Announcing a fast
May 1, 2023
A new month is here! (I’m on the road this week, and a day late posting this.) After not doing well with my April challenges, I’m ready to start the next 30-day Gandhi challenge at mid-month. Blog posts in May will detail his 1893 arrival in South Africa, and chronicle some fasts that he undertook in 1914 and 1933. There are two new optional experiments this time: a simple clothing challenge and frugality challenge.
On May 1, 1933, Gandhi called a press conference. Normally, such a gathering would take place outside under a mango tree. Today, the heat of spring drove them to seek cooler temperatures inside. Gandhi welcomed the members of the press into his jail cell.
It had been his home for more than 16 months. After returning from the 1931 Round Table Conference in London, he was almost immediately thrown in jail. The British had no intention of offering Gandhi a public trial; they simply held him without charges, as they had after the Salt March.
The Bombay Chronicle had printed an announcement that morning. Gandhi revealed that he would undergo a 21 day fast, taking only water with salt and soda. “The fast is against nobody in particular,” Gandhi proclaimed, “But it is particularly against myself. It is a heart-prayer for the purification of self and associates, for greater vigilance and watchfulness.” The fast would begin the following week, May 8, and continue until May 29.
Many people were concerned about his health. The previous September, Gandhi had undergone a fast for election reform, which had lasted less than a week and left him at death’s door. Gandhi brushed aside any concerns; he had fasted for 21 days a decade earlier. “Spiritual sustenance has great possibilities,” he told them.
The fast was intended to purify himself for his work addressing discrimination against so-called untouchables. The Harijans, as Gandhi had recently begun to refer to those born outside the Hindu caste system, had faced centuries of discrimination and abuse. Since Gandhi saw the humanity in everyone, the practice was abhorrent to his beliefs and he strove to stamp it out.
One thing I found interesting about this press conference and the dates of the fast is that they all fell on Mondays, which was traditionally Gandhi’s weekly day of silence. Many times, items in the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi are marked with [Silence Day] to signify that Gandhi was undergoing a 24-hour fast from speaking. During these hours, he would communicate via written notes. Gandhi sometimes varied the start of the 24-hour silence day to accommodate other events, and he may have done so here. That might be an interesting 30-day challenge!
What sacrifices could you make that would better prepare you to take on challenges in your life?