A barber’s bargain with Bapu
By P.D. Tandon

NOVEMBER 23, 1939 was a day of great joy. Mahatma Gandhi was walking on the first floor of Nehru’s Anand Bhawan. Hundreds of eyes were focused on him. A room was reserved for him which only he used whenever he came to Allahabad. There was a lot of excitement. Nehru used to be very busy when Bapu came to Allahabad, personally attending to his needs.

Gandhiji wanted to have a shave. Within minutes, a barber was called from a close-by shop in Colonelganj. On November 23, 1939 he visited Allahabad in connection with the foundation laying ceremony of the Kamla Nehru Memorial Hospital. It is a well-known fact that Gandhiji was not only the political guru and the adviser of the Nehrus but was the father of the house, who was consulted on many occasions by the Nehrus and his advice was valued and respected. Gandhiji had told Kamla Nehru that her wish to build a big hospital for the poor at Allahabad would be respected and according to the promise, after her death, Gandhiji saw to it that a big hospital was built in her name and he laid the foundation stone for it.

A picture shows the Mahatma being shaved by an Allahabad barber Punnilal. Besides him is sitting a Sikh who had gone to him to narrate the troubles of the people of the Punjab. The barber told me that Gandhi heard the Sikh patiently and promised to visit Lahore and console the people. By the side of Gandhiji are lying newspapers and a chadar.

"How did you manage to get this note from Gandhi?" I asked Punnilal. He said that it was a great day when he got an opportunity to shave Gandhi and added, "I had no khadi clothes to put on, but, quickly S.D. Upadhyaya, Nehru’s private secretary, supplied me with khadi garments and I donned spotless white to shave the great leader. As Gandhi saw me he smiled and said: "Are aa gaya, Too achha bal banata hai". The barber’s shrewd business instinct was roused and he said that if it was so why not give him a certificate. Gandhi said that was not necessary as long as he did his work well. But the barber was a greater bania than Gandhi as far as business was concerned and he insisted that he should get a few lines from Gandhi. Soon an Anand Bhawan letterhead was brought and Gandhi scribbled the following:-

"Brother Punnilal has shaved me well. His razor is country-made and he shaved without soap".

Punnilal made a good hit and took the certificate home and showed it to many people. Later, to his luck, he discovered that some one had taken a photograph also. I asked if he had taken a photographer too for the purpose. He said that had he known that he was being photographed, his picture would have been clearer and more imposing. Someone just took the picture and Upadhyaya gave him a copy. The barber further stated that he felt slightly uncomfortable in borrowed garments and they did not fit well. Gandhiji noted some uneasiness on hisface and asked, "are you a habitual wearer of khadi?" He felt non-plussed and did not have the courage to lie but honestly told him that he was putting on borrowed garments and was not a habitual wearer of khadi. Gandhi was pleased that he spoke the truth.

Punnilal said that under orders from Nehru, he was paid Rs 2/-. It was 9 a.m. and he was taken on the first floor of Anand Bhawan where Gandhi was reading some newspapers. He said that he shaved his head and beard and most of the time Gandhi was cutting jokes with him and enquiring about his welfare.

This photograph and the certificate were Punnilal’s greatest possession and they honoured his shop. Punnilal said that some one had offered Rs 100/- for those few lines and the photograph, but he refused to part with them for any price. I could get the picture and the certificate for ‘negatives’ only after furnishing a security — not of money, but a personal undertaking given to him by the Swaraj Bhawan doctor, K.C. Mitra, who went to his shop and persuaded him to part with the picture and the certificate for a while.

Punnilal had told me that these would be his greatest possessions and property and these would be his biggest gift to his heirs.

Gandhiji was a seer who read sermons in stones. His vision invested even common men and things with a significance which was missed by mortals not gifted with his insight into life. A man’s station in life did not matter to him for he thought that every human being was cast in God’s own image. Gandhiji was a wonderful human being. This conviction will continue to grow as long as his writings survive and little stories and legends of his universal love and kindness continue coming to us.