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A Tragedy by M. Gandhi
The Story of My Experiments with Truth is the autobiography of Mohandas K. Gandhi,
covering his life from early childhood through to 1921. It was written in weekly installments and
published in his journal Navjivan from 1925 to 1929. Its English translation also appeared in
installments in his other journal Young India. The first part narrates incidents of Gandhi's
childhood, his experiments with eating meat, smoking, drinking, stealing and subsequent
atonement. There are two texts that had a lasting influence on Gandhi, both of which he read in
childhood. He records the profound impact of the play Harishchandra and says,"I read it with
intense interest...It haunted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without
number. A Tragedy is the sixth chapter of this book.
Critical Appreciation:

Going against the warnings of his wife and family, Gandhi befriends a young man with a
bad reputation whom he seeks to reform. Uh-oh.

The friend reveals to him that many people secretly eat meat in violation of customs and
religion. The friend also says eating meat makes the English occupiers physically bigger
and stronger than the Indians.

Under his friend's bad influence and seeking strength for himself and his countrymen so
they may someday throw off English rule, Gandhi sets a date with his friend to eat meat
which Gandhi refers to as an experiment.

The day arrives. Gandhi and his friend sneak off to eat meat. The goat meat makes
Gandhi sick. That night, he dreams of a live goat bleating inside him, and he feels full of
remorse.

But, he continues to eat with the friend and lies to his family about it. The lying gets to
him, though, so he stops eating meat and never takes it up again for the rest of his life.

The friend also takes Gandhi to a brothel. But, our autobiography-ing hero is too nervous
to sleep with the sex worker. He says going at all, though, counts as a moral failing.

Finally, the friend stokes Gandhi's jealousy about his wife.

Gandhi's suspicions about her are not rooted out until later in life, he says, when he
comes to understand ahimsa, which literally means non-violence.

As an adult, when he thinks back to his days with this friend, he deplores his devotion to
him.

In Tragedy, Gandhii says about the relationship with that friend: Amongst my few friends at the
high school i had, at different times. This latter friendship I regard as a tragedy in my life. It
lasted long. I formed it in the spirit of a reformer.

This companion was originally Gandhis elder brother's friend. They were classmates. He
knew his weaknesses, but regarded him as a faithful friend. His mother, eldest brother, and wife
warned him that I was in bad company. But he was too proud to heed his wife's warning. He
pleaded with them saying, 'I know he has the weaknesses you attribute to him, but you do not
know his virtues. He cannot lead me astray, as my association with him is meant to reform him.
For I am sure that if he reforms his ways, he will be a splendid man. I beg you not to be anxious
on my account.'
Unfortunately that exactly has happened. The friend led Gandhiji astray and made him eat meat.
It was a horrible experience which Gandhiji considered as a tragedy of his life. He explains this
incidence with pain and repentence in this chapter.
In Tragedy, Gandhiji says that a wave of 'reform' was sweeping over Rajkot at the time
when I first came across this friend. He informed Gandhiji that many of our teachers
were secretly taking meat and wine. He also named many well-known people of Rajkot
as belonging to the same company. There were also some high-school boys among them.
He says: I was a coward. I used to be haunted by the fear of thieves, ghosts, and
serpents. I did not dare to stir out of doors at might. Darkness was a terror to me. It was
almost impossible for me to sleep in the dark, as I would imagine ghosts coming from
one direction, thieves from another, and serpents from a third. I could not therefore
bear to sleep without a light in the room.
Therefore, it began to grow on Gandhiji that meat-eating was good, that it would make
him strong and daring, and that if the whole country took to meat-eating, the English
could be overcome.
A day was thereupon fixed for beginning the experiment. It had to be conducted in
secret. The Gandhis were Vaishnavas. My parents were particularly staunch Vaishnavas.
They would regularly visit the Haveli. The family had even its own temples. Jainism was
strong in Gujarat, and its influence was felt everywhere and on all occasions. The
opposition to and abhorrence of meat-eating that existed in Gujarat among the Jains
and Vaishnavas were to be seen nowhere else in India or outside in such strength.
Therefore, in his opinion he turned out to be a sinner after the meat-eating incident.
And the friendship became a tragedy of Gandhijis life.

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