Though born into vastly different cultures, Mahatma Gandhi and George Bernard Shaw were two "shining stars" of the 20th-century firmament whose lives converged on the common goal of human welfare. Like rivers originating from different peaks but meeting at the same sea, these two leaders utilized distinct methodologies to traverse different terrains, yet their ultimate confluence was the upliftment of human dignity.
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| Caricature - George Bernard Shaw CartoonStock |
Both men were deep-rooted pacifists who viewed violence as a "blind alley" that yields no progress. Gandhi’s philosophy of Satyagraha (non-violent resistance) was forged in the fires of apartheid South Africa and perfected during India’s struggle for independence. He famously maintained that "violence begets violence," and that the net result of aggression is ultimately "zilch."
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| Bernard Shaw(1856-1950). inspirationalquotes.gallary. |
The Spiritual Root: Vegetarianism
A defining trait of both men was their lifelong commitment to vegetarianism, which they viewed as essential for spiritual and intellectual clarity. For both, this was not merely a dietary choice but a key component of their humanitarian development.
Gandhi: While he briefly experimented with meat in his youth to "be strong," he ultimately embraced a strict vegetarian diet. He was particularly fond of peanuts and preferred goat’s milk to cow’s milk, believing such discipline was necessary for moral leadership.
Shaw: After listening to a lecture by H.F. Lester in his early twenties, Shaw became a devoted vegetarian. He viewed meat-eating as a form of "cannibalism" and argued that a plant-based diet helped humans shed "animal instincts," positively improving the quality of human thought.
Challenging Social Hierarchies and Class vulnerable. In India, Gandhi fought the "scourge" of untouchability, calling the marginalized "Harijans" (God's people) and insisting that true independence could not exist alongside such discrimination.
During his 1933 visit to Bombay, Shaw was outraged by a sign at a Yacht Club that stated it was "Reserved exclusively for white people only". He reportedly called this "nothing short of snobbery", highlighting his opposition to the racial exclusivity of colonial Indian social clubs.
Across the ocean, Shaw attacked the class system of British society. He resented the vast disparity between the "least enlightened" higher classes, who wallowed in luxury, and the laboring classes living in "ghettos." While not a communist, Shaw was a staunch supporter of labor who criticized Parliamentary democracy for its tendency to "yap" rather than act for the ordinary citizen. Both men sought to strip away the "vestiges of inherent animal instincts" in society to reveal the underlying equality of all people.
Shaw, on the other hand, very much resented the presence of classes in the English society. The labor classes who were being treated like untouchables. The workers were living in abject poverty and in poor living quarters - something like ghettos. Referring to Mr. Gandhi's present crusade against Untouchability, Mr. Shaw said that if an English laborer proposed to marry a duchess he would very soon find out that he was an Untouchable.
"That gives me enough to think about without bothering to know anything about the Indian Untouchables," said the author, with a grin.
While the English aristocrats and royals with palatial palaces were wallowing in money and luxury. Shaw hated the squandering of public money for the luxury of eccentric, arrogant aristocrats with fancy titles and the vast disparity between the poor labor force and the rich. To him ''The higher classes were least enlightened.'' Though he was not a communist, he was a staunch supporter of labor. To him, in Parliament democracy, people talk (rather yap) a lot and do nothing for the ordinary people.
A Legacy of Mutual Respect
The respect between the two was profound. During Gandhi’s 1931 visit to London for the Second Round Table Conference, Shaw famously dubbed Gandhi "Mahatma Major" while calling himself "Mahatma Minor." He described Gandhi as "exceptionally clear-headed" and a "saint under the covenant of grace." Though Shaw pragmatically disagreed with Gandhi’s "fast unto death" tactics, he remained an ardent admirer of the Mahatma’s character.
Today, the lives of George Bernard Shaw and Mahatma Gandhi serve as a dual inspiration. They prove that regardless of one’s methodology—whether through the political activism of the East or the intellectual satire of the West—the pursuit of equality, non-violence, and human dignity remains the highest human calling.
