71. A Rebuke to Students

At Sukkur the students presented Gandhiji with an address. Gandhiji was asked to give his opinion on some ethical questions that did not seem to be in keeping with the atmosphere. Upon cross-examination the students admitted that they had not been consulted about the address before or after it was drafted. The unreality of the whole business hurt Gandhiji. He described it as an unconscious untruth.

"You have presented me with an address," he told them, "whose contents you do not know. You have praised Khadi in your address but you have come dressed in foreign cloth. You have asked me questions which appear to be a mere pose. You wasted your good time which you could have much better utilized by sweeping clean the street of Shikarpur or doing some other piece of honest labour and giving the earning to the Lalaji Memorial Fund. Knowledge can be imparted to the jijnasu only. But seeing that you never knew the contents of the address, you could have no desire to know the answers. I must therefore decline to take them seriously. If the framer wishes to have the answers he must seek another opportunity."