Role of Mahatma Gandhi in the Life and Anthropology of Nirmal Kumar Bose

Abstract

Abstract Nirmal Kumar Bose, a doyen of Indian anthropology, was very much motivated by the life, philosophy and vision of Mahatma Gandhi. Bose may truly be considered as a Gandhian anthropologist. His journey on Gandhian philosophy started in the 1930s when he left the University and joined the Salt Satyagraha Movement launched by Gandhi. Bose was engaged in Gandhian social reconstruction work in a Harijan slum. The slum was inhabited by the so-called untouchable people, like the Mochi, Hadi and Bauri. Later, along with some of his friends, Bose published Harijan, a journal of Mahatma Gandhi, and a few other writings of Gandhi in Bengali in 1942, when Gandhi initiated the Quit India Movement. In 1946, after the communal strike, Gandhi came to Noakhali on a peace mission. He invited Bose to stay with him as a Bengali teacher and interpreter. During this period, Gandhi often deputed his personal secretary, Pyarelal, for peace work in some villages. During the absence of Pyarelal, Bose had to perform the secretariat work of Gandhi as well. All this moulded the life of Bose on Gandhian thought and philosophy.