“Phoenix is a very good word…As the legend goes, the bird phoenix comes back to life again and again from its ashes.” I was driving to Durban’s Phoenix Settlement and on N2, these words were resonating magically in the air. In 1909, Mahatma Gandhi had uttered these in a letter to Maganlal Gandhi.
In Phoenix Settlement, Mahatma Gandhi had lived for 21 years in a modest house called Sarvodaya. It was in this settlement that he ran the newspaper Indian Opinion and Kasturba Gandhi started a school for children.
In 1893, MK Gandhi, then a 23-year old barrister had landed in Durban to fight a civil suit for a rich Indian client. The first inspiration for Phoenix Settlement came from his 1894 visit to a Trappist monastery in Mariamhill outside Durban. Ten years later, he along with his friend Albert West bought 20 acres of land which had some mango and orange trees. Soon, Phoenix bustled with life.
The International Printing Press that Gandhi set up in 1903 started whirring and Indian Opinion newspaper was born. When the family grew bigger, Manilal, his second son, built a house adjacent to the original house. Mahatma Gandhi stayed in this house for 21 years before returning to India.
From the highway, the road ascends and opens into a large tract of land which houses the printing press and the two Gandhi homes. A bust of the Mahatma sits in a thatched gazebo and a flight of steps lead to the Mahatma’s house. On the white wall is a plaque with Sarvodaya etched in golden on black granite.
The house and the printing press were razed during the infamous 1985 Inanda riots and the house is a reconstruction of the original. Inside, there are no personal belongings. His thoughts and photographs adorn the walls and the shelves. It is not a Museum. Instead, a pilgrimage for those who believe and want to learn more about Gandhi’s philosophy.
On that fateful day in 1985, the printing press met the same rueful fate. There was no arson, but the rioters left no trace of the press. Today, there is no original press artifact. Quite like the house, the printing also houses framed photographs and copies of Gandhi’s letters and writings.
Indian Opinion was closed in 1961 but it has been revived again by Ila Behn, Gandhi’s granddaughter who was born in the Phoenix Settlement and still lives in Durban.
In Durban’s Phoenix Settlement, I walk the ground that Mahatma Gandhi had walked a century ago. He is no more, but his words still live on the white walls: I want world sympathy in this battle of right against might. Date: 5.4.30.
The words still echo in the Phoenix Settlement. Mahatma Gandhi’s words still ring true 85 years after they were uttered.
Preeti Verma Lal
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