E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi – His Life & TimesThe next morning, I heard Sushila Pie, a schoolteacher who had joined Gandhi'sstaff, singing in the next room. When she came out on to the veranda I askedwhy she had been singing.'Because I am happy,' she replied.'And why are you happy?'We are happy because we are near Bapu,' she said.Jayaprakash and I were leaving that day for Bombay; Prabhavati was stayingwith Gandhi. She had worked with Gandhi for many years. The women in theMahatma s entourage—Miss Slade, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Sushila Nayyar,Prabhavati Narayan and others—loved Gandhi and he loved them. It was afather-daughter relationship of more than usual warmth and interdependence.Miss Slade became physically ill on a number of occasions when she wasseparated from Bapu or when she was worried about his health. Her bond withhim was one of the remarkable platonic associations of our age. He often saidto her, 'When this body is no more there will not be separation, but I shall benearer to you. The body is a hindrance.'Rajkumari and Miss Slade would kiss his hand; he would stroke their cheeks. Hesaid that he deliberately surrounded himself with women to prove that hismastery over 'lust' was not achieved by avoiding women. But after his 'lustdream' in 1936 he took a six weeks' silence and did not put his hand on women'sshoulders. He told his women secretaries about that dream before he wrote ofit in Harijan. He shared his innermost thoughts with them.Some of the female disciples were jealous when Gandhi appeared to favour oneabove the other. He was aware of it and tried to be impartial. He enjoyed theircompany and devotion. Whether they did not marry because of attachment tohim or whether they were attached to him because they would not marry it isfolly to guess. One was married but remained continent. They were all valiantAmazons of his causes.Tagore, who loved Gandhi, wrote of the Mahatma, 'He condemns sexual life asinconsistent with the moral progress of man and has a horror of sex as great aswww.mkgandhi.org Page 497