Jottings - slice of life - 173 (Gandhi, Gk Chesterton - and the writing of the book “Hind Swaraj” or “Home rule” )
Jottings - slice of life - 173 (Gandhi, Gk Chesterton - and the writing of the book “Hind Swaraj” or “Home rule” ) The transformation of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi from a suit clad aspiring lawyer in London and South Africa to a loin draped messiah of Indian freedom struggle – is a larger than life story, etched in Indian psyche so deep that it is now impossible to understand the origins of such a transformation in any other terms than destiny, divinity and genius of the Man himself. Twentieth century has made him an international Icon, whose statuary presence frozen and sculpted in the image of his childlike toothless smile, long aquiline nose, cane in hand and a long confident stride has become synonymous with inspiration, integrity, commitment to freedom, and honesty. In case of a man of such an image in the collective public mind, it becomes difficult to isolate fact from fiction, myth from reality, and often times, we come to believe what we inherit and taught, and tend to ign