The settlement (6/6)

March 18, 2024

(The previous installments: part one, part two, part three, part four, part five)

Having begun his fast to the death, Gandhi headed home to his ashram, wading across the Sabarmati River. He’d been driven back and forth in previous days, but in his vow he’d also sworn off the use of a car, since it was seen by the impoverished workers as an elitist luxury. His travel was accompanied by hundreds of enthusiastic workers, who took up manual labor at the ashram.

Gandhi was promptly visited by Ambalal Sarabhai, the leader of the mill owners. He was annoyed by the fast, and offered Gandhi a one-time deal; the demanded 35% raise in exchange for a promise not to meddle in labor disputes in the future. Gandhi declined.

Unlike Gandhi’s later fasts, there was no press coverage. By March 18, 1918, a complicated deal was struck. An independent arbitrator would be appointed, and on the first day back to work, the workers would receive the full 35% raise that they had pledged to hold out for. On the second day, however, they would receive only the 20% raise the owners had vowed to hold out for. After that, they would receive 27-1/2% until the arbitrator made his decision, and then the difference would be made up.

Gandhi broke his fast and there was a celebratory parade. Thus ended the Event; Gandhi, having done his homework at the beginning, confidently and correctly predicted that the arbitrator would award 35%. The people of Ahmedabad always remembered the sacrifice he was willing to make for them. When he was arrested and held without charges in August 1942, 125,000 mill workers walked off their jobs in protest.

Gandhi’s success, however, wasn’t without some guilt over using a hunger strike to force a resolution. He wrote a letter to the editor the following week, explaining his actions and standing by them. Rather than let 10,000 men break their vow, it was better that he lead by example, and starve before them.

Overall, the fast and its result pleased him. He wrote to his son Devadas, “I look upon that fast as the best thing I have done so far. The peace which I knew at the time of that fast was no mere human experience.” It was a technique he would repeat more than a dozen times over his life, spurring social change, raising moral questions, and fasting for peace.

Thinking about Gandhi’s vow and the upcoming 30-day challenge: Would you give up the use of a car for a month?