Haridas Viharidas Desai, Dewan of the former princely state of Junagadh from 1883 to 1894, was a great administrator. However, history remembers him for the “fatherly kindness and care” he displayed for Hindu monk, philosopher, and author Swami Vivekananda.
Born in Central Gujarat’s Nadiad in 1840, Haridas was the son of Rao Bahadur Viharidas Ajubhai. Rao Bahadur was a great advocate of literacy and a patron of educational activities. Haridas studied English literature in Ahmedabad and became the municipal commissioner of Nadiad around 1862-63. (The Gujarat Portrait Gallery, Keshavlal Harivithaldas, Bombay, 1889, pages 1-4)
He began his career in princely states in Bhavnagar. His qualities attracted James B Pelle, the political agent of Kathiawad. On Pelle’s recommendation, he was selected as an administrator of Wadhwan state by the Government of Bombay, as the prince of the state was a minor. He also served as an administrator in the states of Wankaner and Idar before finally going to Junagadh.
His role as an administrator of Junagadh was challenging, as the state encountered difficulties in its dealings with the British Raj. But Haridas “faced the difficulties of the situation with courage and unfailing industry” (The Times of India, 18 June 1895, page 4). Collaborating closely with the Nawab’s maternal uncle, Bahauddin Khan, Haridas played an integral role in developing the state. Under their leadership, Junagadh witnessed substantial progress in areas such as the development of railways, construction of robust road networks, beautification of the city, and the improvement of business prospects within in the state.
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Beginning of a lifelong friendship
Haridas (51) met Vivekananda (28) when the latter visited Junagadh in 1891 during his tour of Gujarat. The meeting marked the beginning of a long and intimate relationship between the two. In Vivekananda’s earliest known letter to him, dated 26 April 1892, Haridas is addressed as “Dear Diwanji Saheb”, with updates about Vivekananda’s visit to Nadiad.
“I had not the least difficulty in reaching your house from the station of Nadiad. And your brothers, they are what they should be, your brothers. May the Lord shower his choicest blessings on your family. I have never found such a glorious one in all my travels,” wrote Vivekananda. His next letter, dated 15 June 1892, began with the lines, “It is a long time since I heard from you. I hope I have not offended you anyway.”
The Swami and the Dewan were so close that the former even sought a favour from him once. This was for Raja Ajit Singh of Khetri, a close associate of Vivekananda, who famously provided financial help to him for attending the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago in 1893. “Have you got lion’s cubs now in Junagad? Can you lend me one for my Raja? He can give you some Rajputana animals in exchange, if you like” (28 April 1893).
In a letter to Ajit Singh, Vivekananda described Haridas in these words: “Haridas Bhai was as usual very kind to me and we had many and many a talk about your Highness, so much so that he was really very anxious to see you and intends paying his respects to your Highness in his coming winter tour to the north. And I dare say your Highness would also be very much pleased to see this old man of great experience who was for twenty-five years the mentor of Kathiawad. Withal he is the only remnant of the old school of very conservative politicians. He is a man who is thoroughly able to organize and put to perfect order an existing machinery; but he would be the last man to move a step further” (22 May 1893).
Vivekananda never missed an opportunity to express gratitude toward Diwanji Saheb. “It is impossible that I should ever forget your fatherly kindness and care of me,” he wrote from Bombay in a letter dated 22 August 1892. “And what else can a poor fakir [ascetic] like me do in return to a mighty minister but pray that the Giver of all gifts may give you all that is desirable on earth and in the end — which may He postpone to a day long, long ahead — may take you in His shelter of bliss and happiness and purity infinite.”
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A relationship captured in letters
Vivekananda was so comfortable communicating with Haridas that he would even share his thoughts in unguarded words.
“One thing that I am very sorry to notice in these parts is the thorough want of Sanskrit and other learning. The people of this part of the country have for their religion a certain bundle of local superstitions about eating, drinking, and bathing, and that is about the whole of their religion,” he wrote to Haridas on 22 August 1892.
He further criticised priests for misleading innocent people. “Poor fellows! Whatever the rascally and wily priests teach them — all sorts of mummery and tomfoolery as the very gist of the Vedas and Hinduism (mind you, neither these rascals of priests nor their forefathers have so much as seen a volume of the Vedas for the last 400 generations) — they follow and degrade themselves. Lord help them from the Râkshasas in the shape of the Brahmins of the Kaliyuga.”
On one occasion, Haridas and Vivekananda could not meet due to miscommunication, which prompted the latter to write a long letter explaining his circumstances. The letter ended with these lines:
“My dear Diwanji Saheb, I am the same frolicsome, mischievous but, I assure you, innocent boy, you found me at Junagad, and my love for your noble self is the same or increased a hundredfold because I have had a mental comparison between yourself and the Diwans of nearly all the states in Dakshin, and the Lord be my witness how my tongue was fluent in your praise (although I know that my powers are quite inadequate to estimate your noble qualities) in every Southern court. If this be not a sufficient explanation, I implore you to pardon me as a father pardons a son, and let me not be haunted with the impression that I was ever ungrateful to one who was so good to me” (May 1893).
Though Vivekananda created quite an impression in the United States, his letters to Haridas reflected another aspect of his visit. Expressing bitterness about the treatment given to Indians in America, he wrote, “Our Hindu people did not move a finger to tell the Americans that I represented them. Had our people sent some words thanking the American people for their kindness to me and stating that I was representing them! . . . have been telling the American people that I have donned the Sannyasin’s garb only in America and that I was a cheat, bare and simple” (20 June 1894). He also discussed the difference between the East and the West at length and the things Indians needed to learn from them.
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Vivekananda’s tribute
Dewan Haridas was one of the two Indian members of a nine-member Royal Opium Commission approved by Queen Victoria. He died in Nadiad in 1895 after a brief illness. Vivekananda, who was in America then, expressed his grief and distaste for the world in a letter to one Mrs GW Hale:
“Oh, Mother, my heart is so, so sad. The letters bring the news of the death of Dewanji. Haridas Viharidas has left the body. He was as a father to me. Poor man, he was the last 5 years seeking the retirement from business life, and at last, he got it but could not enjoy it long. I pray that he may never come back again to this dirty hole they call the Earth. Neither may he be born in heaven or any other horrid place. May he never again wear a body — good or bad, thick or thin. What a humbug and illusion this world is, Mother, what a mockery this life. I pray constantly that all mankind will come to know the reality, i.e. God, and this “Shop” here be closed for ever” (30 July 1895).
Interestingly, there was no reference to Swami Vivekanand in the obituary of Dewan Haridas published in The Times of India dated 18 June 1895.
Urvish Kothari is a senior columnist and writer based in Ahmedabad. He tweets @urvish2020. Views are personal.
This article is a part of the Gujarat Giants series.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)