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Midnapur,
July 6, 1925
My dearest Mirabai,
I have your letter of sweet rebuke. May your striving succeed. Do you think that
I am willfully holding back? Nothing will keep me, not even you, from a forward
movement when I have the call from within. Do I not remember those pearl drops
you shed from your big eyes when you peremptorily asked me to go to the Punjab?
I could not go then. But I did not stop a moment when I felt the call. No doubt
those hot tears had their inevitable melting effect on some snowy parts lurking
unconsciously within me. By all means therefore continue to strive and deliver
your non-violent blows. I shall never misunderstand you or be angry with you. I
want you to act on me. Believe me, I am as impatient as you are to go forward. I
feel that we are going forward, appearances to the contrary notwithstanding.
Only I have not the immediate hope of 1921. That was a new birth and the joyous
hope of it. Today the hope is there but it is based on mature experience and
calculation. However I am watching every movement in the Indian sky. Above all I
am praying. Yes, the self-deprecation is there. We do need to be humble and purify ourselves.
Your estimate of Deshbandhu is perfect. I am thankful to God for those
precious days at Darjeeling. Having put the cup to my lips cruel fate has dashed
it before me as if to mock me.
With love to you and Padmaja,
Yours sincerely,
M.K. Gandhi
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