autobiography

The Story of My Experiments with Truth


Translated by (from Gujarati) :
Mahadev Desai

First Edition :
6,000 copies, 1927

Price : Rs. 50/-

ISBN 81-7229-008-X


Printed and Published by : Jitendra T. Desai
Navajivan Mudranalaya, Ahemadabad-380014 India

© Navajivan Trust, 19
27


INTRODUCTION

PART I

  Birth And Parentage

  Childhood

  Child Marriage

  Playing The Husband

  At The High School

  A Tragedy

  A Tragedy (Continued)

  Stealing And Atonement

  My Father's Death And My Double Shame

  Glimpses of Religion

  Preparation For England

  Outcaste

  In London At last

  My Choice

  Playing The English Gentleman

  Changes

  Experiments In Dietetics

  Shyness My Shield

  The Canker Of Untruth

  Acquaintance With Religions

  'Nirbal Ke Bala Rama'

  Narayan Hemchandra

  The Great Exhibition

  'Called' - But Then?

  My Helplessness

 

PART II

  Raychandbhai

  How I Began Life

  The First Case

  The First Shock

  Preparing For South Africa

  Arrival In Natal

  Some Experiences

  On The way To Pretoria

  More Hardships

  First Day In Pretoria

  Christian Contacts

  Seeking Touch With Indians

  What It Is To Be A 'Coolie'

  Preparation For The Case

  Religious Ferment

  Man Proposes, God Disposes

  Settled In Natal

  Colour Bar

  Natal Indian Congress

  Balasundaram

  The 3 Tax

  Comparative Study Of Religions

  As A Householder

  Homeward

  In India

  Two Passions

  The Bombay Meeting

  Poona And Madras

  'Return Soon'

 

PART III

  Rumblings Of The Storm

  The Storm

  The Test

  The Calm After The Storm

  Education Of Children

  Spirit Of Service

  Brahmacharya - I

  Brahmacharya - II

  Simple Life

  The Boer War

  Sanitary Reform And Famine Relief

  Return To India

  In India Again

  Clerk And Bearer

  In The Congress

  Lord Curson's Darbar

  A Month With Gokhale - I

  A Month With Gokhale - II

  A Month With Gokhale - III

  In Benaras

  Settled In Bombay

  Faith On Its Trail

  To South Africa Again

 

PART IV

  'Love's Labour's Lost'

  Autocrats From Asia

  Pocketed The Insult

  Quickened Spirit Of Sacrifice

  Result Of Introspection

  A Sacrifice To Vegetarianism

  Experiments In Earth And Water Treatment

  A Warning

  A Tussle With Power

  A Sacred Recollection And Penance

  Intimate European Contacts

  European Contacts (Continued)

  Indian Opinion

  Coolie Locations Or Ghettos?

  The Black Plague-I

  The Black Plague-II

  Location In Flames

  The Magic Spell Of A Book

  The Phoenix Settlement

  The First Night

  Polak Takes The Plunge

  Whom God Protects

  A Peep Into The Household

  The Zulu 'Rebellion'

  Heart Searchings

  The Birth Of Satyagraha

  More Experiments In Dietetics

  Kasturba's Courage

  Domestic Satyagraha

  Towards Self -Restraint

  Fasting

  As Schoolmates

  Literary Training

  Training Of The Spirit

  Tares Among The Wheat

  Fasting As Penance

  To Meet Gokhale

  My Part In The War

  A Spiritual Dilemma

  Miniature Satyagraha

  Gokhale's Charity

  Treatment of Pleurisy

  Homeward

  Some Reminiscences Of The Bar

  Sharp Practice?

  Clients Turned Co-Workers

  How A Client Was Saved

 

PART V

  The First Experience

  With Gokhale In Poona

  Was It A Threat?

  Shantiniketan

  Woes Of Third Class Passengers

  Wooing

  Kumbha Mela

  Lakshman Jhula

  Founding of The Ashram

  On The Anvil

  Abolition Of Indentured Emigration

  The Stain Of Indigo

  The Gentle Bihari

  Face To Face With Ahimsa

  Case Withdrawn

  Methods Of Work

  Companions

  Penetrating The Villages

  When A Governor Is Good

  In Touch With Labour

  A Peep Into The Ashram

  The Fast

  The Kheda Satyagraha

  'The Onion Thief'

  End Of Kheda Satyagraha

  Passion For Unity

  Recruiting Campaign

  Near Death's Door

  The Rowlatt Bills And My Dilemma

  That Wonderful Spectacle!

  That Memorable Week! - I

  That Memorable Week! - II

  'A Himalayan Miscalculation'

  Navajivan And Young India

  In The Punjab

  The Khilafat Against Cow Protection?

  The Amritsar Congress

  Congress Initiation

  The Birth Of Khadi

  Found At Last!

  An Instructive Dialogue

  Its Rising Tide

  At Nagpur

  Farewell