Question

Who was Mira Behn? Find out more about her life and her ideas.

Answer 1

Hint: Madeleine Slade was also known as Mira Behn. Being a British citizen, she left her home to work with Gandhi Ji in India. She was influenced by Gandhi’s ideology and became his ardent follower, devoting her life for the service of others and mass wellbeing.

Complete answer: Madeleine Slade was born in 1898 and died in the year 1982. She was born to a British Naval officer. When she read about Gandhi’s life and philosophy, she wrote to him to seek his permission for becoming his disciple and coming to Sabarmati Ashram. She followed vegetarianism, teetotalism and learnt spinning while also thoroughly studying the Bhagavad Gita and Rig Veda.

She was also imminent in supporting many of the conferences and protests that Gandhi organised. She attended the London Round Table conference with him, went to Lancashire, was witness to the Cabinet Mission, Indian independence, the formation of the Constituent Assembly and many post-independence incidents.

She established the Pashukosh Ashram in Rishikesh post-independence. She witnessed the Chipko movement and was supportive of all environment-related campaigns. Mira Behn stood firm on Gandhian principles throughout her life and continued to abide by the discipline that comes with such an ideology.

Note: Some of the important work of Mira Behn includes her essays on the destruction of the Himalayan forests titled ‘Something Wrong in the Himalayas’. Her other noticeable work includes ‘The Spiritual Pilgrimage’ which is her autobiographical work on her time in India.