It is relatively less known that Mahatma Gandhi had a deep, albeit short-lived, interest in observing stars—a process he found to be a deeply spiritual experience. The usage of technology beguiled him closer towards the mysteries of the universe. Mysteries he pondered over while observing stars using sky maps, and concerted reading of a number of books on astronomy, all during the period of a few months spent in the Yerawada Central Jail in 1932.
It seems that a peripheral interest in observing and understanding stars had been with him for a long time. Some efforts to follow that urge in the 1920s had to be set aside due to pressures of other and more important work. He was incarcerated in the Yerawada prison in 1932 in company with D.B. Kelkar (Kaka Kelkar) who had a sustained interest in astronomy as also an interest in bringing out books on that topic in Gujarati. It was during this period and months following, after Kaka Kelkar left, that, Gandhiji got an opportunity to venture in the direction of this interest in the stars and the universe.
In a letter to Kaka Kalelkar, dated July 23, 1932, Gandhiji wrote: "Looking at the sky, the impression we get of infinity, of purity, of order and of grandeur is one that purifies us. It may perhaps be that on being able to reach the planets and the stars one will get the same experience of good and evil that one gets here on earth. But truly divine is the peaceful influence of their beauty and coolness at this great distance. Also when once we are able to establish communion with the heavens it doesn't matter where we may happen to be. It then becomes like receiving the Ganga in one's own home. All these thoughts have made me a keen watcher of the infinite skies." Shades of future interplanetary travel and the now-known isotropy and homogeneity of the universe, echoed unconsciously, in these thoughts.
He also seemed to have an educator's interest in understanding the science of the stars and also making the content available in a palatable form to Indian students. He wished for lucid textbooks on astronomy to be brought out, and his correspondence with Kelkar reflect this. In a letter written to Kelkar in August 1932, he advised him that his book on astronomy "should give the names and short lives of Western astronomers, some of whom, were men of great courage and spirit and of noble character". He went on to add that the book on astronomy which he wishes to have published, should be as perfect as possible and should give an account of all discoveries to date in the field. He also mentioned that the book should give some knowledge about physics. Thus he was well aware, not just about the positional astronomy aspects of watching the stars, but, his reading had allowed him to realise that physics underlay an understanding of stars.
It was when aged 63, that Mahatma Gandhi set out to venture into this totally new area of learning and yet, he seemed to have taken that journey into this uncharted territory with such zest and thoroughness. In a letter to Mathuradas Trikumji, he lamented that he came rather late to this appreciation. "I myself have been watching the stars every night and enjoy the experience immensely. I have woken up in old age. But what harm can there be in waking up even on death-bed if watching the stars helps one to have a glimpse of the soul?"
Though he had an appreciation of the science of stars, his own interest, as he reiterated again and again, lay in the fact that looking at a star-studded sky gave him a very satisfying spiritual experience. What is more, using technology in this endeavour, seemed not to have interfered with the intensity of that spiritual experience.
When reporters from the Associated Press set foot inside the Yerawada Jail premises to interview Gandhi, 'two large-sized telescopes placed in the open yard occupied by Gandhi in the Yerawada Jail, presented an unusual spectacle amidst the severe simplicity of the jail surroundings,' as noted by the editors of Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi.
"They are for me,"Gandhi told the reporters. "Astronomy has always interested me. Now it has become a passion with me. Every free minute I get, I devote myself to it. It is a wonderful subject, and more than anything else impresses upon me the mystery of god and the majesty of the universe. To be lying on your back in the open air on a starry night and regarding universe after universe in the immeasurable expanse, you cannot help becoming a worshipper of God. My mind leaps with joy as I do so. Oh, it is marvellous !" quoted a report in The Hindu, published on April 3, 1933.
He said that "he could easily understand their use as their adjustments, though delicate, were simple". That is very telling indeed; most new users of telescopes find the usage a relatively steep learning curve. Gandhiji was indeed very hands-on with all his experiments. He also mentioned that he had been keen to observe a celestial object by name 'Parijata' which he had been unable to do. In all this, there is a sense of loss expressed by him for not having the time and or the wherewithal to observe the magnificence of the heavens as much as he could have had done.
While there was the deep intertwining of spirituality, there was also a thorough scientific temper in his appreciation of some of the truths of the universe. In the articles Watching the Heavens- I and II which he sent to the ashram inmates between February to April 1932, asking them to regularly observe the night sky, he combined his 'spiritual' view of the celestial objects with practical instructions for sky observations and even sketches of the Orion constellation. He added that none of the sketches he has seen in print show all the stars which he can see in the constellation and advised ashram inmates to make their own sketches, one reason being that the constellation as seen from different locations on earth would have differing orientations. He also advised the beginner stargazers to observe from a fixed place at a fixed time, and sketch the constellations and mentioned that once they are familiar with the constellations, they would be able to identify these even if their locations and the constellation orientations change. He also discussed the possibility of a measurement of time by looking at the changing positions of the 'Saptarshi' asterism.
In these articles, Gandhiji refers to the constellations of Orion, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Lepus, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, the Pole star, as also the imaginary creatures and beings peopling the mythologies connected with these constellations. However, he immediately clarified that these are "beautiful fancies", and that there are no such real figures in the sky. He goes on later to travel away from these scientific lines of reasoning towards the spiritual connection he experienced with these observations of stars and wrote: "if one looks at them even for a second, one would forget all one's misery and burst forth into praise of god's supreme greatness".
Gandhiji wrote: "Both children and grown-ups love dramas and the spectacular scenes which they present. But no drama composed or acted by human beings can even equal the great spectacle which Nature has arranged for us on the stage of the sky". He added: "Watching the stars soothes the eyes; to watch the stars, one must remain outdoors, and this gives fresh air to the lungs; and we have heard of no instance so far of harm having been done to moral character by watching the stars. The more we meditate on this miracle of God, the more we grow spiritually".
What a great pity that this inspiration towards a pure and spiritual experience of seeing the beauty of the starlit night sky is denied to today's city children, due to the rampant light pollution in all Indian cities. However, some of the excitements of the night skies, consisting of the moon, planets and brighter stars and celestial objects are yet available to be appreciated from city skies, with just a little guidance needed for anyone to locate and view these. That is what is being planned during a year-long Bapu Khagol Mela to be celebrated from October 2018 to October 2019.
Part of the Ministry of Culture's initiatives to mark Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary, the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Nehru Planetarium, New Delhi, will be coordinating the Bapu Khagol Mela. The project is being conducted in collaboration with Public Outreach Committee, Astronomical Society of India; the National Council of Science Museums; HIT, Allahabad, IIT Indore; planetaria at Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ujjain, Lucknow, Allahabad, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangalore, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Pondicherry, Panaji and many more; district science centres and amateur astronomy associations in Gujarat, Assam, Bengaluru, Delhi and others, and Collins Education amongst Corporate CSR.
Events are planned in a number of locations which would involve the setting up of telescopes and allowing people to enjoy the spiritual experience of celestial views—naked eye and telescopic. These sky-watches would also have readings from Gandhiji's writings connected with the skies and associated cultural activities. Naked eye sky observations as well as sketching of the constellations, in the way advised by Bapu to the ashram inmates, will also form a part of these activities. A calendar of these daily skywatch events between October 2018 to October 2019, mentioning the date, time and venue of the events, will be available on the website of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library http://nehrumemorial.nic.in/en/.
An interesting activity at the Nehru Planetarium, Nehru Memorial Museum, New Delhi will be the putting together of some of Gandhiji's writings to teach astronomy to the ashram inmates, in the form of a planetarium script and integrating into a short Full Dome planetarium show, which will be shown to planetarium visitors before every show during October 2018 to October 2019—a planetarium show with Mahatma Gandhi as the script writer.
The author is director of Nehru Planetarium, at Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi