 'My experiments with truth' is an autobiography by Mahatma Gandhi where there is personal account of the life of a man who freed India from colonization through different non-violent riots like Satyagraha and many other movements. In this book the early boyhood life of the leader is clearly depicted. His legal studies, purification and ultimate salvation of his homeland are very elaborately illustrated in this inspiring and critical work of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi or Bapuji. He was born on 2nd October 1869. The place was an obscure town near Bombay, India. He was the sixth and youngest child of the family. When he was born, his father was 48 years old and his mother was in her early twenties. His father had about Grade 3 education and served as a Diwan, or an adviser to one of the small states in Gujarat province. His mother was illiterate. In his childhood Gandhi was very shy and timid. At the age of thirteen he was married to Kasturba. The marriage affected his schooling a little but soon he was able to catch up. His father died when Gandhi was still in Grade 10. Though a below-average student, Gandhi became the first person in his family to complete a high school education. After that he joined a college, but failed very poorly and dropped out after just three months. Upon the suggestion of a family adviser Gandhiji went to England for 3 years to earn the Barrister's title. After taking vows that he would not touch meat, women and wine, he obtained his mother's consent to go to abroad. To raise the necessary funds, his brother sold some of the family land and his wife sold most of her jewelry. When he was about to depart, the community decreed that anyone who crossed the seas, or anyone who assisted someone in the crossing of the seas, would be outcast. Gandhi tried his best to plead with them, but to no avail. Finally, with the help of a third party and with the risk of being outcast, Gandhi succeeded in getting the funds released and buying the ticket. In this way Gandhiji managed to leave India in September 1888, at the age of 18. Synopsis of My Experiments with Truth: 'My experiments with truth' is somewhat unusual autobiography by Mahatma Gandhi. It is as remarkable for what Gandhi decides to leave out as for what he includes. He obviously didn't intend to deal with every major event, and delve into every area. It is less a comprehensive narrative than it is a series of reflections on his life. Some have also criticized the book as because he deals with some intricacies of life such as what kind of diet he would follow than many of the great historical achievements of his life, etc. This book My experiments with truth' is very inspiring in some cases as after reading this book any reader can feel the urge to become a vegetarian. And this can be the reason why he explained his diet in an explicit manner. This book also deals with most of Gandhi's writing. This can be said that when he writes the readers get the sense that he is giving his unedited thoughts. During even the greatest crises in his struggle for Indian independence, Gandhi's writings have the quality of a transcription of what he is thinking. Gandhi revealed precisely what he was thinking without giving any figure. The almost complete lack of artifice in his writing is one of the most impressive aspects of his writing as a whole and of his autobiography in particular. The book My experiments with truth' is full of his honesty, his humility, and his intensity, which is indeed overwhelming and passionate. This is not a literary masterpiece. Gandhi was not a great writer. He used to write his own work in his own words. He was unquestionably one of the towering figures of the 20th century, but it was because of what he did, not because of what he wrote. As a whole Gandhi was a notable character of out nation and his write-ups are really very informative as well as interesting. (Last Updated on : 19-06-2012) |
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