I was no doubt at fault in having gone to that officer. But his impatience
and overbearing anger were out of all proportion to my mistake. It
did not warrant expulsion. I can scarcely have taken up more than
five minutes of his time. But he simply could not endure my talking.
He could have politely asked me to go, but power had intoxicated him
to an inordinate extent. Later I came to know that patience was not
one of the virtues of this officer. It was usual for him to insult
his visitors. The slightest unpleasantness was sure to put the
sahib out.
Now most of my work would naturally be in his court. It was beyond me to
conciliate him. I had no desire to curry favour with him. Indeed,
having once threatened to proceed against him, I did not like to
remain silent.
Meanwhile I began to learn something of the petty politics of the country.
Kathiawad, being a conglomeration of small states, naturally had its
rich crop of politicals. Petty intrigues between states, and
intrigues of officers for power were the order of the day. Princes
were always at the mercy of others and ready to lend their ears to
sycophants. Even the sahib's peon had
to be cajoled, and the sahib's shirastedar was more
than his master, as he was his eyes, his ears and his interpreter.
The shirastedar's will was law, and his income was always reputed to be more than the sahib's.
This may have been an exaggeration, but he certainly lived beyond his salary.
This atmosphere appeared to me to be poisonous, and how to remain
unscathed was a perpetual problem for me.
I was thoroughly depressed and my brother clearly saw it. We both felt
that, if I could secure some job, I should be free from this
atmosphere of intrigue. But without intrigue a ministership or
judgeship was out of the question. And the quarrel with the
sahib stood in the way of my practice.
Probandar was then under administration, and I had some work there in the
shape of securing more powers for the prince. Also I had to see the
Administrator in respect of the heavy vighoti (land
rent) exacted from the Mers. This officer, though an Indian, was, I
found, one better than the sahib in
arrogance. He was able, but the ryots appeared to me to be none the
better off for his ability. I succeeded in securing a few more
powers for the Rana, but hardly any relief for the Mers. It struck
me that their cause was not even carefully gone into.
So even in this mission I was comparatively disappointed. I thought justice
was not done to my clients, but I had not the means to secure it. At
the most I could have appealed to the Political Agent or to the
Governor who would have dismissed the appeal saying, 'We decline to
interfere.' If there had been any rule or regulation governing such
decisions, it would have been something, but here the sahib's will was
law.
I was exasperated.
In the meantime a Meman firm from Porbandar wrote to my brother making the
following offer: 'We have business in South Africa. Ours is a big
firm, and we have a big case there in the Court, our claim being £
40,000. It has been going on for a long time. We have engaged the
services of the best vakils and barristers. If you sent your brother
there, he would be useful to us and also to himself. He would be
able to instruct our counsel better than ourselves. And he would
have the advantage of seeing a new part of the world, and of making
new acquaintances.'
My brother discussed the proposition with me. I could not clearly make
out whether I had simply to instruct the counsel or to appear in
court. But I was tempted.
My brother introduced me to the late Sheth Abdul Karim Jhaveri a
partner of Dada Abdulla & Co., the firm in question. 'It won't be a
difficult job,' the Sheth assured me. 'We have big Europeans as our
friends, whose acquaintance you will make. You can be useful to us
in our shop. Much of our correspondence is in English and you can
help us with that too. You will, of course, be our guest and hence
will have no expense whatever.'
'How long do you require my services?' I asked. 'And what will be the
payment?'
'Not more than a year. We will pay you a first class return fare and a sum of
£105, all found.'
This was hardly going there as a barrister. It was going as a servant of the
firm. But I wanted somehow to leave India. There was also the
tempting opportunity of seeing a new country, and of having new
experience. Also I could send £105 to my brother and help in the
expenses of the household. I closed with the offer without any
haggling, and got ready to go to South Africa.