257–269 Ananta Kumar Giri

262 Book Reviews / Asian Journal of Social Science 40 (2012) 257–269

Ananta Kumar Giri (2009) Self-Development and Social Transformations? The Vision and Practice of the Self-Study Mobilization of Swadhyaya. Lanham: Lexington Books, Rowman & Littlefĳield. 318 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0-7391-1198-7.

Ananta Kumar Giri’s Self-Development and Social Transformations? The Vision and Practice of the Self-Study Mobilization of Swadhyaya explores in detail the dynamics of pursuit of self- development and the accompanying contradictions in the self-study movement called Swadhyaya. Surprisingly, very little has been written about this in the vast fĳield of Develop- ment Studies and Social Sciences. The self-study mobilisation of Swadhyaya, as discussed in the book, has been one of the most widespread movements emanating from the religious and spiritual traditions of India. The movement began in 1958 under its founder Pandurang Shastri Athavale, widely known as Dada (meaning ‘elder brother’ in Maharashtra). The foundation of Swadhyaya lies in Bhakti (devotion) and it believes in the idea of God’s pro- found love for His creation and that God resides in every heart and works in every body. As the founder Athvale writes: “Bhakti is our entry point through which we develop bonds of brotherhood.” In this context Bhaktipheri, or devotional travel, is a foundational act of Swadhyaya, the starting point of this realisation of one’s responsibility to oneself and others, where one goes out to meet the other in a spirit of devotion. The movement started with 19 young people participating in Bhaktipheri from Bombay to the villages of Gujarat. Bhaktipheri provides an opportunity to experience homelessness, to touch the transcendental dimension within oneself and the other, and to establish new relationships. While Bhaktipheri can be conducted anywhere — for example, in the U.K., Swad- hyayees from London have performed devotional travel to Leicester — in the Indian context it has the primary meaning of going to the villages. Moving from one village to another is considered a form of spiritual work par excellence. Self-development and self-study in Swad- hyaya are distinctive in that they are also practised in devotionally active relationships with others. The author is himself a social activist and has been a member of the movement for 14 years. He gives an ethnographic account of the movement, while also being concerned to provide a critical perspective on its inner dynamics and development. Swadhyaya is active as a process of self-empowerment in nearly 100,000 Indian villages and urban communities, as well as in Indian communities around the world (Canada, Germany, Sweden, Portugal, Kenya, South Africa, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Fiji, the West Indies and 450 centres in the USA) that are primarily of Gujarati or Maharashtri origin. Voluntary and non- political in nature, the movement is estimated to have afffected the lives of some 20 million people. Its founder was awarded the Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1996 and the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion in 1997. The movement draws inspiration from ancient Hindu tradition, especially the text of the Bhagavad Gita, and the worship of Lord Krishna. The book is divided into seven chapters. The fĳirst chapter sets out an understanding of the vision and practice of Swadhyaya, while subsequent chapters explore the dynamics of Swadhyaya in both the local and global contexts. The author aims at a critical processual description of the vision and experiments of Swadhyaya in the context of contemporary discourse and aspirations for human development and social transformation. The book is the outcome of a study undertaken in 20 sample villages in Sabarkantha, Gujarat, through survey and participant observation. Giri relates the Swadhyaya movement to the Sarvodyaya

Sramadana movement of Sri Lanka, which also proposes that development is a multi- dimensional relational revolution requiring development not only of the other, but also of the self. While exploring the local contexts of the Swadhyaya movement, Giri examines how diffferent centres kendra( ) operate at the village level, imparting spiritual discourses. The book provides a vivid description of the various centres, like the Bala Sanskara Kendra (Centre for Imparting Culture to Children), Yuva Kendra (Centre for Youth), Mahila Kendra (Centre for Women), Manahar Kendra (Centre for the Elderly) and Video Kendra. The kendras thus offfer cultural training to people of all age groups. Followers are encouraged to listen to the uplifting thoughts of their leader and main source of inspiration, the Reverend Dadaji, which aim to bring about a positive transformation in their lives. Swadhayaya is considered a universal movement that is for everybody interested in self-development, irrespective of religious considerations. The work of Swadhyaya is carefully analysed by the author, who provides interesting details about the movements’ various socio-economic activities, such as prayog (projects). An example is the founding of the Goras (milk project of Swadhyaya) as a spiritual alterna- tive against the commercialisation of relations involved in selling milk. In Gujarat villages, milk is generally sold to commercial dairies, which take all the good milk to the extent that milk-producing families do not have creamy milk left for themselves. The spiritual objective in founding the Goras was to benefĳit local people by replacing the exploitative relationship with an external commercial fĳirm. Instead, the milk is bought and sold locally through the Goras and the profĳits used to benefĳit the villagers, for example, through the purchase of bufffaloes. The movement has also extended its scope to the upliftment of tribal people. Another form of prayog unique to tribal areas is the Ghar Mandir (house temple), which moves from house to house with the photograph of the leader. In each house it stays for a week. Since God is in their house, it is expected that the hosting tribal family will lead a life of modest spiritual discipline during this period. The male members should abstain from drinking, and are expected not to scold, abuse or ill-treat their women. The host family is expected to have vegetarian food and abstain from eating meat. This has been an important experiment in tribal areas both for inner, as well as outer mobilisation. Such effforts have been successful in reducing spousal abuse and encouraging followers to overcome problems with alcoholism. However, the Ghar Mandir concept attracted lot of public attention and the author critiques the resulting emergence of a personality cult in which Dadaji slowly became deifĳied, being treated not only as Guru, but as God. At the same time as the movement started glorifying its leader, however, it has also witnessed long internal struggles about succession. Part of the book discusses the educational dynamics of Swadhyaya. The movement has a strong emphasis on education as self-cultivation and the development of one’s subjectivity. Learning is imparted through the Swadhayaya centres, the videos made by Dadaji (the spiritual leader), and video kendras, where the Swadhyayees take meticulous notes of the preachings of Dadaji. The educational experiment of Swadhyaya involves a series of written examinations on the thoughts and principles of their leader, which have proved popular with members at all educational levels including the non-literate. Non-literate candidates take a literate person with them into examinations to write down their answers. Followers can now even do the equivalent of a doctorate, called Vidya Manshi. It is believed that examination is a process of individual transformation that helps in enhancing a person’s love for learning and knowledge. The book also explores the spread of Swadhyaya to many