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FRAGMENTS OF A PRISONER'S DIARY
of facing the fact. Failed by the elders, the youth must find their way out of the crisis.
It is reported that the other day Margaret C. ger interviewed Mahatma Gandhi, and had a prolonge discussion with him on the question of birtlı-control. Since then, the controversy has been carried on in the press. The opposing arguments arc familiar enough. But the interesting point is that the Mahatma lisapproves not of birth-control as such, but the use of contraceptives for the purpose. He is of the opinion that married people should abstain from sex-intercourse, if they don't want children. He simply brushes aside the complications which will surely result from the proposed practice of married celibacy. He would not admit that this novel method of birth-control is a physical impossibility for the ordinary mortal made of flesh and blood.
Then, there arises the obvious question-Why marry at all ? Why does not the Mahatma recomment mass Brahmacharya ? Instead of making the curious proposition that each home should be transformed practically into a monastery, why not advise young men and women to become monks and nuns ? The answer is not difficult to find. For the Hindu, marriage is a religious duty. But then comes the contradiction : to breed is also a religious duty. According to Hinduism, the object 112
