Rediscovering the spirit of Vinoba’s Bhoodan

How do people remember a significant Gandhian event and what can that tell us about the prose and poetry of commemoration?

First, the prose: Launched at the height of communist unrest, Vinoba Bhave’s land gift movement or Bhoodan, was an attempt to use the dana or gift ethics in the public sphere to tame resentment and generate trust. Having walked to Shivarampalli in Andhra Pradesh for a Sarvodaya conference in April 1951, Vinoba Bhave, Gandhi’s spiritual heir decided to tour the strife-torn villages in Telangana, with no specific agenda or plan but merely to find out the causes of violence and figure out how to unleash the ‘peace potential’ of humans.

At a meeting in Pochampally on April 18, 1951, some 40 Dalits asked for 80 acres of land to work on and make a living. He promised to write to the government authorities. Then a landlord present, Vedire Ramachandra Reddy, offered a 100 acres on the spot; astounded Vinoba interpreted it as a ‘sign from God’ that he must ‘ask and ask again’.

Initially, he was not confident that the 50 million acres required to satisfy the landless maybe ‘had for the asking’ but then a ‘direct talk’ with God compelled him to try. According to a November 2004 PIB document, 39.16 lakh (3.916 million) acres of land was received in all. Compared to this, collections from implementing the land ceiling legislation until 1980 only amounted to 7 million acres out of which 4.4 million was distributed. And the communists who spread terror and violence claimed to have distributed 1 million acres from 1946 to 1951 in Telangana.

In December 2015, I visited the birthplace of Bhoodan, Pochampally, to interview surviving eyewitnesses and was charmed by the poetry of emotional recall. The initial darshan of a tall man coming down a brambled path with some associates was etched in the local imagination. They remembered garlanding him with threads since he accepted no flowers. They pointed to the tree under which he held the first meeting and their ‘bhai-saab’, as the legendary Ramachandra Reddy is fondly called, announcing the offer of a 100 acres. In disbelief, Vinoba had apparently told them all to return in the evening for a prayer meeting.

They recounted how Bhaisaab and his wife came back in the evening, washed the feet of the ‘pedda manishi’ (Vinoba) and gave ‘danam’ of land. Surprised and shocked, Vinoba had apparently jumped up and down like a child saying he had been given a ‘second birth’ in Pochampally. Prof Sudhir Reddy, son of RamachandraReddy, shared that everywhere he goes, people still ask him about what motivated his father to give away land spontaneously. One donee, owner of a small shop asserted that ‘if you have four coins, you must give away one’ summing up Bhoodan’s spirit. Another recounted that Vinoba had asked them for a return gift to give up toddy and engage in shram-dan. Far from being naive, many were aware of misappropriation and encroachment issues. When I asked Karegala Narasimha, son of the first donee, whether he has any title deed for the land that has been in his possession for 65 years now, he flashed a toothy smile and asked, “HaveyouseenthephotoinGandhi Bhavan?”, referring to an image of his father receiving the same. That is proof enough for him.
Such faith must at least move us to digitise the fading danapatras and add to the treasure of indelible images of human goodness. While many aspects of Gandhi’s satyagraha such as self-sacrifice, fearlessness and moral persuasion are well developed, its deep root in generosity towards others is often neglected.

Vinoba was clear that satyagraha under democracy cannot be just negative but constructive and open minds and hearts to noble actions. Coming from perhaps the most adept practitioner of Gandhi’s ideals, and intended to steer activism beyond fasts and agitations, this insight hails us time and
again.