Leela Sekhar recollects her memories of Mahatma

CHENNAI: From singing for dancer Bala Saraswathi on a world tour to being the current vice chairman of the South Madras Scouts Association, 88-year-old Leela Sekhar has led an interesting life. But delve into her past and you'll find some memories that are very close to her heart. Among them are her chance meetings with none other than Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi."What would you like to know? I've told these stories so many times now," she says, a faraway look in her eyes as her mind travels to the time she was a teenager.
Leela owes her introduction to Gandhi to her mother, congresswoman and freedom fighter, S Manjubhashini. During the mid 1930s, Gandhi had come to Chennai for the convocation at the Hindi Prachar Sabha. "He was here for a week and my sister, Sarojini and I, then 14, were sent to take care of him," she says. They were with him for five days, singing bhajans, serving food and making his bed.
Five months later, Leela's mother sent her sister, cousins and her to Gandhi's ashram in Wardha to experience village life. "We spent our time cleaning, cooking and singing songs with everyone. We taught people how to make rasam, sambar, dosai and idli. Gandhiji loved idlis," she says. In the evening, Gandhi would dictate letters and articles to the girls. She adds that he also loved bhajans on Lord Rama. "He asked us to sing in Tamil for he knew all the Hindi bhajans," says Leela.
Leela had a chance to meet him again in the early 1940s. By then she was married, living in Bombay in a flat neighbouring Krishna Hutheesing Nehru's younger sister. "We were friends and Gandhi was in the city for a Congress meeting. When she went to meet him, she dragged me along," she says. Gandhi was talking to everyone, cracking jokes when he suddenly pointed at Leela. "He asked me to come up and touched my long plait of hair. He then asked everyone to look at me how I was dressed, how I'd worn my hair," she says. "He said, This is true Indian womanhood, and isn't she looking nice? We don't need to ape the West'," Leela recalls.
In 1946, she met Gandhi again, this time in Calcutta. The Hindu-Muslim riots were going on and Gandhi had come to visit. "My husband and I knew Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, then Chief Minister of Bengal, and I asked him to take me along when he went to meet Gandhi," says Leela. When they entered his room, Gandhi was lying down. Leela went to touch his feet. " He asked me if I was from the south and then asked me if I could sing," she recalls. Leela sang Mamava pattabi Ram.' "How do you know I like this song?" he asked. Leela just smiled. For this was one of the songs she'd sung for him at the Hindi Prachar Sabha all those years ago.
lakshmi.kumaraswami@timesgroup.com