its followers, abolished 84 punitive taxes imposed on labourers and farmers. It was no longer a movement restricted to just Bijolia but spread itself to regions as varied as Jaipur, Alwar, Ajmer, Beawar, to name a few. On top of that, the group also promoted Hindu-Muslim harmony, skill-based education and removal untouchability among the people it worked for.
Ram Narayanji had begun to spread this information wide and far as the local correspondent of newspapers ranging from Bombay Chronicle to Hindustan Times. Indeed, the British administration and princely rulers were furious about the group’s success. They began to increase surveillance and policing of the protestors, a move was undertaken directly at the behest of the then Viceroy of India.
This time, the British administration and princely rulers conspired to show their strength to the group: as Ram Narayanji was working among farmers of Sikar in Rajputana states, he was arrested without a warrant. The police tried to break his resolve by humiliating him as he was made to walk in chains for over three miles. Later, Ram Narayanji was put in poor quarters of jail and assigned tasks such as collecting woods from forests to cook his meals. Once transferred to Udaipur — thanks to some intervention by nationalist leaders –, he was treated with respect. Though he had to spend almost 15 months in Udaipur jail as the trial of the sedition case against him went on for a long time even as he was ultimately acquitted.
Anjana Devi was threatened similarly as she was one of the key mobilizers of women during the Bijolia Satyagraha. Among the Bhil women, she was fondly called Deviji. Apart from mobilizing them, Anjana Devi advised Bhil women on various aspects of parenting and inculcated in them the values of hygiene and cleanliness.
As the movement began to succeed, the local feudal chieftains intimidated women protestors, often through verbal and physical abuses. When Anjana Devi raised her voice against this injustice, a hawaldar pointed his gun at her to terrorize her. This scare move was without any success though Anjana Devi was sent to jail for a day in Mewar state.
He is like a poet
Circa September 1929, Sardar Patel had come to Sabarmati Ashram to meet Gandhiji to discuss a political matter. Mahatma wanted to make notes about their meeting but found his pencil missing (which was generally kept on the right side of his sitting). He immediately called for Pyarelal and reprimanded him. At this moment, Patel remarked: “He is like a poet!” Both Gandhi and Patel erupted in laughter showcasing a certain dislike for poets who were not organized! Afterwards, Ram Narayanji asked Gandhi as to why he was upset over such a petty issue. Gandhiji, in reply, asked Ram Narayanji the definition of the word ‘dirt’ in English. To Ram Narayanji’s negative reply, Gandhi mentioned: “Anything out of place is dirt”. He immediately understood the importance of discipline and orderliness in Gandhiji’s life and remained steadfast to it in his life.
Ram Narayanji’s responsibilities as part of the Rajasthan Seva Sangh only grew with time as the group’s activities kept on growing in Rajputana princely states. For instance, in 1925-26, Ram Narayanji re-joined farmers in their protests to abolish exploitative taxes in Rajputana states and was again sent to jail for six months. All this while, his duties as an editor and publisher of Tarun Rajasthan weekly, too, had expanded as the newspaper’s readership increased.
After eight years of association with Rajasthan Seva Sangh, Ram Narayanji and Anjana Devi left the group in 1928. His duties were handed over to Shri Maniklal Kothari, Shri Jay Narayan Vyas and Shri Rishidutt Mehta though, by early 1930s, the organization’s impact on public consciousness had shrunk.
Gandhiji’s Trusted Worker
After leaving Rajasthan Seva Sangh, Ram Narayanji was briefly engaged with the Rajputana Praja Parishad (Rajputana People’s Conference). But he soon shifted to Beawar to start an English weekly, Young Rajasthan, with Shobhalal Gupta. By then, Ram Narayanji and Anjana Devi had a family to support: in 1927, they were blessed with a son named Pratap. In another four years’ time, Anjana Devi gave birth to two daughters, Sita and Subhadra, respectively.
Ram Narayanji did not feel settled with running a newspaper without doing more engaging activism on the ground. Soon, Gandhiji advised him to shift to Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad to assist his constructive programmes.
Gandhiji entrusted him with constructive programme duties in Kathiawar Agency states which he sincerely undertook. It occurred to him that such programmes can be replicated in other princely states of the country. Gandhiji immediately liked this idea and both of them put together a statement of objective for the Princes & People’s Service Society, which unfortunately did see the light of the day. Gandhiji also advised Ram Narayanji to give up his editorial job to fully focus on constructive programmes. In turn, Ram Narayanji shut down Young Rajasthan newspaper and his farewell article to the readers of the weekly was personally edited by Gandhiji during Congress party’s Lahore convention in December 1929.
After the Lahore convention, Ram Narayanji settled at Sabarmati ashram with Anjana Devi and children. Their son, Pratap, was just three years old. But he, too, developed a bond with Gandhiji and they called each other ‘Tiktok’ after the incident which you can read here.
For Ram Narayanji, residing at Sabarmati ashram was truly a spiritual experience. At the ashram, he was involved in administrative duties, cleaning of the campus, and with teaching Hindi to women and children.
He learnt the art of weaving on a handloom during his stay at the ashram. By his personal contact with Gandhiji, Ram Narayanji not only grew close to Mahatma but also understood the importance of orderliness and discipline in one’s life as illustrated by this minor event which took place at the ashram between Gandhiji, Vallabhbhai Patel and Pyarelal (Gandhiji’s personal secretary) in Ram Narayanji’s presence.
Ram Narayanji’s second stay at ashram coincided with Gandhiji’s historic Salt March. He wanted to remember this period of tremendous political importance and upheaval in India’s history. He did so by maintaining a diary with daily entries which outlined his day at the ashram. For example, the entry made on 16 January 1930 mentions teaching Hindi to Kusum Trivedi whom he found curious and mature. On that day, while washing the clothes of his wife, Anjana Devi, Ram Narayanji noted that his ego tried to dissuade him from doing this menial job of washing a woman’s job but he stuck to his sevadharma.In his absence during Salt March, Mahatma Gandhi decided to hand over important duties at the ashram to Ram Narayanji such as editorial responsibilities of his newspaper Young India to Ram Narayanji but the latter refused to take it up citing his unsuitability. Hence, Gandhiji entrusted him with important administerial responsibilities at the ashram instead of editorial work.
Gandhi and Pratap’s Bond
Pratap was tempted by Gandhiji’s watch and wanted to keep it. However, Gandhiji believed that one should fulfil only reasonable demands made by children. He told Pratap that “this is his [Gandhi’s] toy. He [Pratap] won’t get it.” Since then Pratap and Gandhiji addressed each other as ‘Tiktok’, the sound of a watch.
But, Ram Narayanji was eager to witness the epoch-making event at Dandi: Gandhiji respected Ram Narayanji’s eagerness and relieved him of his ashram duties to join his entourage on 5-6 April 1930. On Gandhiji advice, Ram Narayanji reached Ajmer from Dandi and delivered a couple of fiery speeches urging salt producers to defy the British taxation on salt. Unsurprisingly, Ram Narayanji was arrested and sent to Ajmer jail. He was released only after the signing of Gandhi-Irwin pact in March 1931.
The British administration did not abide by the Gandhi-Irwin pact for long. It began to repress the Congress party’s workers in just a few months’ time after the pact’s signing. In response, Gandhiji gave a call to re-start the national movement of civil disobedience. This time, women joined in large numbers. In Rajasthan, Anjana Devi was the key organizer and dissenter in 1932. Soon, she was jailed for three months for hoisting the Indian flag in Ajmer’s main market. The judge had afforded her the status of Class A political prisoner. But she refused to stay in luxury even inside the jail and shifted to the Class C cell of the jail showcasing responsible and sensitive behaviour as a senior activist amongst many women jailed with her. Sita, Ram Narayanji and Anjana Devi’s second child, accompanied her mother to the jail in both of these terms adding a novel element to her education at a very young age!
Ram Narayanji in the early 1930s, after his imprisonment in 1930-31, became associated with Gandhiji’s pivotal project for the uplift of Harijans — a term that he popularized for scheduled castes or ex-untouchables, also known as Dalits. Gandhiji established Harijan Sevak Sangh with Amritlal Thakkar. Ram Narayanji headed this organization’s Rajasthan unit where feudal and casteist norms existed on a great scale. In this noble task of removing untouchability, Ram Narayanji toured southern parts of India with Gandhiji taking care of Gandhiji’s correspondence.
Once back in Ajmer, Ram Narayanji wanted to serve the tribals and train the bureaucrats. Along with other distinguished freedom fighters — his brother Durgaprasad Chaudhary, Shobhalal Gupt, Chandrabhan Sharma, Maniklal Verma –, he set up an ashram in Nareli for the training of civil servants under the banner of Rajasthan Sevak Mandal. Soon, the Mandal established an ashram in Dungarpur’s Sagwara to promote educational and agricultural skills among Bhils, a tribal group of Rajasthan.
Unfortunately, in 1935-36, Ram Narayanji began to suffer from a heart ailment. At this point, Gandhiji invited him to Sevagram ashram at Wardha to personally take his care. At Wardha ashram, Ram Narayanji resided in a house with Mahadev Desai, Mahatma’s secretary and took his daily lunch with Gandhiji. However, this stay had to be immediately shortened as a drought exacerbated the condition of Bhils in 1936.
With Gandhiji’s blessings, Ram Narayanji re-joined the fray of fellow activists in Rajputana’s Bhil-dominated villages. Over a course of a few years, through Rajasthan Sevak Mandal, they promoted agricultural skills among the tribals and either created or recharged at least 500 wells. At the same time, the group launched Navjyoti weekly based in Ajmer, in which Ram Narayanji played a key role. Initially, Navjyoti weekly was run by Rajasthan Sevak Mandal, but, in 1938, the editorial duties were completely handed over to Ram Narayanji.
Wardha Ashram
After spending about three years in and around Ajmer, in 1939, Ram Narayanji returned to Wardha ashram with Anjana Devi and their three children, Pratap, Sita, and Subhadra after handing over the Navjyoti to his brother, Durgaprasad Chaudhary (who later established the newspaper as an important daily of Rajasthan). At Wardha Ashram, Ram Narayanji handled parts of Gandhiji’s correspondence, translated the famous weekly Harijan and handled the library and reading room at the ashram besides the constructive activities. Given his tremendous knowledge of languages, he taught Hindi to Mirabehn and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur.
A few months after shifting to Wardha, Ram Narayanji developed a deadly spell of typhoid — his second encounter with the disease after the 1920s. Gandhiji checked on him on a daily basis, frequently advising him about diet and rest. It took over a month for the fever and associated symptoms to dissipate.
At Wardha ashram, Anjana Devi was considered one of the most efficient and productive cotton spinners on a charkha. Even when she was ill, she would relentlessly spin cotton to the extent that many other ashram residents envied her skills! Apart from that, Anjana Devi helped to grow wheat on the fields next to the Wardha ashram, cooked food and stitched clothes for the community. At the ashram, Pratap, their eldest child, came under the influence of Bharatananda and developed a curiosity for engineering. The family felt most comfortable at the ashram’s congenial environment and Gandhiji’s personal care.
In late 1941, Gandhiji had given the responsibility of Gauseva Sangh to Jamnalalji, who had donated the land for Wardha ashram. Jamnalalji deeply trusted Ram Narayanji and he collectively with Gandhiji asked Ram Narayanji to run Gauseva Sangh at Wardha. But Ram Narayanji deemed it appropriate to first undertake extensive training in dairy sciences before taking up this important duty. Consequently, Ram Narayanji spent six months at Imperial Dairy Institute in Bangalore.
By the time he had to return, Jamnalalji, one of the early mentors of Ram Narayanji, had passed away. On the other hand, India’s nationalist movement had advanced itself into a new stage amidst the gory theatrics of World War II. Gandhiji had declared Quit India movement and given the call of ‘Do or Die’ to his followers. When Ram Narayanji returned to Wardha in August 1942, an arrest warrant had already been issued in his name in Merwada state. A conscientious freedom fighter, he reached Ajmer with his family and surrendered to spend over two years in Ajmer Central jail. Soon, his brother, Durgaprasad Chaudhary, was also arrested.
Rising to the need of the hour, Anjana Devi played an important role in continuing the publication of the Navjyoti weekly for more than a couple of years. The paper’s manager, too, had been arrested during the Quit India movement. At this time, Crime Branch surveilled Anjana Devi’s daily activities and kept a strict eye on the news items published in the paper. The paper had already run into financial difficulties. But, Anjana Devi firmly negotiated with well-wishers and suppliers of the newspaper and resolved the financial concerns even as she had to take care of her children who were suffering from typhoid. After spending almost three years in the prison, Ram Narayanji was released in the last week of May 1945, a few months after even Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru were let off from prison.
Ram Narayanji moved to Sabarmati ashram with his family after his release from the prison. Gandhiji entrusted him with the translation work of a range of his writings given his remarkable lingual skills in Hindi, English, Urdu, Persian and Sanskrit through Navajivan Trust, a publishing house set-up by Gandhiji in Ahmedabad. After working out formalities and establishing a good rapport with Navajivan Trust, he initiated the translation work by shifting to Ajmer in 1946. Here, he established a daily titled Naya Rajasthan dedicated to Gandhian principle of nonviolent resistance, just before the dawn of India’s independence — a cause he dedicated himself to.
In this entire phase of freedom struggle, beginning from his initial days as a revolutionary activist, there was a long shadow of Gandhiji in Ram Narayanji’s every socio-political activity. Indeed, he was a true Gandhian who gave up luxuries of wealth and spent decades among the poor and vulnerable Indians to realise a dream of an India built on nonviolence as it escaped the shackles of British imperialism.
