Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Bar-at-law, arrived at Patna railway station on the morning of April 10, 1917 on way to Champaran. Accompanied by Champaran farmer Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhi wearing a long kurta, dhoti and turban made of home spun fabric got down Howrah-Delhi train wondering where to go since it was his first visit to Patna and he hardly knew anybody.
Finding no way out, Shukla offered him to take to a famous wakil saheb (advocate). They hired a tonga, which dropped them at the entrance of a big house. It was the house of Rajendra Prasad but he was not there and the servant told them that saheb was out of station.
Prasad’s munshi told them that wakil saheb was away to Puri. “I squatted on the veranda outside but the servant did not allow me to fetch water from the well. Shukla persisted that he kindly allowed me to use the toilet but directed me to use the toilet outside. It did not hurt or anger me. The servant was following own dharma and fulfilling his duty towards his master,” said Gandhi.
Shukla was highly embarrassed over the treatment to Gandhi but had no other option. Gandhi suddenly remembered one of his classmates in london who had told him he lived in Patna. “It was Mazharul Haque and I last met him in 1915 in Bombay. Then he was president of Muslim league. He had invited me to his house whenever I visited Patna.”
Remembering Mazharul Haque, Gandhi scribbled a few lines on a piece of paper and asked Shukla to deliver it. As soon as Haq received the letter he hurriedly asked his driver to start the car and reached Rajendra Prasad’s house and brought his friend to his palatial house on Fraser Road.
Gandhi told him that he was on way to Champaran to study the plight of the farmers who were coerced to plant indigo. Haque, however, was not well versed about the legal position but knew that the farmers were subjected to great tyranny. He told Gandhi that the indigo planters had their headquarters at Muzaffarpur and that he should first go there. Gandhi decided to go to Muzaffarpur and recalled that one of his acquaintances Professor JB Kripalani was teaching in a college there.
Gandhi with Shukla boarded a steamer to reach Sonepur and caught a train to Muzaffarpur. Kripalani saw the cable at 9 in the night when he returned from the club and had little time to make arrangements for his welcome.
“How this distinguished guest should be received and where should I put him up,” wonders Kripalani, warden of a hostel attached to the college and living in a couple of rooms. He spoke to his colleague Professor Malkani to make some arrangement for Gandhi’s stay. When Kripalani told some of his students that he was going to receive Gandhi and informed who he was they persisted to accompany him and gave the distinguished guest a fitting reception by performing an aarti.
The train arrived after midnight. Kripalani and his students ran towards the first class compartment. But he was nowhere to be found. Gandhi who got down from third class compartment was also looking for Kripalani. He asked Shukla to enquire from the young boys who they were looking for and they said Mr Gandhi was coming. When they met students performed aarti much to his embarrassment. Now the question was how to take Gandhi to his place of stay.
A zamindar friend of Kripalani was travelling in the same train. He asked him to spare his private carriage to which he agreed. “The students persisted they would pull the carriage. An unhappy Gandhi said he would not use carriage if pulled by students. I asked them not to persist and went inside the closed carriage with very Gandhi who told me about his experience in Patna at the house of Rajendra Prasad. When we reached hostel and came out Gandhi was angry and said students deceived him by pulling he carriage.”
This was Gandhi’s first experience of disobedience by Biharis.