Charles Freer Andrews (1871-1940), English priest, an educator and Indian freedom fighter, was among the few English people who spent their entire lives for the service of humanity. Inspired by Gandhi’s civil rights struggle in South Africa and India, Andrews became a close friend of Gandhi who dubbed him as Christ’s Faithful Apostle. For Andrews’ humanitarian services and contribution to the Indian Independence Movement, Gandhi and Andrews’ pupils named him Deenabandhu or “Friend of the Poor”.
Benarsidas Chaturvedi, co-author of Andrews’ biography and the translator Ziauddin Ahmad Barni were friends and college fellows at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. Both were Andrews’ pupils. The original biography and its Urdu translation reflect a natural reverence towards Andrews. Z.A. Barni, the translator remained impressed by his teacher’s exemplary character and humanitarian mission in life. The translator as a Muslim strongly believed that Islam encouraged following all models of good behavior regardless of origin. The biography of Andrews also throws light on India under British colonial rule and the independence movement. It documents the typical snobbish attitude of the British whose desire to isolate themselves from the subject peoples reflects their mental xenophobia. The collective attitude of the British in their interaction with their subject people actually spurred a movement for independence on their part in all the areas under the colonial yoke. Mr. Chaturvedi, the Indian collaborator of Andrews’ biography, was assisted in his work by Marjorie Sykes, an English lady who held the “Andrews Memorial Chair” at Shantiniketan (near Calcutta) during the 18-month period when the book was being written. Like the informative and well-written original biography, its excellent translation is an interesting read.