Enter the Monkeys

Of course you've heard of the three monkeys that are always mentioned along with Gandhi's name. But have you also heard of how they came to be with him in the first place? Find out from this recollection by someone who worked with both Tagore and Gandhi.

Most of the people who came to see Gandhi sought his advice on something or the other. But one day came a party of visitors from China. "Gandhiji, we have brought you a small gift," they said. "It is no bigger than a child's toy, but it is famous in our country." To Gandhi's delight it was a set of the three monkeys that were later to become so well-known and to be kept carefully by him for the rest of his life.

(Majorie Sykes was born in 1905, and obtained a Teacher's Diploma from Cambridge in 1927. She came to India to teach at Madras, then went on to Shantiniketan during 1938-47.

She came to Sevagram in 1948 to work in the Nai Talim School. Later she worked at Hoshangabad. She passed away in April 1996 in England.)