Between his return to India from South Africa in 1939 until his death in 1946, how did Sastri occupy himself ? What were his major political accomplishments and contributions to the Freedom movement? And what were his other pursuits, literary and academic?
Between 1939 and 1946, Sastri’s life was devoted to literary scholarship, educational leadership, and the pursuit of a constitutional, united India. Though marginalized politically by the ascendant radical nationalists of the INC under Nehru, Patel, Rajaji and others, he continued to shape debates on education, language policy, national identity, and communal unity. His substantial body of literary work—autobiographical, biographical, and interpretive—combined with his commitment to public service, represents his enduring legacy in Indian political and cultural life.
It would be superfluous here to recount what History already and abundantly has recorded as Sastri’s many contributions in the above mentioned spheres of public life. So, merely a brief listing of the most significant of them all is given below if only for the sake of jogging the memories of students of Indian history interested in the biograpy of Srinivasa Sastri.
1 Public and Political Roles
a) Advocacy and Liberal Federation: Sastri continued to lead and guide the Indian Liberal Federation, advocating constitutional approaches, dominion status, and communal harmony. He became a key voice against the partition of India, expressing strong opposition to the Muslim League’s demands for the division of the country.
b) Appeal for Dominion Status: During World War II, he was part of a multi-party Indian delegation urging Prime Minister Winston Churchill to grant India dominion status, in recognition of India’s support to the Allies.
c) Opposition to Partition: In his final years, Sastri was a leading voice opposing the partition of India, emphasizing secular constitutionalism and national unity.
d) Support for Constitutional Reform: He promoted peaceful, negotiated constitutional advancement toward full self-government, a stand that, although overshadowed by more radical movements, influenced moderate and intellectual circles.
e) Advisor and Public Intellectual: Sastri often advised both government and political leaders, using his diplomatic experience to influence debates, especially around minority protections and communal relations.
2 Educational and Literary Work.
a) Language Policy and Translation: In 1940, the Madras government appointed Sastri to head a committee tasked with standardizing scientific and technical terminology in Tamil. His recommendation—to retain Sanskrit-derived words—sparked the first major Tamil language policy debate in the Madras Presidency.
b) University Leadership: Up to 1940, Sastri was Vice Chancellor of Annamalai University, and he remained involved in educational matters with an emphasis on Indian values and modernity.
c) Scholar, Orator, and Literary Figure: During this period, Sastri focused on writing, reviewing, and translating key historical and literary texts. He was famed as an orator and writer in both English and Tamil and continued to publish essays and lectures.
d) Autobiographical and Reflective Essays: Sastri’s autobiographical essays in Tamil, most notably compiled as ‘மீண்டும் வாழ்ந்தால்’ (Meendum Vazhndhaal, “If I Live Again,” 1944), reflect his personal philosophy, national ideals, and struggles.
- (i) Historical and Biographical Works: He wrote biographies of eminent personalities—such as “Life and Times of Sir Pherozeshah Mehta” (1945), “My Master Gokhale” (published posthumously in 1946), and “Life of Gopala Krishna Gokhale” (1937)—that remain valued for their insight and literary grace.
- (ii) Translation and Scholarship: Sastri condensed and interpreted the “Valmiki Ramayana” (1935), promoted appreciation of Indian and world classics, and contributed essays on his literary influences.
- (iii) Reviewing Gandhi’s Works: He proofread and corrected the manuscript of Gandhi’s autobiography, “The Story of My Experiments with Truth,” and reviewed successive issues of Gandhi’s magazine “Harijan”.
3 Intellectual Legacy: Even as political currents in India in the 1930s and 1940s marginalized moderates of his generation, Sastri’s voice was respected for its erudition, moral force, and literary craft—he was seen as India’s premier liberal constitutionalist and a model for statesmanlike public discourse. In fact, long before the idea of an Indian Constitution crystallized itself after 1947 — and which lay dormant as something referred to as an obscure “White Paper” within the Indian National Congress at that time — Srinivasa Sastri was already engaged in serious and very lively conversations about it with Mahatma Gandhi himself during1932-33.
4 Death: Sastri died in Madras (now Chennai) on 17 April 1946 after a period of declining health.
***********
It was during the above period i.e. between 1930 when he returned from South Africa to India and 1946 when he passed away, that Srinivasa Sastri, though imperceptibly marginalised by the political coteries surrounding Jawaharlal Nehru nonetheless maintained very intimate and endearing personal relations with Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi, born on October 2 and Sastri who was born on September 22 in the same year of 1869 CE was a mere fortnight the Mahahtma’s senior by age. Throughout those decades, the two of them addressed to each other scores of personal, private letters discussing dozens of issues and affairs related to the Freedom struggle and a host of social issues like Harijan welfare, Untouchability, Temple entry of Dalits, the internal politics of the Congress Party, and future of constitutionalism in an independent India.
Gandhi and Sastri referred to each other in those letter as “brothers“. All those letters between the two fortunately have been preserved in the Government of India archives and Gokhale Institure of Public Affairs today as “Gandhi-Sastri Letters”.
It is from the correspondence in those letters that I was able to cherrypick three very interesting, nay, astounding ones that vividly showed how affectionately the two “brothers” -in-arms, although they differed fundamentally in their respective philosophical outlook in life and politics, could never snap ties, never tear themselves away from nor fall out with each other.
A. In one correspondence, Gandhi endearingly conveyed to Sastri sentiments that showed how he trusted his instincts and political judgment more than he trusted that of even Gandhi’s own son, Manilal Gandhi.
B. In another hilarious private correspondence, Sastri suggests corrections to Gandhi’s published epistle in the “Harijan“, giving him superb grammar lessons on how sentence syntax in the English language must be structured. Gandhi accepts them all with all good-humoured humility and gratitude!
C. And in the third correspondence that I was able to pick, Sastri took the liberty to show Gandhi the mirror to his face, hinting in classic tongue-in-cheek manner at the latter’s occasional saintly humbug, even nuisance that did not really serve his own interests. Sastri then sternly advises him — as one affectionate brother would another — to stop being a dictator, for the sake of the good future of not only the Indian National Congress but also free India!
(to be continued)
Sudarshan Madabushi