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FRAGMENTS OF A PRISONER'S DIARY
material life and removal of moral or religious taboos upon the fulfilment of those necessities provide the incentive for industrial progress and commercial expansion. You cannot lcad a nation out of mediaeval backwardness without raising the standard of living of the masses. Therefore, the cult of simple life constitutes a decisive check for Indian renaissance; the “spiritualist" doctrine of renunciation of things temporal is a deadweight upon the movement which would make of India a modern nation, politically frec, economically prosperous and socially progressive.
There is no hope for India unless the masses of her people get over the ridiculous shame to live. Notwithstanding all spiritualist cant, they love life just as much as any other people. Only tradition and rcligious dogmas prohibit them to live spontaneously. Thcy forego things temporal not by choice, but under obligation. Life being a night. mare to them, they naturally listen to the suicidal doctrine of running away from it. But the indifference to the amenities of life is not a virtue; it is cultivated hypocrisy. A culture based on hypocrisy is immoral. Hypocrisy corrupts the spirit of man; prejudice precludes intellectual freedom; superstition obstructs moral elevation; it is antagonistic even to honest faith which constitutes the foundation of a spontaneous religious life.
In short, Indians must learn to love life, if they
