Gandhi’s ‘Hind Swaraj’ out as an audiobook

Bengaluru group records the work, first published in 1909, as an immersive aural experience

A foundation from Bengaluru has come out with an audiobook of Mahatma Gandhi’s seminal work on home rule ‘Hind Swaraj’.

C+ve Foundation, which started in 2009 and aims to enlighten, empower and enable citizenship, has converted the book, which Gandhi wrote in 1909 aboard the Kildonan Castle ship, into an audiobook.

Written as a Q&A between the Reader and the Editor, the book dwells on the nature and structure of the Indian Swaraj and the means to attain it. The British government in India, however, banned it as a seditious text.

In the audiobook, Ranjan Kamath has rendered his voice as the Editor, Rishabh Kamath as Reader one, and Ahan Kamath as Reader two. It also features narrations between the chapters to put Gandhi’s writing in context.

“Without the context, his writing is often misunderstood since we look at the work through the 21st or 20th-century prism and it becomes easy to dismiss what he says,” says Ranjan, founder of the foundation.

Inspiration

The audiobook rose from the celebrations of India’s 75th year of Independence. “‘Are we really independent?’ The answer is no. We can achieve independence only when we emancipate ourselves. This is why I picked ‘Hind Swaraj’,” he recalls.

Work started in January 2022, an exercise, he describes, as both a self-discovery and an expedition for him. “I was talking to Gandhians when the question of attaining Swaraj came forth. If one were to attain Swaraj, they had to know what it was,” he says. If everyone achieves Swaraj, “we will have a kinder and gentler nation,” he feels.

It took many recordings to capture the book’s nuances at their studio in Koramangala. “The idea was not just to make an audiobook but create an aural cinematic experience,” he quips. Creating the soundscape of being onboard a ship and including rare archival footage of Gandhi’s voice were some steps in that direction.

A significant number of Indians don’t know about the book, or may not read it because they “don’t like Gandhi”. The audiobook, he hopes, would connect with first-timers, youngsters and even those who dismiss Gandhi’s ideas.

Relevance

The foundation has previously worked on audiobooks like ‘Just So Stories’ by Rudyard Kipling and ‘Meditations: A New Translation’ by Marcus Aurelius. ‘Annihilation of Caste’ by B R Ambedkar is their upcoming project.

Something amazing about these books is that they sound prophetic, he feels. If the relevance of ‘Hind Swaraj’ does not speak for itself, then Ranjan says he isn’t sure what will.

For instance, the book has a chapter on the Railways. “The railways are symbolic of the speed of life. Today we are reminding ourselves to slow down, and around 113 years ago, Gandhi said the same thing,” he explains.

Moreover, the potential of audiobooks is infinite. “The future is and will be in the audio. The speed at which it can communicate can transform everything,” he says, adding that listening to the works of the likes of Gandhi or Ambedkar promotes critical thinking.