Articles by Venu Madhav Govindu

This week marks the centenary of Gandhi's arrival in Bihar to address the concerns of indigo farmers in the Champaran district. The foundations for the success of the Champaran satyagraha were laid by Rajkumar Shukla, the man who was instrumental in bringing Gandhi to the district but has not received the credit due to him in historical writings.

Joseph Cornelius Kumarappa (1892-1960) was a pioneering economic philosopher and architect of the Gandhian rural economics programme. Largely forgotten today, Kumarappa's life-work constitutes a large body of writings and a rich record of public service, both of profound significance. A critical intellectual engagement with his life-work can shed new light on some of the most fundamental constituents of the human economic predicament, and also contribute to a more nuanced understanding of one of the most fecund periods in modern Indian history.