14. MY CHOICE :

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY:
THE STORY OF MY EXPERIMENTS WITH TRUTH
by Mohandas K. Gandhi




Dr. Mehta went on Monday to the Victoria Hotel, expecting to find me there. He discovered
that we had left, got our new address, and met me at our rooms. Through sheer folly I had
managed to get ringworm on the boat. For washing and bathing we used to have sea-water, in
which soap is not soluble. I, however, used soap, taking its use to be a sign of civilization, with
the result that instead of cleaning the skin it made it greasy. This gave me ringworm. I showed it
to Dr. Mehta, who told me to apply acetic acid. I remember how the burning acid made me cry.
Dr. Mehta inspected my room and its appointments and shook his head in disapproval. 'This
place won't do,' he said. 'We come to England not so much for the purpose of studies as for
gaining experience of English life and customs. And for this you need to live with a family. But
before you do so, I think you had better serve a period of apprenticeship with ---- . I will take you
there.'



I gratefully accepted the suggestion and removed to the friend's rooms. He was all kindness
and attention. He treated me as his own brother, initiated me into English ways and manners, and
accustomed me to talking the language. My food, however, became a serious question. I could
not relish boiled vegetables cooked without salt or condiments. The landlady was at a loss to
know what to prepare for me. We had oatmeal porridge for breakfast, which was fairly filling, but I
always starved at lunch and dinner. The friend continually reasoned with me to eat meat, but I
always pleaded my vow and then remained silent. Both for luncheon and dinner we had spinach
and bread and jam too. I was good eater and had a capacious stomach; but I was ashamed to
ask for more than two or three slices of bread, as it did not seem correct to do so. Added to this,
there was no milk either for lunch or dinner. The friend once got disgusted with this state of
things, and said: 'Had you been my own brother, I would have sent you packing. What is the
value of a vow made before an illiterate mother, and in ignorance of conditions here? It is no vow
at all. It would not be regarded as vow in law. It is pure superstition to sick to such a promise. And
I tell you this persistence will not help you to gain anything here. You confess to having eaten and
relished meat. You took it where it was absolutely unnecessary, and will not where it is quite
essential. What a pity!'
But I was adamant.



Day in and day out the friend would argue, but I had an eternal negative to face him with. The
more he argued, the more uncompromising I became. Daily I would pray for God's protection and
get it. Not that I had any idea of God. It was faith that was at work--faith of which the seed had
been sown by the good nurse Rambha.



One day the friend began to read to me Bentham's Theory of Utility. I was at my wits' end. The
language was too difficult for me to understand . He began to expound it. I said: 'Pray excuse me.
These abstruse things are beyond me. I admit it is necessary to eat meat. But I cannot break my
vow. I cannot argue about it. I am sure I cannot meet you in argument. But please give me up as
foolish or obstinate. I appreciate your love for me and I know you to be my well-wisher. I also
know that you are telling me again and again about this because you feel for me. But I am
helpless. A vow is a vow. It cannot be broken.'



The friend looked at me in surprise. He closed the book and said: 'All right. I will not argue any
more.' I was glad. He never discussed the subject again. But he did not cease to worry about me.
He smoked and drank, but he never asked me to do so. In fact, he asked me to remain away
from both. His one anxiety was lest I should become very weak without meat, and thus be unable
to feel at home in England.



That is how I served my apprenticeship for a month. The friend's house was in Richmond, and
it was not possible to go to London more than once or twice a week. Dr. Mehta and Sjt.
Dalpatram Shukla therefore decided that I should be put with some family. Sjt. Shukla hit upon an
Anglo-Indian's house in West Kensington and placed me there. The landlady was a widow. I told
her about my vow. The old lady promised to look after me properly, and I took up my residence in
the house. Here too I practically had to starve. I had sent for sweets and other eatables from
home, but nothing had yet come. Everything was insipid. Every day the old lady asked me
whether I liked the food, but what could she do? I was still as shy as ever and dared not ask for
more than was put before me. She had two daughters. They insisted on serving me with an extra
slice or two of bread. But little did they know that nothing less than a loaf would have filled me.




But I had found my feet now. I had not yet started upon my regular studies. I had just begun
reading newspapers, thanks to Sjt. Shukla. In India I had never read a newspaper. But here I
succeeded in cultivating a liking for them by regular reading. I always glanced over The Daily
News, The Daily Telegraph, and The Pall Mall Gazette. This took me hardly an hour. I therefore
began to wander about. I launched out in search of a vegetarian restaurant. The landlady had told
me that there were such places in the city. I would trot ten or twelve miles each day, go into a
cheap restaurant and eat my fill of bread, but would never be satisfied. During these wanderings I
once hit on a vegetarian restaurant in Farringdon Street. The sight of it filled me with the same joy
that a child feels on getting a thing after its own heart. Before I entered I noticed books for sale
exhibited under a glass window near the door. I saw among them Salt's Plea for Vegetarianism.
This I purchased for a shilling and went straight to the dining room. This was my first hearty meal
since my arrival in England. God had come to my aid.




I read Salt's book from cover to cover and was very much impressed by it. From the date of
reading this book, I may claim to have become a vegetarian by choice. I blessed the day on
which I had taken the vow before my mother. I had all along abstained from meat in the interests
of truth and of the vow I had taken, but had wished at the same time that every Indian should be a
meat-eater, and had looked forward to being one myself freely and openly some day, and to
enlisting others in the cause. The choice was now made in favour of vegetarianism, the spread of
which henceforward became my mission.



NEXT : 15. PLAYING THE ENGLISH GENTLEMAN :


Continues....