Indigo Summary Class 12 English

Introduction

Louis portrays Gandhi's fight in this tale for the underprivileged Champaran peasants who worked as sharecroppers for the British planters. They had a wretched existence and were required to cultivate indigo in accordance with a contract. The landlord system in Bihar caused them immense injustice. Gandhi fought against their abuses for approximately a year, bringing justice to the underprivileged peasants.

About Author

Louis Fischer was born in Philadelphia on February 29, 1896, the son of a fish vendor. His parents, David and Shifrah Fischer, were Orthodox Jews who left their Ukrainian hamlet of Shpola, which is close to Kiev, to avoid the pogroms that were taking place there under Alexander III. Fischer's mother supplemented their income as a laundress, while his father worked as a factory labourer and a fish and fruit seller, according to James William Crowl, his biographer: "Settling in one of Philadelphia's poorest ghettos... His father's alcoholism and subsequent abandonment of the family made things worse. Fischer noted that the family was so destitute that they had to relocate often when there wasn't enough money for the rent in his autobiography, Men and Politics (1941).

He read the writings of left-leaning authors Henry George and Lincoln Steffens when he was a young guy. He graduated from the Philadelphia School of Pedagogy in 1914 and went on to become a teacher. He identified as a socialist throughout this time. He also supported the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine and was a Zionist. He joined the Jewish Legion of the British Army in the summer of 1917. He travelled to Europe but stayed out of any First World War combat operations.

Fischer worked for a journalistic organisation in New York after returning to the United States. Fischer and Bertha Markoosha, a Latvian-born woman who would become his wife, met in 1920. Fischer's political opinions were influenced by Bertha. Markoosha worked for George Chicherin, the foreign minister of the Soviet Union, in 1921 on his staff in Europe. The editor of the New York Evening Post promised to consider publishing some of Fischer's pieces about the postwar situation in Europe, so he accompanied her to Germany.

Fischer relocated to Moscow in the summer of 1922, when he made acquainted with Walter Duranty, a New York Times employee. Bertha Markoosha joined him, and the two were wed in December. A regular contributor to the New York Evening Post, Fischer was dissatisfied with the paper's conservative editor and switched to the more leftist The Nation in 1923. His first two pieces were plain requests for the United States to recognise the Soviet Union.

Overview

The Indigo summary will help students learn about the chapter in a condensed manner. In Indigo, Mahatma Gandhi describes his fight for the disadvantaged Champaran peasants. They were the British planters' sharecroppers. The peasants used to lead miserable lives and were required to cultivate indigo. Their situation deteriorated due to the landlord system in place in Bihar at the time. Gandhi made the decision to combat injustice as a result. He launched a year-long struggle to combat prejudice and secure justice for the peasants. It then assisted the peasants in developing their bravery and awareness of their fundamental rights. Gandhiji also worked to address social challenges in addition to political and economic ones. He sought to give people access to health care, cleanliness, education, and self-confidence.

Theme

The author's primary point of discussion in the chapter "Indigo" is how strong leadership can solve any issue. The chapter describes Mahatma Gandhi's leadership in securing justice for the oppressed people via persuasive argument and negotiation.

Summary

Gandhi hosted Louis Fischer at his ashram at Sevagram in 1942. Gandhi explained to him how he started the British expulsion from India. He recalls visiting the location in 1917 at Rajkumar Shukla's invitation. Rajkumar Shukla was a sharecropper from Champaran. In 1916, Gandhi travelled to Lucknow to attend the annual convention of the Indian National Congress. Shukla informed him that he had travelled from Champaran to ask for his assistance in defending the rights of the sharecroppers. Gandhi informed him that he was busy, so Shukla drove him about to several locations until he agreed to go to Champaran.

Gandhiji was delighted by his resolute determination, and he made him a promise that he would visit Calcutta on a specific day and that Shukla might then come and accompany him to Champaran. He met Shukla in Calcutta, and the two travelled by rail to Patna. They awaited Gandhi at the home of the lawyer Rajendra Prasad. On April 15, 1917, he arrived in Muzzafarpur to have a full understanding of the situation. Prof. J.B. Kriplani and his students welcomed him. Gandhi was taken aback by the overwhelming support for a proponent of home rule like him. Additionally, he met some solicitors who were already working on sharecropper cases.

According to the terms of the agreement, 15 per cent of the peasant's landholding had to be set aside for the indigo crop, the proceeds of which were paid as rent to the landowner. It was a very oppressive system. Gandhi desired to aid sharecroppers. He went to the British Landlord Association as a result, but as he was not from their group, no information was provided. He then went to the divisional commissioner for Tirhut, who intimidated Gandhi and demanded that he leave Tirhut. He travelled to Motihari rather than going back. From this point on, he began to fully research the indigo contract.

The police superintendent's courier stopped him one day as he was on his way to meet a peasant who had been mistreated by the indigo growers and gave him a notice requesting him to leave. Gandhi was given a warning but ignored the directive. He was the target of a lawsuit. Many solicitors came to counsel him, but when he became upset, they all joined his fight and even agreed to go to jail to aid the underprivileged peasants. A sizable audience gathered outside the court on the day of the trial. Handling them became impossible. Gandhi assisted the police with crowd control. Gandhi declared that he was not breaking the law but had defied it in order to aid the peasants.

He was given bail, and the charges against him were eventually withdrawn. Gandhi and his allies began compiling a wide range of data about the Indigo contract and its abuse. A panel was then established to investigate the situation. Following the investigation, the planters were found to be at fault and required to repay the peasants. They offered to pay only 25% of the total since they anticipated being rejected. Gandhi agreed to this as well because he wished to release the sharecroppers from the indigo contract's restrictions. Volunteer teachers including Mahadev Desai, Narhari Parikh, and his son Devdas taught in the six schools he established in the villages of Champaran. Kasturbai once gave personal hygiene lessons.

Gandhi said to the author that the episode at Champaran gave him the idea that he did not require the Britisher's counsel while he was in his own nation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Indigo summary teaches us how Gandhiji was constantly fighting for the development of his countrymen from the very beginning, not only helping to free India.

FAQ's

1. Why does Rajkumar Shukla sound so "resolute"?

He had travelled a long distance to see Gandhi in Lucknow from the Champaran area in the foothills of the Himalayas. Gandhi was escorted everywhere by Shukla. Shukla went with him to an ashram not far from Ahmedabad. He stayed at Gandhi's side for weeks until Gandhi requested him to meet at Calcutta.

2. What led the servants to believe Gandhi was just another peasant, and why?

Gandhi was taken to Rajendra Prasad's home by Shukla. Shukla was a lowly yeoman in the eyes of the servants. Gandhi wore a simple dhoti as well. He shared a peasant's company. As a result, the servants mistook Gandhi for another villager.

3. Gandhi's decision to negotiate for a 25% reimbursement to the farmers. Why?

For Gandhi, it was more significant that the landlords had been made to restore a portion of the money and, along with it, a portion of their reputation. He consequently consented to a settlement of a 25% reimbursement to the farmers.

4. Why do you believe Gandhi saw the Champaran incident as a defining moment in his life?

The Champaran incident started as an effort to lessen the suffering of several destitute villagers. Thousands of people came out in support of him on the spot. Gandhi acknowledges that what he had done was rather routine. He claimed that he could not be ordered around by the British in his own nation. Therefore, he saw the events at Champaran as a turning point in his life.