The Danish Peace Academy
GANDHI AND NORDIC COUNTRIES
Collected by E. S. Reddy - EReddy@aol.com and Holger TerpLetter, January 24, 1920
Lahore,
January 24, 1920
My dear child,
I was delighted to receive your letter on my arrival in Lahore yesterday.
I am glad you have opened out your heart. It is the truest test of friendship and affection. You enable me to help you when you do open out. I had no notion that you had already observed Mrs. Gandhi’s pettiness. I simply warned you, as I asked you to come in closer touch with her. As it is, my warning reached you just in time. God will give you wisdom and courage to do the right thing at the right moment. Only remember one thing, never allow your spirit of sacrifice to go to the length of making you sour and disgusted with yourself or your surroundings. This is one of the sorest temptations to which workers are exposed. They go on sacrificing themselves till they become disgusted with everything and everybody for want of response. We sacrifice truly only when we expect no response. It is well worth knowing the root meaning of the word. It means, as you might know, ‘to make sacred.’ We make neither ourselves nor others sacred when we are irritated or angry. There is often more sacrifice - sacred making - in a divine smile than in so-called substantial sacrifice. The instances of Mary and Magdalene84 occur to me as I write these lines. Both were good but the one who simply waited upon her Lord without making any fuss was probably more self-sacrificing than the other. And so may it be with you. Do not overtax your spirit in trying to win over Mrs. Gandhi or anybody else. Immediately you find that you cannot get on with her, you must have a separate kitchen for yourself. You could still serve her but not be so intimate with her. Nothing that you do there should tire out either your spirit or your body.
Do please ask for every convenience you may need whether for food or otherwise. Ask Maganlal or Imam Saheb85 or anybody who has come nearer you.
Yes, Deepak is all you describe him. I would like you gently to get him to realize his responsibility and concentrate on his studies. Supervise his letter-writing. See that he writes fully and neatly to his mother every day.
My heart is with you in your sorrow. I can understand your desire to be with your brother in Denmark.86 But you have chosen a different path, a path that does not admit of exclusive service. May God give you strength for your task.
I agree with you about Mahadev. He is needlessly anxious about his health.87 He is prized not for his body but for his spirit. It must be a privilege for friends to nurse him in his illness.
With love,
Yours,
Bapu
Source: My Dear Child, pages 47-49; Collected Works, Volume 16, pages 499-500
84 This appears to be a slip for “Martha.”
85 Imam Abdul Kader Bawazir, an inmate of ashram. He had played a prominent role in the satyagraha in South Africa and served a term of imprisonment. Gandhi had high regard for him.
86 Miss Faering had written of her brother stricken with tuberculosis.
87 Mahadev Desai had told Miss Faering that he felt he had "no right or claim to live in the ashram when he so often fell ill."
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