The Danish Peace Academy

GANDHI AND NORDIC COUNTRIES

Letter, undated, 1918

Bombay,

1918

My dear Esther,

This is my first attempt to write after the relapse.⁵⁵

Though I am not quite clear about your course of duty, I suppose it is as well that you responded to Mr. Andrews’ appeal.⁵⁶ I myself doubt the utility of your going there. Your letters to follow will make this point clear. I am very, very sorry that you are not at the ashram, during this long vacation. The enforced separation however brings you closer to the ashram.

You will be glad to hear that I daily wear the vests made by you. They are a perpetual reminder of your long service.

I am feeling better for the last two days but no progress like this can be considered reliable until it lasts a fortnight or so.

More from Mahadev.⁵⁷

With love,

Yours,

Bapu

Source:My Dear Child, page 31; Collected Works, Volume 15, pages 68-69

[Gandhi wrote to C.F. Andrews on January 6, 1919:

“So far as my convenience is concerned your having sent Miss Faering to Bolpur was all right. But I did consider your action impulsive. As you assure me that she entirely filled your place I can have nothing more to say. But I felt upon Miss Faering’s letter that she could not very well take the higher English classes, or for that matter, even the lower classes at Santiniketan. I suppose there is nothing insurmountable for one possessing the faith that Miss Faering does abundantly and she has succeeded where thousands would have failed. Has she taken her discharge from the Danish Mission, because you talk of her coming to me after her finishing Bolpur? If she has got her discharge without causing any bad feeling, it is a great thing….” The Diary of Mahadev Desai; Collected Works, Volume 15, pages 69-70]

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