Functional

14

SWADESHI : MEANING AND CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE

It is impertinent for any man to set about reforming the universe. He must start his work from where he is. He must take up the work that lies nearest to hand. - S. Radhakrishnan

But what I should have done is to have had a more modest and realistic appraisal of what I could do and spent my efforts in small areas and in serving neighbouring people to enlarge the field of local joy and happiness. I know we are all citizens of a great country and we want to do great things in line with the vastness of the country. But that is an illusion. - V.K.R.V. Rao

l. Introduction

Swadeshi has great importance in Gandhian thought and programme of action; it is one of the “mahashabdas” (great words) of Gandhian paradigm. It is one of the “Ekadash vratas” (eleven vows) formulated by Gandhi. Its practice is essential for reaching the goal of “gramswaraj” i.e. the village self-government.

Yet, as Pyarelal has once said, Swadeshi has remained perhaps the least studied and most misunderstood of all aspects of Gandhi’s philosophy. In our efforts towards nation-building since Independence, we have completely neglected, forgotten, in fact, betrayed the ideal of Swadeshi. This, as indicated in Chapter 1, has created multiple crises in India. Inspite of these crises, the Indian Nation-State has pledged itself to the

ideology of the Market and Globalization in 1991.

Side by side, the 1990s have

witnessed an apparent revival of the allegiance to the concept of Swadeshi. However, a close perusal of the recent discussions on Swadeshi reveals that there is a high degree of confusion, misunderstanding, misrepresentation, and trivialization of its meaning in the public mind.1 The recent espousal of the cause of Swadeshi is characterized by

terminological dissemblance and hijacking, and a pseudo-Swadeshi or counterfeit Swadeshi is making the confusion worst confounded in this context.

All these developments have rendered the resurrection...