96. The Will and The Deed

The Congress Secretary at Kotri (Sindh), in presenting a purse of Rs. 200 to Gandhiji on the occasion of the latter's visit to the town during his Sindh tour, apologized on behalf of the people for the paucity of the sum by expressing the hope that Gandhiji would not look at 'the sum but the spirit behind it and accept the will for the deed. Gandhiji; commenting on it, said that one could accept the will for the deed only when the deed represented the maximum sacrifice that one was capable of. The 62 students of Kandiara who had presented Rs 65 could make that plea, but in their case they had paid nothing in proportion to their capacity to pay. He, therefore, refused to accept their plea and hoped that they would still retrieve their position by increasing their subscription.

The earnestness of the appeal obviously moved the audience deeply, for they instantly responded by increasing their purse from Rs 200 to Rs 500.