DAY-TO-DAY WITH GANDHI MAHADEV DESAI SARVA SEVA SANGH PRAKASHAN About this Diary Mahadev Desai joined Gandhiji as his secretary in 1917 and breathed his last in the lap of Gandhiji in AgaKhan Palace while in detention in 1942. It is amazing to note that Mahadevbhai regularly wrote his day-to-day diary despite his busiest routine with Gandhiji. Gandhiji and Mahadev Desai had such an inseparable relation that they were like two bodies with one soul. Hence, Mahadev Desai's Diary means a record of Gandhiji's activities. DAY TO DAY WITH GANDHI [SECRETARY'S DIARY] by Mahadev H. Desai Vol-1 (From Nov. 1917 To March 1919) SARVA SEVA SANGH PRAKASHAN RAJGHAT :: VARANASI-221001 Publisher : Sarva Seva Sangh Prakashan Rajghat, Varanasi-221001 Edition : First, January 1968 Copies : 1500 : A. K. Bose Printer Indian Press (P) Ltd. Varanasi. Price : Rs.40.00 in India in : 5.00 Dollars or 3.50 Pounds Foreign A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T The quotations from the writings of Gandhiji reproduced in this Diary have been taken with the kind permission of Navajeevan Trust, Ahmedabad. We are indebted to Navajeevan Trust for granting us this permission on a nominal royalty. © Narayan M. Desai No quotations or portions in parts or whole or any translation thereof from this Diary can be published without the permission of Sri Narayan M. Desai, Shanti Sena Mandal, Varanasi. Publishers PUBLISHERS' NOTE It is a matter of privilege for Sarva Seva Sangh to have the opportunity of publishing Mahadev Desai's Diary in Hindi as well as in English. The relation between Gandhiji and Mahadev Desai is well-known to all. Both names are immortal in the history of our national freedom movement. Mahadev Desai joined Gandhiji in 1917 and remained with him till 1942 when Mahadevbhai breathed his last in the lap of Gandhiji in Agakhan Palace while in detention. It is amazing to note that Mahadevbhai regularly wrote his day-to-day diary despite his busiest routine with Gandhiji. Gandhiji and Mahadev Desai had such an inseperable relation that they were like two bodies with one soul. Hence Mahadev Desai's Diary means Diary of Gandhiji's activities. While reading this diary one feels like actually witnessing the various incidents with Gandhiji. As there are authentic records of important interviews of Gandhiji with national and international leaders, we come across even the utterings of Gandhiji in his delirious condition side by side with excerpts from Gandhiji's most important historical as well as epic speeches. We also find here Gandhiji's typical crackling of jokes with small children. There is no other Diary in history of this kind except that of Bosswel, the learned English writer, who has noted the events of Dr. Johnson's life in his diary. But the difference between these two diaries lies in the difference of the life of Gandhiji and that of Dr. Johnson. Mahadev Desai had a knack of snatching some time out of his overcrowded daily routine for some extra reading. He has enriched his diary by jotting down some references out of that study. Mahadevbhai was a voracious reader and a deep thinker. As we find in his diary glimpses of a critical study of his reading, there are sprinkling of a lucid description of some new places he had visited or a running life-sketch of some new personalities he had met. In all these writings Mahadevbhai's supreme literary genius is amply revealed. The period between 1917 and 1942 was a glorious chapter of India's non-violent struggle for Independence. We get a peep into Gandhiji's innermost thoughts through Mahadevbhai's diary. This period was packed with Gandhiji's most important interviews, correspondence, whirlwind tours all over the country. A vivid picture of the social, political and spiritual atmosphere of our country in those days is graphically drawn by Mahadevbhai in this diary. It would not be an exaggeration to say that such a publication is definitely an enriching addition to the world's literature. It is an irony of fate that Mahadevbhai could not live long to edit his diary himself. True to his devotion he died in harness. Late Shri Narharibhai Parikh, Mahadevbhai's dearest and nearest friend, shouldered the responsibility of editing this diary as a labour of love for a departed friend. Narharibhai himself was suffering from a serious disease. But he persever-ed relentlessly and completed the editing of about 3,000 pages when he succumbed to the disease. It was a tremendous task to edit the voluminous matter which would run into about 20 volumes of about 400 pages each. The remaining volumes are being edited by Shri Chandulal Bhagubhai Dalal. The original diaries are in Gujarati. First three volumes in Hindi, covering the period of 1932-33, were published by Navajeevan Trust. The publication work of these diaries was interrupted due to some dispute over the rights of publication. Finally Shri Narayan Desai, son of Mahadev Desai, got the rights of publication and he generously entrusted the publication of Hindi and English editions of the Gujarati Diary to Sarva Seva Sangh without claiming any royalty. Sarva Seva Sangh is deeply grateful to Shri Narayan Desai for this generous offer. Sarva Seva Sangh has brought out five Volumes of Hindi editions chronologically right from 1917. Sixth volume is expected to be out soon. The English translation of Mahadev Desai's Diary is being done by Shri Hemantkumar Nilkanth. The first translated volume was received by Sarva Seva Sangh three years back. But due to some reason or the other the volume could not find the light of the day uptil now. We deeply regret for this delay and offer our apologies to our subscribers who have paid an advance subscription for their English volumes. We hope to compensate this delay by rapidly publishing the next two volumes ? 2nd and 3rd ?within the shortest possible time. We greet our readers by offering the new year's gift in the form of the first volume of "Day-to-day with Gandhi". ??? PREFACE The idea of keeping a diary seems to have struck Mahadevbhai immediately after he joined Bapu1 in November 1917. In the beginning he simply copied what he regarded as important letters. Then gradually he began to jot down noteworthy events and Bapu's thoughts given out in his talks. This diary covers the period between 13-11-1917 and 31-3-1919. There are many days within it during which nothing has been written. His later diaries are naturally much more comprehensive, but it must be remembered that this is his first attempt. Even as it is, the copious letters published here give us a very clear conception not only of the numerous questions that faced Gandhiji when on coming back to his country he started his public work, but also the way in which he solved these questions in accordance with the philosophy of life which he had made his own. The student of the Gandhian philosophy will, therefore, find a very interesting and illuminating material in this book. Even the ordinary reader is provided with a substantial fare inasmuch as there is much for him to know and think over. The diary begins with the time when the Champaran fight, as well as the work of the Inquiry Committee was over, the recommendations of the Committee were to be implemented through legislation, and Bapuji had begun to do some constructive work among the ryots there in order to keep up their awakening and increase their strength. There are, therefore, a few letters in it which give some idea of this constructive work of Bapuji in Champaran. For the history and understanding of the fight, however, one must go through Sri Rajendrababu's book 'Satyagraha in Champaran.'Even before his work in Champaran was completely over, and when his presence there was still ______________ 1. Mahatma Gandhi was affectionately called 'Bapu', father, by the millions of India. needed, though not constantly as the situation had to that extent improved, two big activities fell into Gandhiji's hands. In quick succession he had to wage two fights, one for getting an increase in the workers' 'wages in the mills in Ahmedabad owing to the rise in prices and the other, for securing suspension of land revenue in the Kaira District where the crops had failed. We have with us authentic accounts of both these fights in Sri Shankarlal Parikh's book "Khedani Ladat" ("The Kaira Satyagraha") and in another book by Mahadevbhai himself "Ek Dharmayuddha" ('A Holy war'). But for the first time some letters appear in this diary that shed a new light on the fights and clearly show how Bapuji's mind was then working. About the mill-workers' strike, the then Collector of Ahmedabad frankly expresses to Bapu himself his admiration of the way in which the strike was conducted. He says, This is the first time in my life when I see a fight between the employers and workers carried on with so much love and regard for each other." (p. 52). This distinguishing feature of the fight is clearly evidenced in Gandhiji's letters to mill-owners and to Sri Ambalal Sarabhai specially (pp. 5 and 55). It is in this diary, moreover, that the reader gets a clearer idea of the significance of his fast during the mill-workers' strike. He writes, "The Ahmedabad strike provided the richest lessons of life. The power of love was never so effectively demonstrated to me as it was during the lock-out? ? ? Those four days were to me days of peace, blessing and spiritual uplift. There never was the slightest desire to eat during those days." (p. 78). And in another letter, "I consider the fast as my greatest achievement in life. I had an experience of supernal serenity while it lasted." (p.92). In his morning prayer sermon at the Ashram, he explained very tersely the necessity of his fast as well as the flaw underlying the act. But to know them well and clearly it is best to let the reader go through pp. 64 to 69 in the text itself. In a letter to his son Devdas he avers, "It is not difficult to understand the real import of my refusal to accept, for more than one day only, the increase of 35% which we had demanded. It would have been totally unbecoming for me to stretch my point any further. The millowners even now believe that they have given the increment because of my fast and not because of the strikers. It would have been nothing but an extortion from the mill-owners, if I had demanded anything more under that situation. The fact that when I was in the position of getting the maximum from them I asked for the minimum, shows only my desire to be on the square and my humility and perception of right action. Had I not gone on a fast, the workers were certain to fall from their vow and the strike would have fizzled out. It was only the fast that sustained them. Under these circumstances demanding the minimum was the only right course in order to see that the workers' vow was kept. Only the letter of such a vow should be maintained in such a situation. That was done. The flaws, moreover, that had crept into my vow were diminished, materially diminished, by asking for the minimum. (p. 92). As regards the Kaira Satyagrraha Struggle, Gandhiji's letters to Sri Deodhar (pp. 49-50) and Shri Joshi (pp.80), both members of the Servants of India Society, and to two Liberals, Messrs. B. K. Thakore (pp. 89-91) and Natarajan (pp. 75-77), as well as the latter's reply (pp. 82-83) deserve mention here. To Deodhar Bapu says, "Why think that we can gain only what the officials give ? Why not feel that we must get what we deserve ?" Both Sri Natarajan and Sri B. K. Thakore thought it unwise to advise the ryots to withhold payment of the revenue dues. The former held the view that if the local Government refused to redress the grievance, Indian public opinion could be roused the Viceroy and, failing him, the British Parliament and the British public could be appealed to, and a fund could be opened in the meanwhile to give immediate relief to the distressed peasants so that they might not starve and might also pay the dues. All these measures could be taken, he thought, but not the drastic one of Satyagraha. Gandhiji appealed to him not to be scared by the expression 'passive resistance'. "You have only to come", he says "and see with what perfect good humour the fight is being carried on." The letter he wrote to Sri B. K. Thakore expounds the signi- ficance of Satyagraha and shows the unavoidable necessity of launching it. During the progress of the fight Gandhiji had to write many letters to Mr. Pratt, the Commissioner of the Northern Division, but in one striking letter to him he sets aside the Kaira question altogether, and shows him how Satyagraha is the only method by which the wooden administration of the Government officials could be reformed and the public could be saved from taking to the wrong path of violence in its despe-ration against the rigidity of the rulers (p. 53-54). This dairy thus shows how Bapuji never missed a single chance to explain the propriety of the principle of Satyagraha, as the concept was then quite a novel one, to the public, to its leaders and to the Government as well. The diary belongs to the period when the First World War (1914-1918) was still being fought out. Even while the Kaira struggle was being waged, the Viceroy called a War Conference and invited Bapu to attend it. He did go to Delhi, but 'in fear and trembling' he 'decided as a matter of duty to join the Conference'. Tilak Maharaj and Mrs. Besant were not invited and Ali Brothers were still under surveillance without any charge preferred against them. No War Conference in India, Bapu thought, could ever succeed if these most powerful and trusted leaders were not present in it and if the immoral action of Britain in riding roughshod over its public promises and concluding secret treaties behind the back of its ally, Turkey was not retraced. Bapu sent a letter to this effect to the Viceroy through his Chief Secretary Sir Claude Hill (pp. 104 to 105). The Viceroy then called him for an interview, with the result that 'the spirit of chivalry in him got the better of the spirit of justice' and he not only took part in the War Conference, but accepted to launch a recruiting campaign in right earnest. Then at the end of the Conference, he wrote another letter saying that he would certainly offer unconditional co-operation in the War, but he wanted the Viceroy to know how the Indian situation stood and what the expectations of India were. (pp. 113-116). That letter was acclaimed as classic by those present and Bapuji himself said that it contained the quintessence of dharma of Satyagraha and his other ideals. That letter to the Viceroy and other letters of his which explain his attitude towards the recruiting campaign form the most important part of the diary. The question of the consistency between his creed of 'Ahimsa' (non-violence) and his recruiting campaign was raised not only then but has been discussed ever since. Bapu's thoughts on the subject have been most happily put in a long letter to Mr. C. F. Andrews (pp. 173 to 178). Here are a few extracts from that and several other letters appearing in this book that explain his reasons for joining the recruiting campaign: "A nation that is unfit to fight cannot from experience prove the virtue of not fighting. I do not infer from this that India must fight, but I do say that India must know how to fight." (p.166) "I have not come across a single individual in India who follows in practice the creed of non-violence as faithfully as I. I claim to be saturate with love. Nobody knows as many sins, as also the virtues, of the Englishman as I and as clearly as I. I would teach that man the art of violence who wants to learn how to fight and kill. If I can do nothing in this matter (of recruitment), you may take it as a proof that my spiritual endeavour is still not sufficiently vigorous for the purpose. He who does not know how to die without killing must learn the art by knowing first how to kill and face death." (p. 170). "In my letter to Maffey I have said I should kill neither friend nor foe. Regarding those who want to fight but will not? either out of cowardice or spite against the British? what is my duty ? Must I not say, "If you can follow my path so much the better, but if you cannot you ought to give up cowardice or spite and fight?" You cannot teach Ahimsa to a man who cannot kill." (p.172). "I shall best spread the gospel of Ahimsa or Satyagraha by asking the 'Himsak' (militant) men to work out their 'Himsa' in the least offensive manner; and may succeed, in the very act, in making them to realize the better worth of "Ahimsa". (p.173). "Ahimsa is the eradication of the desire to injure or to kill. Ahimsa can be practiced only towards those that are inferior to you in every way. It follows, therefore, that to become a full Ahimsaist you have to attain absolute perfection. Must we all then try to become Sandows before we can love perfectly? This seems to be unnecessary. It is enough if we can face the world without flinching. It is personal courage that is an absolute necessity and some will acquire that courage only after they have been trained." (pp. 166-167). "There has been compulsory renunciation of arms but not the desire to kill ???. All that can be said of India is that individuals have made serious attempts with greater success than elsewhere to popularize the doctrine. But there is no warrant for the belief that it has taken deep root among the people." (P.174). "Ahimsa was preached to man when he was in full vigour of life and able to look his adversary straight in the face. It seems to me that full development of body force is a sine qua non of full appreciation and assimilation of Ahimsa." (p.175). "I must wait for instilling into any mind the doctrine of Ahimsa, i.e. perfect love, when it has grown to maturity by having its full play through a vigorous body." (p. 176). After dealing with the theoretical aspect of Ahimsa so far, Bapu states the difficulty that faces him : "My difficulty now arises in the practical application of the idea. What is the meaning of having a vigorous body? How far should India have to go for a training in arms-bearing? Must every individual go through the practice or is it enough that a free atmosphere is created and the people, without having to bear arms etc., imbibe the necessary personal courage from the surroundings ? I believe that the last is the correct view." (p. 176). Then Bapu adds: "And, therefore I am absolutely right, as things are, in calling upon every Indian to join the army, always telling him at the same time that he needs doing so not for the lust of blood, but for the sake of learning not to fear death. (p. 176). And further on : "There is not a single recruiting speech in which I have not laid the greatest stress upon the part of a warrior's duty. There is no speech in which I have yet said, 'let us go to kill the Germans'. My refrain is ' let us go and die for the sake of India and the Empire', and I feel that supposing that the response to my call is overwhelming and we all go to France and turn the scale against the Germans, India will then have a claim to be heard and then she may dictate a peace that will last. Suppose further that I have succeeded in raising an army of fearless men, they fill the trenches and with hearts of love lay down their guns and challenge the Germans to shoot them-their fellowmen. I say even the German heart will melt. I refuse to credit it with exclusive fiendishness. So it comes to this, that under exceptional circumstances war may have to be resorted to as a necessary evil, even as the body is. If the motive is right, it may be turned to the profit of mankind and that an Ahimsaist may not stand aside and look on with indifference, but must make the choice and actively co-operate or actively resist." (p. 177). The above quotations from this diary appear to me to be the essence of Bapu's thoughts on war and recruitment. All the same it cannot be said that these quotations or even all the letters appearing in the diary completely reveal the working of Bapu's mind on these two points. He says, "Under exceptional circumstances war may have to be resorted to as a necessary evil." If somebody wants to, he can interpret this sentence and some others in the book to mean that Bapu thought that war was sometimes indispensable and that under special circumstances a war could do even good to the world. But one has to remember in this context what Bapu himself says, viz., "I am passing through new experiences. I am struggling to express myself. Somethings are still obscure to me and I am trying to find words for others which are plain to me. I am praying for light and guidance." (p. 167). It should also be borne in mind that at that time Bapu was a co-operator and had faith in the liberal attitude of the British Empire. He himself says that the only reason for his remaining steadfastly loyal to Britain is his faith that Britain is sound at heart and that it will be through Britain that India can best give her message to the world. On the other hand, Britain's crime in disarming India, its exclusive and haughty military policy and the immolation of India's riches and art at the altar of the British commercial greed are so hateful to him, that, but for that faith, he would have been a rebel long before. (p. 224). But even after actually turning a rebel, his good feelings towards Britain continued and that was why on the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, he was ready to give all moral support to Britain. In a letter to Kishorelalbhai, he raises the question as to how to teach non-violence to children and says : "I must admit I am caught up in the tangle of various thorny questions of this sort arising from my perception of this new facet of Ahimsa. I have not been able to discover a single master key to all these intricate problems and that key has got to be found out. (p. 206) Ordinarily, it can be rightly said that a man is smaller in reality than what he appears to be through the thoughts he expresses in speech or writing, since he gives out to the world only those thoughts in which his brighter side or the element of good in him is clearly reflected. But there are exceptional personalities, whose lives are actually nobler even than what they seem to be through their speeches and writings. Language is a poor vehicle for the complete revelation of the innermost workings of their hearts and minds. It can be safely said for Bapu that he was far greater in reality than what his speeches and writings which we have with us lead us to imagine. You cannot have through them a perfect visualisation of his towering personality and of his thoughts and cherished ideals. It was wholly and solely to teach the power of non-violence to the Indian nation and to convert it into a votary of that holy principle, that Bapu had advised the people to join the army. It is possible that he may not have been able to frame in appropriate language the reasons that led him into the recruiting campaign, but the fact does not, in the least, impair his unstinted adoration of Ahimsa. It is through his life, and not so much through his words, that he has given to the world invaluable lessons in fearlessness, love, oneness with all beings, total surrender to God and other noble qualities; and it is his actions in life that provide us the binoculars that give us a correct view of the heights to which he had risen in non-violence. The Montford Scheme of Reforms was presented to the public while the recruiting campaign was still going on, and attempts were made to unite the political parties of India in order to present unanimous demands about the modifications in the scheme. A Special Session of the Indian National Congress was, therefore, held in Bombay in August 1918. An All Party Conference preceded it, and Bapu was earnestly pressed both by the Moderates and Extremists to attend the Conference. But Bapu was convinced that he would not be able to convert to his own views either the Moderates or the Extremists. He, therefore, preferred not to give a break to his incessant recruiting campaign even for those few days that he would have to spend after the Conference. He did not attend either the Moderate or the Extremist Conference, nor the Special Session of the Congress in Bombay. His letters on this question to the Moderate leaders, Messrs. Surendranath Banerji (p. 222), Samarth (p. 235) and B. Chakravarti (p. 236) as well as to the Extremist leader Tilak Maharaj (pp. 237-238) are worth perusal. Neither of the parties was prepared to go as far as Bapuji either in the recruiting campaign or in the heroic effort of Satyagraha to get the popular demands on the modifications in the Montford Scheme accepted by the Government. The book also contains very instructive and pleasing letters to the members of his 'family'?his sons and the inmates of his Ashram?a very remarkable one from Vinoba (V. Bhave, now the famous Sarvodaya leader), (pp. 22-26) and Bapu's letter to Maganlalbhai to explain his reasons for beginning to take goat's milk at the suggestion of Ba (Smt. Gandhi) (pp. 266-268). The diary is thus filled with the very valuable material published here for the first time. Bapu's bulletins issued during the Kaira struggle and his two recruiting appeals have been given in the Appendices. Narhari Parikh1 _____________ 1. Translated from Gujarati. Sri Narhari Parikh was one of the earliest and bravest associates of Bapu in India. His near-death martyrdom at the nonviolent raid on Dharasana Salt Works entitles him to the rank of a hero?Translator. Translator's Note It is no easy job to translate Mahadevbhai's1 diary. He was a poet by nature. Mahatma Gandhi himself called him so, as his colleagues can attest. And he had enriched his knowledge and literary taste by extensive reading. The original diary, therefore, is not only a piece of high-class Gujarati literature, but contains ramifications in Hindi and Sanskrit also. A good translation, moreover, does not mean dismantling a machine and, then, its transporting and careful assembling, part by part and screw by screw, in some other town. It is something like the transplantaion of whole flower plant from one soil to another and rearing it so carefully there as to let it blossom again as luxuriantly as before. While, therefore, the translation has to be first of all a creation by itself, happy and readable, it has also to be as faithful a transcription of the original text as possible. It is a translation and not an adaptation. This is all the more necessary in the case of this diary. Not only does it record epoch-making events, but also reveals through their talks, both grave and gay, a world figure and others who have made history. The translation has to do full justice to these events and personalities. Then there is the reader's angle to be taken care of. This presentation in English must appeal to the 'average' reader, one who is neither a scholar nor a mere schoolboy. I have borne in mind all these varied requirements. How far I have succeeded in the tests they offer is beyond my capacity to judge fairly. I can only say I have tried to follow the well-known Shakespearian advice "to thine ownself be true" and have enjoyed the time spent after the translation. H. G. Nilkanth _______________ 1 'bhai' is a suffix of respect. CONTENTS 1. Diary 1-322 2. Appendix I 1. The Press Statement on the Kaira 325 Situation. 2. Reply to the Commissioner Mr. Pratt. 331 3. Message to the Kaira Satyagrahis. 334 4 Reply to the Government Press Note on Kaira Crisis. 339 5. Letter to the People of Kaira 345 Appendix II 1. A Recruiting Appeal (Bulletin No. 1) 349 2. A Recruiting Appeal (Bulletin No. 2) 355 Appendix III 1 Summary of The Rowllat Bills. 360 3. Index 369-400 Volume-I "Only that day dawns to which we are awake" Thoreau " There is no other choice left for a number of people except to resort to ascetic seclusion in a country which has been reduced to the helplessness of a widow, has been squeezed of all its valour and manliness has been bled white and made a skeleton, has been robbed of its pristine glory and has, therefore, sunk into gloom and despair." "Away with works, Philosophy too; All I want Is bhakti1 for you. Vanish knowledge, Discretion too; All I want Is bhakti for you." Tukaram (a Maharashtrian Saint) "Like most human things, discipleship has its good and its evil, its strong and its poor and dangerous side; but it really has a good and strong side;? its manly and reasonable humility, the enthusiasm of having and recognising a great master, and doing what he wanted done." Dean Church ____________ 1. bhakti = devotion. 13-11-'17 Extract from a letter dated 13-11-'17 to Miss Esther Ferring1: *"Having been wandering about, I have not been able to reply to your letter? ? To say that perfection is not attainable on this earth is to deny God. The statement about the impossibility of ridding ourselves of sin clearly refers to a stage in life. But we need not search scriptures in support of the assertion. We do see men constantly becoming better under effort and discipline. There is no occasion for limiting the capacity for improvement. Life to me would lose all its interest, if I felt that I could not attain perfect love on earth. After all what matters is that our capacity for loving ever expands. It is a slow process. How shall you love the men that thwart you even in well-doing ? And yet that is the time of supreme test I hope that you are now enjoying greater peace of mind. Let your love for the Ashram be a source of strength in our attempt to do our duty there. The Ashram is undoubtedly intended to teach us to do our assigned task with the utmost attention and with cheerfulness. There is no meaning in our wishes (however pure) not being fulfilled. Not our will but His may be done. Bapu" ______________ 1. Miss Esther Ferring first came to India from Denmark as a member of the Danish (Christian) Mission. From her contact with Gandhiji, she felt herself cramped in the Mission atmosphere and left it for good. After a short stay at Shantiniketan (Poet Tagore's Residential University) and then at Gandhiji's Ashram, she returned to her homeland. She has married an Indian, Dr. Menon. * The sign indicates the original writing. 15-11-'17 New Year's Day, Samvat1 1974 Motihari (Champaran, Bihar) In a letter to Maganlalbhai at the Ashram : "What shall I send you for a gift on this bright and happy day ? I would like to give you what is wanting in you, in me, in many others. The man who possesses it gains everything, and he alone can really give it who possesses it. Who am I then to give you that precious gift ? Let us join and pray to God to grant it to us : *"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angles, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in inquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For, we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth __________________ 1. An Indian era prevalent in Gujarat, started to commemorate the glorious reign of Vikramaditya and called Vikram Samvat (Vikram's year). faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."1 Read this, chew the end, digest it. Read the original in English; translate it into Hindi. Do all you can, strain your neck and eyes, but get a good glimpse of this love or charity. Mira2 was stabbed with this dagger of love and she really felt the wound. If we, too, can get at that dagger and gain the strength to use the divine weapon, we can shake the world to its foundations. Though I feel I have something of that love, I am painfully conscious every moment how very shallow it still is. I weigh and find myself very much wanting. At times I get flustered. Only yesterday I saw I had no room in my heart for those who would not let me have my way and my mind was all bubbling like seething waters. May the New Year do you good. May your physical, mental and spiritual attainments ever grow in grandeur, and may you lay them down at the feet of Mother India. That is my wish and that my benediction. With blessings, Bapu" "Chi.3 Harilal, To-day is the Diwali4 day. May the New Year bring you bliss ! I wish all your good desires be fulfilled and you gain in strength of character for that is the real Laxmi5. It is in Her worship that our welfare lies. May that truth reveal itself to you more and more brightly ! Bapu's blessings" _____________ 1. The Letters of Paul; "To the Corinthians" ?1 2. The saintly queen of Mewar (15 th Century A. D.) whose hymns have become veritable folk songs in parts of India. 3. Chi.= Chiranjivi, meaning 'having a long life', a term used as a blessing for a youngster by an elder of the family. Harilal was Gandhiji's eldest son. 4. Last day of the Gujarati year. Literally, an array of lights; so a day of illumination. 5. Laxmi = Goddess of wealth. It is a custom in Gujarat to worship goddess Laxmi on a fixed day during the Diwali holidays. 21-12-'17 Motihari Letter to Hermann Kallenbach1 : *"My dear friend, I have been irregular of late. I have been wandering so much that I never have the leisure to write love letters, especially when they get lost. From you I have had only three letters during the past three months. Polak2 has, however, written to me about you and so has Miss Winterbottom. How often do I not want to hug you! Daily do I have novel experiences here which I would like you to share with me. But this monstrous war never seems to be ending. All the peace-talk only enhances the agony. However, like all human institutions, it must have an end, and our friendship must be a poor affair, if it cannot bide its time, and be all the stronger and purer for the long and weary waiting, and what is this fleeting, physical form after all? As I was whizzling through the air yesterday and looking at the trees, I saw that beneath all the change that these mighty trees daily underwent, there was a little something that persisted. Every leaf has its own separate life. It drops and withers. But the tree lives on. Every tree falls in process of time or under the cruel axe, but the forest of which the tree is but a part lives, and so with us leaves of the human tree. We may wither, but the eternal in us lives on changeless and endless. I derived much comfort last evening, as I was thus musing. My thoughts went on to you and I sighed, but I regained self-possession and said to myself, 'I know my friend not for his form, but that which informs him.' With love, Your old friend" ______________ 1. A very close friend of Gandhiji since his (Gandhiji's) early life in South Africa. He wanted to accompany him to India, but could not do so as, being a German, he was a suspect and kept under surveillance during the World War then raging. Later on, in 1938, he came to India on a short visit to Gandhiji. 2. Mr. & Mrs. Polak ('Henry 'and 'Millie',) were also among Gandhiji's dearest ones. Both of them have written remarkable books on him. To Bhai1 Jamnadas Khushalchand : "My activities go on expanding. I am wearing myself out, the while my tempo lasts, in making known to the country all the ideals I cherish." Sujna2 Bhai Ambalalji, "I do not wish to meddle in your business affairs. But a letter from Bhai Krishnalal gives startling news and compels me to write to you. Even for the sake of Shrimati Ansuyabehn (a labour leader and also Sri. Ambalal's blood sister) you should, I think, satisfy the demands of the workers in the warp section in your mills. There is no reason to believe that the satisfaction of the demand of one group of workers will mean pestering you with new demands from other groups. But even if that happens, the demands may be righteously dealt with then. And why should mill-owners not feel happy at giving a little more to their own workers ? There is one and only one royal road to remove their discontent: Enter sympathetically into their lives, their joys and sorrows and bind them to yourself with the silken chord of love. This is by no means a too high expectation from any rich man who is imbued with Indian traditions of generosity. After all, his riches are only for the use of the country. If you spend after your workers you are sure to find you get a rich return. And will the brother ____________________ 1. 'Bhai' & 'bahan' or 'behn' are addresses of respect and love, meaning 'brother' and 'sister.' 2. Sujna?Well knowing?wise, a term of special respect. 'Ji' also is a suffix of respect. Though the name of his benefactor has not been given out by Gandhiji in his Autobiography (see Chapters IX and X, part V), it is now an open secret that it was Sri Ambalal Sarabhai who rushed to Gandhiji's aid during perhaps the most acute financial crisis, which his Ashram had to face. His admission of an 'untouchable' into the Ashram fold caused an uproar, and his supporters-all orthodox Caste Hindus?stopped their aid at once. They took this step, despite a clear notice from Gandhiji, at the very outset of his founding the Ashram in Ahmedabad, that he would admit an 'untouchable' Hindu, if an occasion arose. Ambalal Sarabhai's timely munificent aid was for Gandhiji a manna from heaven. The letter is portent of Gandhiji's fight against this patron for the cause of labour, which among others was dear to his heart. wound the heart of his own sister ? And of a sister, such as Ansuyabehn is ? I, for one, have found her a very pure soul. It is but in the fitness of things, if her word becomes law to you. You will thus discharge a double duty in a single act; that of allaying the discontent of your workers and of winning the blessings of your sister. I know my trespass too is doubly presumptuous. In a single letter I have interfered in your business, as well as in your family affairs. You will please forgive me. Vande Mataram1 Yours Mohandas Gandhi" 13-1-'18 Motihari "Bhai Chimanlal (Chinaiwala, another cotton-mill magnate), Your letter. I have no doubt that it is our duty to help all the working classes. But I have not much faith in the co-operative movement, as at present conducted. I think we should study labour conditions first of all. How much does an average worker earn ? In what quarters of the town does he live, and what are his living conditions ? How much does he spend and what is his saving ? What is the amount of debt he has to incur ? How many children on an average he has ? How does he bring them up ? Where did he live formerly ? What made him give up his stay there and come to the town ? How has the change affected him economically, socially and morally ? I think it very unwise to start co-operative societies for the labourers forthwith, without getting full answers to these questions. What __________________ 1. Vande Mataram? I bow to Mother (India). The words form the title of a patriotic song in the Bengali novel 'Anandamath' by Bankimchandra Chatterjee. They shot into national importance, as a greeting and an exhortation, when boys shouting "Vande Mataram" were punished under Lord Curzon's regime. The whole song? specially the first two stanzas?soon became India's national anthem. is really needed is our loving identification with them. If we do so, many of the intricate problems that confront us now will be solved in a short time. My advice to you at present is to mingle with the workers freely, and have a good knowledge of their living conditions. More when we meet." 16-1-'18 Motihari *"Dear Mr. Rudra1, I am dictating this letter to Mr. Desai, as owing to an acute pain in the left side I am disinclined to do much writing. What I want from you, if I can get it, is not a hastily written letter about the vernaculars but a full, enthusiastic and eloquent plea for them, which I can use for rousing the public to a sense of its duty in the matter. Why would you have teaching in the vernaculars and answers in English? Why should every lad have to know English ? Is it not enough if some men are specially trained in each province, so that they may diffuse among the nation through the vernaculars a knowledge of new discoveries and researches ? So doing, our boys and girls will become saturated with the new knowledge, and we may expect a rejuvenation such as we have never witnessed during the past sixty years. I feel more and more that if our boys are to assimilate facts of different sciences, they will only do so, if they receive their training through the vernaculars. No half measures will bring about the much-needed reform. Until we attain this state of things, I fear that we shall have to let the Englishmen think for us, and we must continue slavishly to imitate them. No scheme of self _________________ 1. Principal of St. Stephens' College, Delhi, conducted by the Cambridge Mission. He was the first Indian to hold the high post there. Mr. C. F. Andrews, afterwards called "Deenbandhu" (brother of the lowly) by Indians for his devoted services to India, started his Indian career as a Professor in this college. Though a Mission college, it had an atmosphere of respect for all religions, and even nationalism was encouraged. It was Mr. Andrews who first brought Gandhiji into contact with Principal Rudra. Gandhiji used to put up with him whenever he visited Delhi. government can avert the catastrophe, if it does not involve this much-needed change. If you feel with me, I want your letter expressing the above views in your own language. I had a very nice time of it in Calcutta, but not in the Congress pandal. It was all outside the pandal. I was enraptured to witness "The Post Office" performed by the Poet1 and his company. Even as I dictate this, I seem to hear the exquisitely sweet voice of the Poet and the equally exquisite acting on the part of the sick boy. Bengali music has for me a charm all its own. I did not have enough of it, but what I did have had a most soothing effect upon my nerves which are otherwise always on trial. You will be glad to learn that, at the Social Service Conference, I made full use of my privilege as the President and as a lover of so much that is good in Bengali life, to speak strongly against Bengali provincialism. The audience did not resent it. It seemed to appreciate my remarks. I am sending you a copy of my address which, of course, does not contain the personal appeal mentioned above. I have not given you a tenth of my experiences, but Mr. Desai reminds me that I must give you one more. I attended a Humanitarian League meeting. There, too, I was the President, and I felt that I should be untrue to myself and the audience, if I did not touch upon the devilish worship going on at the Kalighat. I, therefore, spoke about it without mincing words. I was watching the audience while I was speaking. I am unable to say whether I made any impression upon it. Anyway, I eased my conscience by referring to the matter fairly fully. If I had sufficient fire in me, I would stand in front of the lane leading to the Ghat and stop every man and woman from blaspheming God in the name of religion. I return your letter on the vernaculars for you to refresh your memory. Yours M. K. Gandhi" _______________ 1. Gandhiji used to refer to Rabindranath Tagore as "the Poet". 18-1-'18 Motihari "Bhai Kalyanbhai, I have received your letter. I see only two courses open to that woman, one of which, and decidedly the better one, is; She should put her learning to good use, and try through it to reform her husband with whom destiny has joined her. There have been many women in the past who have succeeded in converting their husbands to a good way of life; but for that achievement, she should be endowed with spiritual wisdom. If she does not possess that wealth, she should gather courage and refuse pointblank to go to her husband. If there is a possibility of undue pressure being applied on her at her father's house, she has every right to leave it. In that case, some friend must come forward to accommodate her in his home. If it is not possible to afford her such shelter in village areas, she may be taken out of them to some town. I wish you proved through action your friendship with her by providing her some safe refuge. But you may first try the better course given above". 21-1-'18 An extract from a letter : "Who should write the preface to a compilation1 of my speeches and writings ? Or does it need a preface at all ? These questions can be answered only after knowing the name of the publisher and his object in undertaking the work. If it is a regular publishing concern, the book needs a preface from Sarojini. If it is some devout Vaishnava (follower of Lord Vishnu), he must approach Ranchhorbhai for the preface. If it is an unknown reader of my writings, who wants to publish the book provided he gets a guarantee of some return in money, he must contact my friend, Dr. (Pranjivandas) Mehta (a rich life-long friend of Gandhiji). There is no need for a preface at all, if ______________ 1 Reference to the book 'Thought-world of Mahatma Gandhiji' (in Gujarati) edited by Mathuradas Trikamji. either you or Mathuradas are going to hold the copyright. At present, at least, I am myself like an animal marked out in Falis' Circus and there is no need, except for reasons stated above, to get any stamp on the book through a preface. There can be only one worthy object in its publication: to provide for as many as possible a facility to know my thoughts, so long as the tempo lasts. I have, of course, a fondness, may be an over fondness, for those thoughts and, naturally, I would wish to share them with the largest possible number. It is the record of my own activities that has suggested the publication of the book. Where then is the need of a preface written by me? My practice of my views is itself the right preface. He who can read that preface will get an impetus to read through the book." 21-1-'18 Motihari To Messrs. Liengier & Co., Madura. *"The method that I have adopted for reinstating those who have left off weaving, is to supply them with yarn at the lowest market rates, to buy out all the cloth they may manufacture for cash at the highest market rates, the yarn to be paid for in instalments, without interest, convenient to the weaver. This has enabled them to earn about Rs. 17 per month. These weavers do not give their whole time to weaving, and their manufacture is confined to the coarsest cloth. They do not want to aspire higher, and what they earn is enough for their wants. But I know that a clever weaver manufacturing finer counts, with perhaps a little pattern-work, can make 25 rupees per month. Every weaver lost to the country is, in my opinion, so much national waste, and every weaver reinstated is so much national gain. Whatever the plan you adopt, I would like you to keep me informed of your activity from time to time. Your servant M. K. Gandhi" 24-1-'18 In reply to Kaka's1 letter questioning how the Professor's2 incarceration could be called a satyagraphic act, why he should not have appealed etc : "When a person is accused of a crime, he is either guilty or innocent. If he is guilty, he should go to jail as an act of penance. If innocent, he should go to jail to provide the judge a good lesson. If all those who are unjustly convicted choose to go to jail after declaring their innocence, it will come to pass that in due time hardly any innocent person may be sent to jail. This much to show the principle in general. In the Professor's particular case, there are many distinguishing features. The case instituted against him was not really for rash driving at all. They wanted through the case to make me and through me the whole agrarian satyagraha movement unpopular among the masses. They had imagined that, even if nothing could be done against me personally, the harassment of one of mine would gratify my opponents. Under these circumstances, it was neces-sary for the Professor to show what mettle he possessed. The ryots of these parts are very much afraid of jail besides. Here was the chance to make them fearless and it could not be allowed to go waste. Even for the Professor himself, a golden opportunity had fallen to his lot unsought and it would have been foolish to fritter it away. And what is satyagraha but resistance against injustice through self-suffering ? The court's finding was sheer injustice. The Professor ____________________ 1. Kaka Kalelkar, a very close disciple of Gandhiji who, though a Deccani by birth, has been rendering yeoman services to the Gujarati literature, and was made once the President of the Gujarati Literary Conference. 2. During the Champaran satyagraha, a procession was taken out and Sri J.B. Kriplani (a college Professor who had resigned to join the fight) was riding on a horse in it. He was accused of 'rash driving' and sentenced to 3 weeks' imprisonment. The Ashram inmates used to call him 'Professor'. He was once the President of the Indian National Congress and is now a distinguished Opposition leader. offered satyagraha by cheerfully accepting the unjust sentence and suffering imprisonment. It is entirely outside the pale of satyagraha to appeal against any judgment whatsoever. There is no room for offering any defence in pure and untainted satyagraha. The satyagraha we witness at present is not pure but diluted, and the degree of the strength of that dilution affords at once a measure and a sign of our own weakness. It is my firm faith that the world will stand aghast with wonder and admiration when it first witnesses the glory and grandeur of a pure and undiluted satyagraha. So as a matter of a satyagrahic principle, it was certain that an appeal could never be preferred. But this question?of application of that principle?was not the prime reason for dropping the idea of an appeal. I felt that the charge was so frivolous that it did not deserve the glorified importance of an appeal. By desisting from the temptation of an appeal, we have been able, I think, to expose very easily the partiality or the foolishness of the judge. No lawyer, moreover, was able to give us an assurance of success, if an appeal was made, and I warned the pleaders to file it, if they wanted to, on their own responsibility. I told them, 'If you lose the appeal, I am certain to put the blame on your shoulders.' In this case, besides, no 'appeal' could be filed. All we could do was to pray for a 'revision', and the higher court never enters into the facts of a revisional case. It only amends an error on a point of law. In this particular case, there was no possibility to success through a technicality in law. You will thus see that in our acceptance of the sentence, not only has the principle of satyagraha been observed, but also, what the world calls, practical wisdom." 24-1-'18 "Chi. Jamnadas, You are going to gain nothing by leaving your work there and coming over here to stay with me. You will yourself get tired in a few days and then wistfully remember the post of duty you are now at. What you should, therefore, do is to seek enjoyment in your work there. Your desire to stay with me is at present a kind of a craving for passion. And just as a man feels tired and depressed when that enjoyment is over, you will feel a sense of ennui within a short time of your stay here. You may, however, certainly cherish the ideal of being able to come here to stay with me some day, and in the meanwhile, try to grow fit for it by efficiently discharging the duties and responsibilities on hand." 24-1-'18 To a salt doctor : *"Dear Dr. Kulkarni, When I posted my last letter to you, I had read the literature sent by you, but for me it was not convincing enough to turn me from my experiment. What you say is either true or untrue. If salt is the panacea for all evils, no effort should be spared to double or even quadruple its consumption. What I require is statistics showing the successful treatment of plague etc. by the saline method. Having read a great deal against salt in books on vegetarianism, I wanted to make the experiment on myself. Nearly 7 years ago, Mrs. Gandhi was suffering from copious hemorrhage. I was treating her with Kuhne (a German hydropath) baths and a strict dietary. When I was almost in despair, I thought of the reasoning applied against salt by Dr. Wallace and against pulses by Dr. Haig. Salt, Dr. Wallace has argued, is an irritant and a stimulant. Being inorganic it passes out without being assimilated, but with passage making a great deal of mischief. It unduly excites the salivary glands, irritates the stomach and thus induces men to eat more than they need and taxing the organs unduly, it impoverishes the blood. Both Mrs. Gandhi and I were like most people lovers of salt and ate large quantities of it. I argued to myself that probably the introduction of salt in the system was responsible for the conti-nuation of her illness. I need not enter into the reasoning applied by me to the pulses. I was myself at this time ordinarily hale and hearty. Certainly, no change on the score of health was called for. But discovering that I could not warn Mrs. Gandhi from the use of salt and pulses without doing so myself, I left them off and so did she. There was no other change made in the treatment. Within a week's time she was free from hemorrhage, and she who was at the time of change a skeleton quickly put on flesh. I have ever since remained without salt. The condiment has such a hold upon her that she could not resist the temptation when there was no necessity for it. So, when she had completely recovered, she took to salt eating. She does have hemorrhages now and then and leaving off salt and taking friction baths enables her to recover quickly. During the seven years of my experiments, I have treated asthmatics and patients suffering from other lung diseases with a saltless diet, and they have almost invariably res-ponded. As for myself, I have not suffered from serious illnesses any more than those with whom I come in daily contact. This saltless diet has, I believe, materially assisted me in my 'Brahmacharya' (celibacy) vow. With these experiences before me, your persistent advocacy of salt has come upon me with somewhat of a shock. There is one great change in me which I have been noticing, and which I have discussed with medical friends without getting any light from them. If I receive a wound, it heals more quickly than before. I experience no feeling of excessive fatigue after long walks. But I seem to have become a green stick. The skin has become too tender and delicate. A knife would tear it much more quickly than anybody else's. Although I invariably walk barefoot, the soles of my feet refuse to become tough and hard, as would anybody else's. My gums have become flabby and the few teeth I have left are more ornamental than useful. Is it possible that this delicateness is the result of a saltless diet ? Of course, there are so many other changes that I have made in my life, that it is difficult to single out salt for my condemnation. If I had not noticed this deterioration in me? if it is a deterioration? I should have, owing to the many other advantages I have experienced, very actively advocated a saltless diet. If I received some enlightened assistance from you, I would like, if it be for a temporary period, to go back to salt and watch its results upon my system. I was already conferring with Dr. Dev upon the advisability of interrupting my experiment when your letter came. Hence my last letter to you. If you have an accurate knowledge about the matter, and if you are an enthusiast with a scientific mind which would refuse to swerve even by a hair's breadth from the path of truth, even in a fit of enthusiasm I would like to utilize your services, both for plague research and for finding out the real value of salt as an article of human consumption. I shall try to secure the books you have mentioned. Yours M. K. Gandhi" 27-1-'18 "Bhaisri Mavlankar1, I have received your letter re. the draft of the (Gujarat) Sabha's reply to the Government press-note on the failure of crops this year in the Kaira District. I find the first part of the rejoinder quite good, but the last part is as weak in argument as the first is strong. I am not bothering about making corrections. A more telling answer could be given to the Government's contention that an institution working from outside has no locus standi in the district and can do nothing for it. Even if not a single member of the Gujarat Sabha came from that district, it is not only the right but the duty of the Sabha to voice the grievances of the people in distress in any part of Gujarat. There was, besides, the need of giving the names of ________________ 1. Quite early in his career, Mr. G. V. Mavlankar made his mark not only as a lawyer of repute in Ahmedabad, but also as a staunch nationalist leader, suffering incarcerations as the natural consequence. The people honoured him afterwards by making him the first Speaker of free India's Loksabha, "House of the People". the member of the Inquiry Committee. The distinction that has been made between senior and junior officials is improper, as it means an unconscious admission on our part that, if there had been senior officials on the Inquiry Committee, they would have made a proper and detailed inquiry. Our claim, however, is that, in comparison with experienced and responsible non-official public leaders, Government officials are less trustworthy inquirers because of their official position itself. The Government appoints them to serve its own and their selfish interests. As it is to their advantage to do so, they are in the habit of pooh-poohing any plea of hardship advanced by the people. A public leader, on the other hand, has no axe to grind, is unbiassed and, knowing that no error on his part would be forgiven, is more careful and exact in his inquiry. We should have brought out all these points quite clearly. Our object is to educate the people in national consciousness through this dispute, and we want to show that as public leaders, we are as eager to maintain our own prestige as the government is to maintain its own. While the government very often keeps up its prestige through its physical might, let us do so only through our just actions. It is a great training for swaraj, if the people get a clear idea of this our contention through our reply, and then a vivid experience of its truth through our acts. That is why I have gone into a criticism of the draft to this extent. Another thing that strikes me is this : At such a time an immediate action alone has any value. The members of the Committee must give up all their other work and attend its sittings. In short, the Committee cannot afford to be dilatory in its work. It must have as members only such able and responsible men as can present themselves whenever the Committee wants them. If our case is based on just grounds, it is a question of the protection of thousands of poor men. Just as it is our wont to leave everything else in order to serve our own personal interest, so are we bound to give up everything for the sake of public interest, and to do this ought to be a tacit vow of every public worker. I think we have been very late in our reply. It often happens that the Government, through its ceaseless vigilance, is able to suppress a public movement. "Equity helps the vigilant and not the indolent" is not a maxim to be repeated parrot-like in law courts but it is one that has to be followed in everyday life. It is just because you all are doing such splendid work and are sincere and steadfast, that I have given the draft the dignity of so much criticism. Had I wanted to say you were all idlers, I would have expressed my thought more effectively by keeping severely silent. It is my practice not to waste my time in writing condemnatory letters. This letter is outcome of my love and my wish that there may be, through it, greater alertness among you people, and the institution, already 30 years old, may rise still higher in prestige. Do not commit the mistake of considering the letter as the lash of a whip and don't feel depressed by it. Vande Mataram, Mohandas 31-1-'18 Bankipur, Mavlankar's letter (in substance) from Ahmedabad: 'Your idea that, if the peasants of Kaira are in real distress, they should allow the Government to sell off their lands instead of paying their revenues by incurring debts or selling their cattle, appears to Devdhar1 and Thakkar1 like a gratuitous advice to a fellow mouse to go out to bell the cat, while keeping itself to the security of the hole. They suggest that we collect a lakh of rupees by public subscription, and lend them to the peasants to enable them to pay their dues. They think we could put the Government to shame that way. Hence the perplexity of Mavlankar. He writes further to say in effect: "Their suggestion is quite opposed to yours and I am in a quandary as to what I should do?whether I should sit still and do nothing or do that which goes entirely against your view. I feel myself at sea". __________________ 1. G. K. Devdhar and A. V. Thakkar were members of Gokhale's 'Servants of India Society': Sri Thakkar came afterwards to be known as 'Bapa' (father) for his services of aborigines and depressed classes. Gandhiji's reply : "I can perfectly visualize your perplexity arising from two conflicting suggestions. It was only when faked Nalas1 who were king Nala's exact replicas, faced Damayanti that she was in deep distress. But that alone is real firmness which is shown at such a crisis. It is also true that it is no easy thing to remain firm at such times, and errors, in the choice of the right step, are most often excusable. I can myself see something in the idea of collecting a lakh of rupees and paying the Government dues through them, but that attempt will not succeed in reforming the ways of the Government. I do not think that the Government will feel ashamed and sorry, if we come forward to pay the dues of the peasants through the amount. On the other hand, it will be a serious headache for the Government to impound and sell the peasants' cattle. The object behind the idea of offering satyagraha is to make the people fearless and free, and not to maintain our own reputation anyhow. If, out of fear of the consequences or want of faith in us, people pay up the dues, they deserve the distress the payment entails; but we must strive still harder to win their confidence and not leave them in the lurch. This is the straight and narrow path for the satyagrahi. If I possess a lakh of rupees, I would go to every homestead and tell the inmates : "Let them sell off your live-stock, but you must never pay the revenues by borrowing from others". And when the auction takes place, I would buy up the animals and return them to those only who had thus bravely stood the test. But I would never tell them beforehand that I was going to buy up their cattle. This is the time when, if all goes well with us, the ______________ 1. From a story in the Mahabharata. Knowing that Damayanti, a princess of entrancing beauty, was resolved upon choosing king Nala as her husband in her 'Swayamvara' (a gala concourse of suitors from among whom a princess could choose a husband), four gods took the exact form of Nala and five Nalas appeared before her. On her supplication, however, the Devas (gods) resumed their forms and she could marry the right Nala. Then they blessed her for her fidelity with four boons. Government would be compelled to give a near apology to the public. All this dissertation, however, is like wisdom after the event and so of small value. You must continue to do only that which you think the best under the situations that may face you from time to time. I get thereby the coveted benefit of watching your moves from this distance, and you get the invaluable experience of the truth that no man is indispensable in this changing world." Miss West's1 letter : *"Mr. Govindoo tells me that Manilal (Gandhiji's second son) is very miserable about getting old and not being married. What are you going to do about this ? Will he always have to remain single ?" Gandhiji's letter to Manilal : "Devibehn writes that you unburdened yourself to Sam (another colleague) your uneasiness at still remaining unmarried. You must not feel shy of putting all your thoughts before me. I am not your jailor but your friend. I will give you some good advice and you may consider it, and then do what you think best. I wish you never committed a sin out of fear from me. I want you to have no fear from anybody including me. I think you should not marry. In Brahmacharya lies your ultimate good. But, if it becomes unbearable to you to remain a bachelor, you may come here when you can free yourself from the work there, and take steps to get married. It is clear that nothing could be done in the matter at your end. If you are intent on marriage, I suppose you can find a bride here. I take it that you will not give up your work there immediately, just in order to get married. You can rightly think of marriage only after seeing that the "Indian Opinion" goes on in your abs- ence. On no account should you feel miserable, nor should you ________________ 1. Sister of Mr. West, Gandhiji's colleague in S. Africa who helped in the printing of Gandhiji's journal, "Indian Opinion".The inmates of the Phoenix Settlement called her 'Devibehn'. indulge in day-dreams and fancies. We pine for a thousand things, but cannot get all of them. Let this truth soak into you and give you peace. You must make it a point to do whatever you choose to in the open, straightforward way, and all will be well with you. I may have to enter into a big fight for Mohammed Ali's1 release, but nothing has been decided as yet. Blessings, Bapu." To Miss West : *Dear Devi, "Manilal's case is sad. I have written to him a consoling letter. It is difficult for me to be reconciled to his marriage. If he can stand a few more years of bachelor's life, he will get hardened. I have told him that he is to consider himself entirely as a free man, and to receive my advice as from a friend. You are all just now going through fire. May you all come out unburnt. Here I am in the midst of three imminent battles of passive resistance; which will ultimately take place, it is difficult to say. But they just now absorb all my time and keep me constantly on the wheels. This journeying is an exhaustive process, but it has got to be gone through. With love, Yours, Bhai." 2-2-'18 Prabhudas' 2 letter from the Ashram : "I feel dull and listless as Devdas kaka3 is not here. The Ashram wears a desolate look when, Bapu, you are not with us. I feel so out of sorts !" ________________ 1. Messrs. Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali who were in jail for their pro-khilafat and anti-government speeches. They were ardent associates of Gandhiji in his Non-Cooperation Movement of 1921. 2 Grand-nephew of Gandhiji, who stayed with him since his early childhood 3. Devdas was Gandhiji's youngest son. Gandhiji's reply : "Let alone me, there are many attractive features in the Ashram, and I wish you could discover them and feel happy. It is really deplorable, if the Ashram atmosphere is lively only when I am present there in body, because the body is sure to fall one day. If the presence of the soul could be felt, it always is there. The more we give up our attachment to the physical frame of the person we love, the purer and more expansive our love grows. If we can create round our ownselves that atmosphere, which we are striving to generate for the whole Ashram, then the Ashram will never appear insipid to us and we can, besides, bring about that cheerful atmosphere for the whole Ashram the earlier. Inadvertently, the letter has gone above you. Whatever you cannot understand in it, get it explained by Chi. Chhaganlal (Gandhiji's nephew and the boy's father). Give the letter to others to read, because it happens to be one that could be helpful to all. You must preserve it, read and re-read it, and absorb in yourself every word of it. Blessings, Bapu." In a letter to Devdas : "Deva (a short loving form), if you equip yourself fittingly enough to wear my mantle, nobody dare come in your way. Only, I wish you became strong enough to bear the burden. But don't be under the delusion that you have no innate fitness for the aspiration. Work itself is the best teacher, and, as we take up one task after another, we grow more fit to tackle our work ever more successfully." To a gentleman from Ranchi (Bihar) : "He is a true Ashramite who observes the rules and disci-pline of the Ashram, though physically he may not be staying in it, and that man is an outsider who, living within the Ashram, deliberately flouts its rules." Mrs. Jinrajdas (of the Theosophical Society of India) made Ba (Mrs. Kasturba Gandhi) a member of the All India Women's Conference and sent a card intimating the fact. Gandhiji wrote to her : *"Mrs. Gandhi is an almost illiterate woman. She cannot even sign her name in English. Do you want mere names to adorn you register ?" Mrs. Jinrajdas wrote back in a loving and gentle retort. To her Gandhiji replied : *"The sentence about Mrs. Gandhi's signature in English was unhappily worded. The complete thought has not been given in it. Mrs. Gandhi is not educated in any sense of the term. She can hardly read and write Gujarati. That she cannot even sign her name in English, was intended to convey to those who prize English education, the full measure of Mrs. Gandhi's unfitness to become a member of an association whose members are scholars, either in their own language or in English." 10-2-'18 Letter from a former pupil of the Ashram, Sri. Vinayak Narhari Bhave1: "Param Priya (most venerated) Bapuji2, I left the Ashram a year ago to recoup my health. I had intended to stay in Vai for 2 or 3 months and then return, but though a whole year has passed away, nothing has been heard from me. Questions, therefore, may have arisen whether I am ever to come back and even whether I am alive or dead. I must admit, I am myself entirely to blame in the matter, I had, how- ever, written a letter or two to Mama3 requesting him to write __________________ 1.Now of international fame as the 'Bhoodan' (land-gift) and 'Sarvodaya, leader?Acharya Vinoba Bhave. Gandhiji had selected him for the honour of being the first to begin individual civil disobedience during the Second World War on the strength of his great purity of character. 2. Bapuji=respected father. Gandhiji used to be called 'Bapu' by millions. 3. Mama Phadke, an earliest inmate of the Ashram, who has devoted his life to the service of the Depressed Classes. to me immediately if any satyagraha was to be launched. I had told him, I would give up everything to join it, but otherwise I would stay on out of the Ashram, till I could fully gratify the longing that has kept me away. If anybody suspected that I was a deserter, even there the fault is mine alone, because I am averse to correspondence. I must, however, state here that the Ashram has not only captivated me, but I have also the ingrained conviction that I was verily born for this Ashram. Why, then, did I loiter away a whole year outside the Ashram precincts? Early in my life, when I was only ten, I took a solemn vow to observe Brahmacharya1 and dedicate my life to the country. Later on, during my High School days, I was fascinated by the teachings of the Bhagawad Gita. My father, however, asked me to take up French as my Second Language, but that did not abate my zest to learn the Gita. I began to study Sanskrit privately at home that very day, and I was resolved upon studying the Vedanta and other books on philosophy whenever possible. When, with your permission, I came to Vai, I saw that there was an excellent opportunity for me to study the Vedanta. One, Sri Narayanshastri Marathe, a Brahmachari2 all his life, is teaching the Vedanta and other scriptures here. I was seized with a passion to learn the Upanishads etc. from him. Now let me write what I have done during all this time: My work with respect to my craving for knowledge which kept me out so long:? Study of (1) The Upnishads, (2) The Gita, (3) Brahmasutra ? Shankarbhashya, (4) Manusmriti and (5) Patanjal Yogadarshan. I went through, besides, (1) Nyayasutra, (2) Vaisheshiksutra and (3) Yagnavalkyasmriti. My desire to study our religious books has now been fully gratified. I can now read whatever I want to in Sanskrit without any extraneous aid. ________________ 1. Brahmacharya=lit. walking in the Way of the Lord; hence perfect continence. Hence Brahmachari= bachelor, in thought, word and deed. 2. It has been the Hindu traditional conviction that its scriptures and metaphysical truths cannot be rightly grasped except by a highly exalted soul. Then about the recuperation of health for which I went to Vai : I had made it a rule to walk 10 to 12 miles. Then began grinding 6 to 8 seers (12 to 15 lbs.) cereals with a hand-mill, At present, I do 300 namaskars1 and take a walk everyday for physical exercise. This has improved my health. Re. my diet : I have never taken other condiments, but, for the first six months, I used to take salt. I am now on a saltless diet and I have taken a life-long vow to have only saltless and spiceless food. I have started taking milk. Many experiments proved that I cannot go without milk, but my desire to give it up, if possible, persists. For a month, I had nothing but milk, lemon and bananas, but I found that I was getting weak. This is my present diet : Milk 1½ lbs., jowar chapaties two, bananas 4 or 5, lemon 1, when available. When I come to the Ashram, I intend to regulate my diet on your advice. I am not tempted by any other food for the sake of its taste only. All the same, I cannot help feeling that my present diet is rather too luxurious. My daily expense over food, item by item, is about : bananas and lemon 4 pice, chapaties 2, milk 5, total 11. I want to know from you what changes I should make. You will please write to me. Other things done : Took classes in (1) the Gita. Free tuition to 6 students of the whole gospel with full explanation of the verses. (2) Jnyaneshwari (A big Marathi exposition on the Gita by St. Jnyaneshwar), 6 chapters, 4 students attended. (3) 9 Upnishads to 2 students. (4) Hindi propaganda : I do not know Hindi well myself, but I used to read Hindi newspapers to some students. (5) English to 2 students. (6) Excursions: nearly 400 miles on foot. Saw fortresses of historical fame such as Rajgarh, Sinhagarh, Torangarh etc. (7) Used to hold, during my tramps discourses on the Gita, which have come to 50 in all till now. Even now I propose to pad it to Bombay, and then take a train for Ahmedabad to rejoin the Ashram. A student, 26 years old, has been throughout with me in my journeys and he, too, is at present ___________________ 1. Bows, a particular physical exercise involving bows to the sun. footing it out in my company. He is not inclined to study the Gita from anyone except myself. The latest date of my entry into the Ashram is Chaitra Sudi 1 (the New Year's Day in Maharashtra falling generally in April.) (8) I started at Vai an institution called the 'Vidyarthi Mandal' (Students' Association) and founded a library in connection with it. We, fifteen students and myself, formed a club of hand-grinders and our earnings were used in buying books for the library. We offered the same rate (1 pice for 2 lbs.) as the local grinding mill, and thus could draw customers. Sons of even high class families were members of the club. Vai is a centre of orthodoxy and since the hand-grinders were all Brahmin students studying in the High School, we were ridiculed by the public as faddists and fools. All the same, our grinding club continued for 2 months. 400 books have been stocked in the library. (9) I tried very much to propagate the principles of the Ashram. (10) There is a group in Baroda of 10 to 15 friends who want to serve the people. I had started there an institution for the propagation of the mother tongue, 3 years before I joined the Ashram. I attended its Annual Celebration. (This 'celebration' means nothing more than a meeting for comparison of the notes of members as to the work accomplished and the work to be done). I put before them the idea of spreading Hindi, and I have every reason to believe that the institution will take up the work. Since you have begun an effort for the propagation of Hindi I may say that this institution in Baroda will be prepared to associate with you for the work. And finally, I must state how I have behaved as an inmate of the Ashram. These are our vows: Control of the palate : I have already dealt with this vow during my reference in this letter to my dietetic experiments. Non-possession : A wooden dish (thali), bowls, one 'lota' (a smal jug) belonging to the Ashram, dhoti, a blanket and books comprise all my parapher-nalia. I have taken a vow not to use a shirt, a cap, and a coat. I wrap my upper body also with a dhoti. I use only hand-woven clothes. Swadeshi (exclusive use of articles made in one's own country) : I do not use a single foreign-made article (but only if 'swadeshi' is not taken in the expanded sense which you gave it in your speech at Madras). Truth, non-violence, brahmacharya: I am sure that I have strictly observed these vows to the best of my understanding of them. What more shall I write ? In my dreams and in my waking hours, only one question haunts me : "Will God deign to take service from me ? With the greatest self-honesty I can say this much : I follow the rules of the Ashram (except one) and so, though the body may be roaming outside, I am, in reality, always in the Ashram. It is the ideal of my life. The one exception, alluded to above, is about self-cooking i.e. about making my 'chapaties' myself. I tried to observe that rule also, but could not do so in my tramps. If any question of offering satyagraha arises, say against the hardships of the third-class passengers in railways, I will come immediately, otherwise I have given you above the latest date of my arrival in the Ashram. What are the changes that have been made in the Ashram ? How many students are there ? What is your scheme of national education, and what changes should I make in my diet ? I am longing for advice on all these points. And you must write the reply yourself, in your own hand. That is the earnest and insistent prayer of this 'Vinoba', your son, to whom you are no other than his revered father. I will leave this town in a few days." "A Hercules, a Samson!" burst out Gandhiji when he finished the letter. Another Gorakh, who has beaten his Machchandar1." _____________________ 1. Learning that his guru Machchandar had fallen into temptations, Gorakh took the form of a street-singer and sang only one line: 'See Machchandar, Gorakh has come'. The song roused Machchandar from his spiritual stupor, and it was thus the disciple beat the guru in his own field. And this was the memorable reply from Bapuji : "I do not know what eulogistic epithet I must use for you. Your love and your character and your self-examination have enthralled me and made me a dotard. I am not competent enough to judge you. Your self-analysis is a good enough judgment about you for me also. I accept the father's position you give me, because you have satisfied almost all my expectations from a son. I believe that he is the true father who gives birth to a son of a more sterling worth. And he is the true son who becomes richer (in spiritual values) than his father. If the father is a lover of truth, strong in his resolves and acts and full of compassion, the son should possess these qualities in a greater degree. I can see that you have gained them all but I don't find that your achievement is due to any effort on my part. So the position you instal me on, I accept only as a gift of love from you. I will strive to be fit for that position and, when I turn out to be a Hiranya Kashyap1, you must offer civil disobedience against my orders as did Prahlad of yore. You are right when you say that you have scrupulously observed the Ashram rules, even while remaining physically out of it. I had never entertained any doubts about your return. Mama had read to me, besides, your messages sent through him. May God endow you with a long life and may it be used for the uplift of India, is all I wish. There is nothing I may suggest by way of a change in your diet, at least, at present. Do not give up milk for some time: you may even increase its quantity, if you find it necessary for health. A satyagraha against the working of railways is unnecessary. What is needed are well-informed propagandists for the purpose. It is possible that a fight may have to be offered with regard to the plight of the peasants of the Kaira district. I am at present __________________ 1. Power corrupted this king who, in his vanity, forbade God's worship and enjoined his own. His son, Prahlad, was a devotee of God and, though quite a child, disobeyed his father. Lord Vishnu takes a 'man-lion' form, kills the king and saves the devotee. a rambler from place to place. In a day or two, I will have to go to Delhi. More when we meet, All of us are eager to see you in our midst. Blessings, Bapu" Bapu's ejaculation after writing the letter : "A really great soul. It has always seemed to me that deeds of previous lives have tied me very strongly with Madrasis and Maharashtrians. No Madrasis are now with me, but not a single Maharashtrian has ever disappointed me, and Vinoba is the high water-mark of Maharashtrian strength of character." To Pandit Hridaynath Kunzru (a leading member of Gokhale's Servants of India Society) at the time of the Kumbha Mela1. Extract from the letter : Satyagrahashram, Sabarmati, 10-2-'18. *"I am handling most dangerous situation and am preparing to go to a still more dangerous; You will now understand why I have not gone to the Mela. I was looking forward to having an opportunity of seeing Hinduism at work, both in its devilish and divine character. The former, I know, cannot influence me, and I had relied upon the latter doing for me what it did for me at Hardwar. I was looking forward to meeting you, and preaching you a few homely sermons on the necessity of Servants of India, not making it a regular habit of getting ill almost every alternate month. But it was not to be." Yours M. K. Gandhi. _____________ 1. A big congregation of the Hindu monks and sannyasins held on specific sacred days every 3, 6 or 12 years in specific holy towns. Hundreds of thou-sands of lay pilgrims visit the town at that time, which becomes the scene of a stupendous mela (fair). 11-2-'18 Letter from his sister (a widow) complaining against high prices, and the inconveniences she has to put up with in her house, and requesting that the remittance amount be increased. Gandhiji's reply : "Revered Sister, Though I do not write to you, your image has never been out of my mind even for a moment. The fact that you are not staying with me is an ever-painful, incurable wound. You alone can heal it. If you live with me, the sight of your face would be for me a glimpse, however faint, of 'Ba' (their mother). But you have chosen to deprive me of that solace. My complaint against you is of a kind which time can never soften. You have made it a point never to let me have the chance to claim proudly that my sister stands by me in my work for the country. If I write to you, I can only heap reproaches on you, or pour out my soul's anguish, as in this letter. That also is a reason, why I am so slack in my correspondence with you. I know that these are hard times, but whence can I get more money to send you ? I have but to give you, whatever I can, from my friend's pocket. How can I have the face to request him to give me something more to send to you ? He may at once ask me, "Don't you think your sister must stay with you ? What answer can I give him then ? The world does not treat me as an 'untouchable outcaste, but for you I am one. About this painful subject, I can tell you only one thing : I am not living a whit more comfortably than you. Your troubles, therefore, do not appear unbearable to me. I feel not a trace of shame at the fact that you have to earn a supplementary income, by grinding corn for others. If you have the slightest pity for me, do come here; I beseech you. Make the Ashram your home and share in my work. You may be feeling distressed, at present, at the thought that you have no brother worth the name, but, if you do what I suggest, you will no longer feel the want of a brother, and you will find that you have not one but many. You will become a mother to many children besides. This is the Vaishnava dharma (worship of Lord Vishnu) in its pristine purity. So long as this truth does not dawn in you, we will have to bear the grief of separation from each other." To his sister's daughter-in-law : "Chi. Nirmala, Read the above letter to Raliat. I wonder what I should write to you in the matter. There are so many avenues of work open for you here, that, if you come, I can make your life a poem of spiritual peace and beauty, and you will forget all your woes of widowhood. Some other women are already here to help me, but, unfortunately, I am deprived of your support, though you are my own. I shall not find fault with you, as I find fault with sister Raliat, because you have two elders to win the permission of ?your father and my sister. But if there is a driving urge in you to help me, you can not only secure the permission, but bring with you my sister Raliat also, as she cannot live a day without you by her side. I am pretty sure that you understand this point. Were Gokuldas (her deceased husband) alive, he would never have felt at ease with himself without being here with me. You can, therefore, give peace to his soul, if you stay here. Ba (Kasturba Gandhi) is in Bihar and she often longs for your company. I will have to stay in these parts for sometime more". 12-2-'18 's letter : Expressing his feeling of shame for going to remarry within a short time of the death of his first wife, and his sadness at the thought that he could not observe mourning even for a year; but defending his action by such excuses as : if he did not bow down to the loving pressure of his dear ones, he would be misunderstood and would probably never get a second chance, in future, to remarry because of his obstinacy at present, etc. "Bhai, I have got your letter. It appears to me waste of energy to scourge you with words. There are some men who really want to extol themselves for their action, but they do so by appearing repentant for what they call their misbehaviour. You seem to be one of them at present. It may be acknowledged that you have a serviceable nature, which is out of the ordinary, and that is why you take part in public life. But in action you betray even greater weakness than a common man. First, you proclaimed that you felt deeply wounded by the loss of your wife, and that her parting words carved a deep impression on your mind. But soon the fact of the wound was forgotten, and the deep impression was erased altogether. If in the midst of loud lamentations, due to unbearable grief, a man suddenly bursts into laughter, he may be taken for a man gone mad or a play-actor. You, too, were lamenting but yesterday and are now revelling in laughter. Which of the two epithets then can apply to you ? Can that man be adjudged fit for public service, who cannot control his lust, who has not an iota of self-restraint ? And do not, please, sink lower than you have already done, by arguing that you are somewhat better than many others, who have done worse things and are still seen doing public service. The retrograde step you have taken is about a matter of no small importance in the plank of social reform among us, Hindus. It is more essential that a Hindu widower observes at least some self-restraint than that a Hindu widow re-marries. You have lapsed from the fundamentals of Hinduism. If ever a Gujarat Seva Mandal (Service of Gujarat Society) is started and you want to be in close touch with it, it would be a serious moral question facing me, whether to accept you as a member thereof or not. It is not for me to judge you. That is only God's privilege and He alone can judge. But I will not, therefore, relinquish my right and duty to choose my life-companions. Your action has exhibited to the world merely how superficial was the wound you had felt at your first wife's death, but to me, personally, the action has come as a serious shock. May God protect and enlighten you ! Mohandas Gandhi" A flood of Mr. West's letters from Phoenix: It is difficult to conduct the 'Indian Opinion". It could be maintained only, if it was transferred to Durban and some practical, business-view was introduced in its working. That was his idea as well as of all others. Reply : *"My dear West, 12-2-'18 I hope you have received my letters. I have your two letters to acknowledge. I do not really know what to say. I have read Ritch's and De Beer's letters. From their standpoint, they are right. For me, you would better serve the work by being good agriculturists. Manilal's advice from Johannesburg does not appeal to me. He ought to be in Phoenix to manage the Gujarati portion. But, as I have said, you are the final arbiter and you should do what you think is best. So far as I am concerned, the property is as much yours as mine, and so is the cause. Having said so much about Phoenix, I would like to speak to you about my activities here. The very fact that I write so little to you, show how busy I must be here. I think everybody wonders at my output of work. And nothing is of my seeking. I have taken up activities, as they have come to me. In Bihar, besides watching the legislative activity, I am opening and managing schools. The teachers are, as a rule, married people. And both husband and wife work. We teach the village children, give the men lessons in hygiene and sanitation, see the village women and persuade them to break through the Purdah and send their girls to our schools. And we give medical relief free of charge. Diseases are known and so are the remedies. We, therefore, do not hesitate to entrust the work to untrained men and women, provided they are reliable. For instance, Mrs. Gandhi is working at one such school, and she freely distributes medicine. We have, perhaps, by this time, relieved 3000 malaria patients. We clean village wells and village roads and thus enlist villagers' active co-operation. Three such schools have been opened and they train over 250 boys and girls under 12 years. The teachers are volunteers. Then there is the work in Gujarat. It consists in carrying out the programme set forth in the Godhra and Broach addresses. At the present moment, I am trying to deal with imminent passive resistance. The activities in Gujarat are multifarious. Lastly, I am endeavouring to lead the movement for the release of the Ali brothers. I am evolving a programme for dealing with cow protection, hand-weaving and acceptance of Hindi as the lingua franca of India. Of course, the Ashram and the national school continue. In all this, it is my good fortune to be well assisted. This activity involves a great deal of travelling. The Ashram is beautifully situated on the banks of the Sabarmati river. We daily bathe in it. All the children can swim now. The school is under an able Principal, who was a distinguished Professor of the Gujarat College. The Ashram, of course, is under Maganlal's (Gandhiji's nephew and colleague in S. Africa) management. I do not know what is in store for the Ashram or the school. They are at the present moment popular institutions. In all these activities, I often wish for the co-operation of the fellow-workers there. But I know it cannot be. But believe me, there is not a moment, when I do not think of one or the other of you. News of your exploits serve as apt illustrations for me. I am building on the experience gained there. Please tell Mrs. West that she is not to consider, for one moment, that I have forgotten her or Granny. Nor have I forgotten the assurances given by me. New ties and new acquaintances cannot make me forget old ones. This letter is not for publication. I do not wish to talk publicly of my activities. With love, Yours' ever, M. K. Gandhi". 12-2-'18 *"My dear Parbathy, You see I began your letter in Gujarati as I do not write in English to girls and boys. But I know that I must write to you in English. You will say, 'If you have provided for my Gujarati and Hindi tuition, I would have understood your Gujarati and Hindi letters also." You would be right, if you said so. I would however, say, 'If you had only gone with me or followed me to India, you would have been truly my daughter and learnt Hindi and Gujarati.' Please tell Sam that I expect him to make of Phoenix an agricultural success. Do please write home all about your doings there. Radha and Rukhi have grown wonderfully. Rukhi looks almost as big as Radha. They have both made considerable progress in their tuition. With love to you all, M. K. Gandhi" (Signature in Tamil). In loving admiration for Bapuji, I gave him the epithet 'The slave-hunter' in my talks with Pandyaji1.He goes on, I explained, catching some one or other, and yokes him to the national work, a passion of his life, which he pursues day and night. "No one could help getting tired of dilating upon his 'Lila' (the divine play of the Lord), and stopping the description by saying 'neti', 'neti'2?"I remarked. I then gave him some instances of his varied ways of capturing the quarry for his work: He won me over by pointing out how very fast I wrote, and yet in what charming hand; he added that my faults were completely forgiven in view of my good qualities. Then, the other day, he __________________ 1. Sri Mohanlal Pandya, an erstwhile revolutionary, and so in the black book of the Government, became a convert to non-violence, and was a leader in the Kaira Satyagraha in 1918. He earned the honourable nickname of "dunglichor" (onion thief), for carrying away onions, from his own field, which the Govt. had confiscated. 2. 'not this', 'not this', a well-known Sanskrit expression, indicating the impossibility of giving a definition, comprising the attributes of God. made Durga (Mahadevbhai's wife) fall for him, by establishing a father's relationship with her, and creating in her a sense of deep gratefulness through an exceedingly loving letter. His charming chats with Ansuyabehn and Sri Shankarlal Banker (another labour leader), and his unfailing invitation, on meeting them, to have their meals with him, captured them too, and they became his colleagues. Then one day, he pressed Vallabhbhai (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel) to dine with him everyday in the morning also, and heartily appreciated his refusal to remarry, though his wife had died 12 years ago, and thus drew him into the orbit of his magnetic field. There was another way with him, besides, I added, and that was to share his most confidential secrets with some of us. Last night he preferred to walk the whole distance (4 miles) from the Gujarat Club to the Ashram, despite the earnest entreaty of Ansuyabehn to let her take him there in her car. Many topics arose in our talks on the way. As I am writing a commentary on his book 'Sarvodaya', I said, "There are some chapters in it which are really excellent in style and substance, but there are some others which appear slipshod." He readily accepted my criticism and observed, "Sometimes I used to have an itch to write and the output was really charming. But sometime when, on my return home thoroughly fagged after a whole day's honest work, somebody demanded from me a definite number of columns for the 'Indian Opinion', I would dictate to him, and even say that I did not approve of such and such sentences, but that it could not be helped, as I had no time to think out a better expression. It is quite possible that such parts fall flat." "Letters from John Chinaman' is written in perfect King's English. Can the other books of G. Lowis Dickinson ever compare with it ?" Then the topic changed. "One thing has pained me very deeply today. In fact, I am consumed with it. I have already written to A a letter that is written not in ink, but in the burning lava of my heart. But I am as deeply pained at Mrs. B's action as at Mr. A's. She had no right to indulge in procreation, after taking to a life of public service, undertaking heavy responsibilities and even accepting the position of the head of such a big educational institution as Of course, Mr. A also is to blame, but I am not blaming Mrs. B. either. I am only expressing my anguish at the happening, not at the person concerned. I had supposed that the couple had turned a new leaf in their lives and given up their old ways to lead a life of service. I was so happy a year ago, when I learnt that they had begun to do public work. I am as grieved to-day as I was elated then. How can such people ever be considered fit for public service ?" Referring again to A in the morning Bapuji said "He had no right to enter public life. He should have gone to and spent his life there. But he did not go there and took to public service; but he made no sacrifice in doing so. What is his earning capacity after all ? Rs.25, 30, at the most 50. But to-day he draws from the institution an 'honorarium' which comes to Rs.200/- p.m. ! The respect and the high social status that he enjoys from his post in the institution, as well as from the help to individuals that he can render through the post, must necessarily be counted as a part of the honorarium." Then at night: "I have never considered, and do not intend to consider, now or in future, any person as my disciple. But, on his own, he (A) goes on proclaiming to one and all, I am Gandhiji's disciple.' How can he call himself my disciple when he does such things ?" Nothing can extenuate his action, except one possibility which C had pointed out: If he (A) never loved his wife, he had every right to remarry the very next day of his first wife's death. But then this our A was 'sunk in sorrow and gloom !' 15-2-'18 I read to-day Bapu's concise reproduction (in Gujarati) of Thoreau's 'Civil Disobedience' which first appeared in the 'Indian Opinion.' It deserves repeated reading and reflection. I write it down here (in Gujarati) verbatim. It was shipshaped before it was published again in India. It is the revised form that I copy : PREFACE Henry David Thoreau, one of the very few topmost sages of America, whose thought, word and deed were all in harmony, lived in the middle of the 19th century. In consequence of his firm adherence to truth, his thought was charged with as much power as his speech and act. His writings are a mine of excellent thoughts, from every word of which emanates sparks of divine fire. That is why millions read and ponder over them. Here is a brief report of the incident, which brought about the writing of his booklet 'Civil Disobedience', a summary of which also I attempt to give: He was a resident of Massachusetts, one of the States of the United States of America. He felt that the war, which the U.S.A. had then declared against Mexico, was against all canons of justice. Moreover, while he considered the system of slavery, then prevalent there, as a grave and cruel injustice against the Negroes, his State, not only tolerated the system, but supported the masters. He, therefore, resolved not to pay any tax to the State and thus, by declaring his opposition to its policy, offer civil disobedience against the State and cease to be a partner in the State's atrocities. In accordance with this resolve, he declared to the tax-collector, when he came to him, "You won't get a farthing from me, so long as my money is to be used for the expenses of the war or the purchase of slaves." The tax-collector was puzzled and shocked. "What should I do then ?" he asked. "Of course, you must resign; what else ?" Thoreau had, consequently, to go to jail. His friend, Emerson, went to see him there and said, "Why are you here, Henry ?" But why are you not here ?" countered Thoreau. This article is the expression of the thoughts that struck him in the jail. Historians say that among the chief reasons for the abolition of slavery in U.S.A., were Thoreau's going to jail voluntarily, and his publication of this pamphlet after his release. A perusal of this precis will show how apposite is the time for its publication, under the present situation of our country. *"I heartily accept the motto? 'That government is best which governs least.' Carried out, it finally amounts to this: 'That government is best which governs not at all.' Government is at best an expedient; and all governments are sometimes inexpedient. The objections which have been brought against a standing army, are many and weighty and deserve to prevail, but they may also be brought against a standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government and cannot stand for a moment without the army. But we cannot see this; we are overwhelmed by the power of the State. But the fact remains that the subject maintains both the State and the army. Governments thus show how successfully men can be imposed on, even impose on themselves. This government never of itself furthered any enterprise. It does not keep us free. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people, has done all that has been accomplished, and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way. But, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government, which it is the duty of every man to demand. A majority rule is not always likely to be in the right. This imperception is the root of many an injustice. Can there be a govt. in which majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong but conscience ? Must the citizen resign his conscience to the legislator ? Why has every man a conscience then ? I think we should be men first and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation, which I have a right to assume, is to do what I think right. Law never made men a whit more just; and by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice. A common and natural result of an undue respect for law is that you may see a file of soldiers marching in admirable order to a war, and submitting quietly to military commands, against their wills, against their consciences. Now what are they ? Men at all ? Or small movable magazines, at the service of an unscrupulous man in power ? They put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones. They command no more respect than men of straw. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs. Others as legislators, lawyers, ministers and representatives claim to serve the State chiefly with their heads. But I see that they are as likely to serve the devil, without intending it, as God. A very few?as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense-serve the State with their consciences, and so necessarily resist it, for the most part, and they are commonly treated as enemies by it. A wise man will only be useful as a man, and will not submit to be 'clay' and 'stop a hole to keep the wind away'. How does it become a man to behave toward this American government to-day? I answer that he cannot, without disgrace, be associated with it. I cannot, for an instant, recognize that political organisation as my government, which is the slaves' government also. All men recognise the right to resist the government , when its tyranny is great and unendurable. But some say that such is not the case now. Why ? Because not they, but others are the victims. All machines have their friction and I should not make a stir about this. But when the friction comes to have its machine, and oppression and robbery are organised, it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize. Man must do justice, cost what it may. If I have unjustly wrested a plank from a drowning man, I must restore it to him, though I drown myself. He that would save his life in such a case, shall lose it. This people must cease to hold slaves, and to make war on Mexico, though it cost them their existence as a people. We are accustomed to say, that the mass of men are unprepared; but improvement is slow, because the few are not materially wiser or better than the many. It is not so important that many should be as good (brave) as you, as that there be some absolute goodness somewhere; for that will leaven the whole lump. There are thousands who are, in opinion, opposed to slavery and to war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them; who, esteeming themselves children of Washington and Franklin, sit down with their hands in their pockets and do nothing. What is the price current of an honest man and patriot to-day ? They hesitate, they regret and sometimes they petition. But they do nothing in earnest and with effect. They will wait, well-disposed, for others to remedy the evil, that they may no longer have it to regret. There are nine hundred and ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous man. But it is easier to deal with the real possessor of a thing, than with the temporary guardian of it. Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it. It is only expressing to men feebly your desire that it should prevail, and has no value. A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, and wish it to prevail through the power of the majority. Alone, he will fight for it. There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men. When the majority shall at length vote for the abolition of slavery, it will be because there is little slavery to be abolished by their vote. Only his vote can hasten the abolition of slavery, who asserts his own freedom by his vote. It is not a man's duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous, wrong. But it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it. How can a man be satisfied to entertain an opinion merely, and enjoy it, if he does not put it in practice ? If you are cheated out of a single dollar, you do not rest satisfied with saying that you are cheated; but you take effectual steps at once to obtain the full amount, and see that you are never cheated again. Action from principle, the perception and the performance of right, changes things and relations. It is essentially revolutionary. It not only divides States, it divides families and friends, aye, it divides the individual, separating the diabolical in them all from the divine. It is the service of Truth and the service of all through Truth. Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them or transgress them at once ? Men generally think that they ought to wait, until the majority is persuaded to alter them; that if they resist, the remedy would be worse than the evil. But if that happens, it is the fault of the government itself, and not of the transgressors of unjust laws. I know this well, that if one thousand, if one hundred, if ten men, ? if ten honest men only, ?ay, if one HONEST man, in this State of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from his co-partnership with the State, by refusing to pay his taxes and be locked up in the country jail therefore, it would be the abolition of slavery in America. He must see that, at any rate, he does not lend himself to the wrong he condemns, and not wait till men of his view constitute a majority. He is not alone. It is enough if he has God on his side, without waiting for others. Any man, more right than his neighbours, constitutes a majority already. I meet the State government directly and face to face, once in a year-no more -in the person of the tax gatherer. And the simplest, the most effectual, and, the indispensablest mode of treating with it, on this head, is to deny it then. If a thou-sand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence. I know that when one brave man goes to jail, for not paying his tax-bill, that day the citadel of slavery is breached. For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be. What is once well done, is done for ever. But we love better to talk about it; that we say is our mission. Reform keeps many scores of newspapers in its service, but not one man. Under a government which imprisons unjustly, the true place for a just man is a prison. The proper place to-day, the only place which Massachusetts has provided for her freer and less desponding spirits, is in her prisons. For it is the only house in a slave State, in which a free man can abide with honour. If any think that their influence would be lost there, and their voices no longer afflict the ear of the State, they do not know by how much truth is stronger than error, nor how much more eloquently and effectively he can combat injustice, who has experienced a little in his own person. A minority is powerless, while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it is irresistible, when it clogs by its whole weight. When I converse with my freest neighbours, I perceive that they dread the consequences, to their property and families, of disobedience to the State. For my own part, I should not like to think that I ever rely on the protection of the State. It costs me less, in every sense, to incur the penalty of disobedience to the State than to obey. I should feel as if I were worthless in that case. I have paid no po -tax for six years. I was put into a jail once on his account, for one night; and, as I stood, considering the walls of solid stone and the door of wood and iron, I could not help being struck with the foolishness of that institution, which treated me as if I were mere flesh and blood and bones. It did not realize that, if there was a wall of stone for me between me and my townsmen, there was a still more difficult one for them to climb or break through, before they could get to be as free as I was. I did not, for a moment, feel confined. I felt as if I alone, of all my townsmen, had paid the tax and was free. I could not but smile to see how industriously they locked the door, and left me free for my meditations, which were really all that was dangerous. As they could not reach me, they had resolved to punish my body; just as boys, if they cannot come at some person, against whom they have a spite will abuse his dog. And I saw that the State was half-witted; it was timid even in punishing my body, and I lost all my remaining respect for it." x x x A gentleman came from Baroda and stayed for a few days in the Ashram. He had long talks with Bapuji and then, before he left, after serious deliberation, he took a vow to return on Thursday next, and devote his life to national service. But from Baroda, he wrote a letter to the effect that he had decided not to go to the Ashram as, on second thoughts, he had realized that his family would then be put to serious trouble and might have even to starve. Reply : "Your letter makes painful reading. The facts that you state in it, had not been out of your mind, when you took the vow. It was your duty to keep the vow, once you took it, even if your family was starved to death in consequence. It is only men of firm resolve, who can mould a nation. Others do not deserve to be classed among 'men.' Nobody urged you to take the vow. You had ample time, besides, for the fullest consideration of its possible effects on your family. This is nothing but weakness, which is a common failing with us and is at the root of our very slow progress. The object of writing this letter is not to induce you to keep your vow now. Even if you come here, you would be rejected. You must engage yourself in the maintenance of your family, repent your sin and humbly spend a homely, quiet life now. Vande Mataram, Mohandas Gandhi." "Bhaishri Dahyalal, I have your card. Many thoughts throng in my mind at the news of Bhai Amritlal's untimely death. And Bhai Navalram tells me just now that, besides him, some of your other colleagues also have lost their lives, in the service of the plague patients there. If that is so, I see, in their deaths, an occasion not to grieve for, but to rejoice over. We all would like to die such a glorious death. Our saying, "What more could one desire than death on the battle-field? ?is very apposite here. The body is sure to fall one day, when it gets worn out. We would even wish that it did so. Let us, therefore, have the faith to believe that Amritlal, Motilal and other colleagues will, in due course, assume new and fitter bodies and serve India through them in future. Give my condolences to the bereaved family of Amritlal. You will do a service, if you make efforts to send Motilal's widow here, as soon as possible. Vande Mataram, M. K. Gandhi" 16-2-'18 "Chi. Devdas, I came here for a day but, it seems, I will have to stay on for a month. I wanted to go to Delhi today, but shall have to go to Nadiad instead for the work of the Kaira peasants. Thousands would be put to a serious loss, if I left the work here just now. The people would collapse in despair. Such being the case, I am detained here for the present. All the same, my hope persists that I shall be able to free myself from the work here in 10 days. You are never out of my mind. I know you are full of life, and can take an interest in many different things. Had you been here with me, you would have seen the glory and grandeur of Truth every moment. Pursuit of truth is the only legacy I can bequeath. I believe that wealth to be inexhaustible and, for the man who knows its worth, invaluable. He would neither ask nor even wish for any other heritage. As far as I know you, you have been able to assess the true value of this heritage and are in love with it. This morning, however, I dreamt that you cheated me. You took out some currency notes from the cash box, got them changed and squandered away the money. I came to know of it all, and was sore distressed and irritated. But just then I woke up. I found that it was merely an ugly dream and thanked God heartily. But it shows my infatuation for you. On your part, you want me to have it. You need not be seriously afraid that this excessive fondness will wear off completely during the remaining span of my life. I am making serious efforts to have an equibalanced love for one and all. All the same, my hope remains that your response to it will be greater than that of others. I do not write a separate letter to Chi. Chhotelal and Chi. Surendra. You can, if you like, give this letter to them to read; or you can just give the necessary news. There is no harm, if you do not let them read the letter, as it is a sacred private talk between father and son, and so worth treasuring for you alone. Blessings, Bapu." To Anandibai?a lady volunteer of Champaran (Bihar) on the death of her brother's wife (in Marathi) : "I am deeply grieved to hear of the death of your sister-in-law. But I know you are quite aware of the immortal Soul within us. You need not, therefore, be reminded of the truth that life and death are, really speaking, two sides of the same coin. And yet it has become the second nature of man, to feel unhappy at the death of some dear one. I wish to share in your grief and to give you as much peace as can. For persons like you who have decided and resolved to lead a life of service, there is only one proper way to mourn the loss of a beloved one, and that is to be all the more devoted to service. Yours, Mohandas Gandhi," 21-2-'18 As Secretary of the National Education Promotion Society, Mr. Arundale had made a request for an article for the National Education Week they were celebrating. It was first intended that the following reply be sent : *"I have your letter. Just now I am immersed in one or two difficult matters. Thoughts do not come to me for the asking. I have to make my mind play upon a subject, before I can write anything readable in it. I can merely say that I shall bear your letter in mind and try to give you something. The odds are that I shall fail, unless the things I am handling are finished before their expected period." Then it was found that the latest date given for the article in Mr. Arundale's letter was 20-2-'18. So he exclaimed, "Good. That solves the problem." Write to him, "We received your letter only yesterday, and it was impossible to send you an article, before the date specified in your letter." In a letter to Mr. Sly1 also, written about the same time, he had said, "Anything dropping out, is a positive relief." 21-2-'18 To Miss Winterbottom2 *"I have allowed weeks to pass by, without writing to you, but you know the reason why. Before telling you something about my activity, I want to answer an important question you have asked?a question which shows how closely you have been follo-wing my doings, in this part of the world. You have reminded me of what I used to say in London, viz., that benign autocracy was the best form of government, and have asked me how I reconcile my activity in connection with the Home Rule Movement here. I still retain the position held by me in London. But that form of government is an impossibility today. India must pass through the throes of Parliamentary Government, and, seeing that it is so, I naturally support a movement which will secure the best type of Parliamentary Government and replace the present bastardism, which is neither the one nor the other. What is more, I take part in the movement, only to the extent that I can enforce and popularize principles which, I know, must permeate all systems, if they are to be of any use. In Natesan's publication, a copy of which I have taken the liberty to send on to you, there is a translation of my address to the Gujarati Political Conference, which will more fully illustrate what I mean. I have delayed for one week, hoping to deal with other matters. I must, however, no longer do so, but take some other opportunity of writing further. Yours sincerely, M. K. Gandhi". ______________ 1. President of the Champaran Inquiry Committee appointed by the Government. 2. An old friend of Gandhiji, who had helped him in England. "Bhai Gordhanbhai, Pujya (respected) Ansuyabehn, Bhai Shankarlal Banker and I have returned just now from a meeting of the weavers. They say that millowners want them to sign some agreement, in return for a payment of 8 annas to each. I have advised them not to give their signatures, without showing the document to their advisers. I have also told them that, in a day or two, we will suggest the proper increment that they should demand from millowners. If they follow the advice, and agree to ask for the payment we suggest, it will be all to the good for them. I respectfully submitted yesterday to the members of the mill-owners' group an explanation of where I come in the picture, and what responsibility I have to discharge in the matter. I feel that the principle of arbitration has taken deep root among us, and it would be a tragedy for one and all, if the workers lose their faith in it. I cannot, therefore, renounce the duty that has fallen upon me, without my seeking it. Bhai Shankarlal Banker and Vallabhbhai Patel concur completely. It would be very undesirable for the workers, for you and for the public, if they have to remain idle for a long time, with their prospects unsettled all the while. Bhai Banker has brought with him from Bombay the rates of payment there, for different kinds and grades of work. I shall feel obliged, if you can send me immediately a statement of the corresponding rates that prevail here. On my part, I would wish the millowners to let us know the rates of payment to different sections, which they consider reasonable, stating, of course, that this co-operation from them did not mean that they were bound to accept the rates we may demand. If anyone of you presented himself at our deliberations and gave us your point of view, our resolution, whatever it be, was bound to be more well-informed. I have no class prejudices, and am not partial to the workers because they are workers. But I have a love for justice, and since it is often found to be on the side of workers, I happen to plead for them. Hence the general belief that I am partial to them. I am incapable of doing any harm to the great cotton industry of Ahmedabad. I hope, therefore, that your Association will give us every help in this difficult matter. I pray you will send your reply immediately, as I have told the workers that I will, if possible, declare the outcome of our deliberations on Wednesday at the latest. M. K. Gandhi" 26-2-'18 After a long delibe