Mahatma Amid The Mob

The loud catcalls start with the scenes of carnage in Calcutta. Like when a Hindu holds Barrister Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi responsible for all the bloodspilling. The brazenness of his declaration is greeted with an equally impudent cheer by the audience. The claps only get louder when there is a critique of Gandhi for favouring Muslims: "Ek hare-bhare paudhe ko seench kar vriksh bana diya (a small, green plant was made into a giant tree)." Loud thumps follow when the decimation of Muslims is described as kartavyapalan (duty), as war, not murder or crime.

There's more of the cheeky lingo which the spectators consume with a reciprocal audacity. Like when Gandhi is criticised for placating Muslim League's Shahdeed Suhrawardi, active protagonist of the infamous Direct Action Day (a euphemism for rioting): "Suhrawardi jaise saanp ke kandhe ko lathi banane wala mahatma kaise ho sakta hai (how can one who leans on Suhrawardi be a mahatma)?" The audience is at its cockiest when a character holds Gandhi responsible for all ills facing India: "It's our tragedy the destroyer of Hindu rashtra is a Hindu himself." More thumping approval. The laughter is the loudest when an old man tells Gandhi: "Apne desh ko barbad kar diya, buddhon ki tarah aapko bhi Himalaya jana chahiye" (You've destroyed the nation. Better retire to the Himalayas). Gandhi was never so easily dismissed.