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on the supply of varieties ordered. There were no regular hours for meals. I personally preferred having the last meal before nightfall. Nevertheless as a rule it could not be had before eight or nine."
I nearly ruined my constitution during the recruitment campaign. In those days my food principally consisted of groundnut butter and lemons. .... This gave a serious attack of dysentery. I did not take serious notice of this, and went that evening to Ashram, as my wont every now and then. I scarcely took any medicine those days. I thought I should get well if I skipped a meal next day. I knew, however, that to be entirely free I must prolong my fast and, if I ate anything at all, I should have nothing but fruit juice. There was some festival that day, and although I had told Kasturba that I should have nothing for my midday meal, she tempted me and I succumbed. As I was under a vow of not taking any milk or milk product, she had specially prepared for me a sweat wheaten porridge with oil added to it instead of ghi. She had reserved a bowl of mung for me too. I was fond of these things and I readily took them, hoping that without coming to grief I should eat just enough to please Kasturba and to satisfy my palate. But the devil had been waiting for an opportunity. Instead of eating very little I had my fill of the meal. This was sufficient invitation to the angel of death. Within an hour dysentery appeared in acute form. The same evening I had to go to Nadiad where dysentery continued in spite of treatment (I refused to take any external medicine)... Sheth Ambalal with his good wife came down to Nadiad, conferred with my co-workers and removed me with greatest care to his Mirzapur bungalow in Ahmedabad. It was impossible for anyone to receive more loving and selfless service than I had the privilege of having during this illness. Surrounded as I was with all the love and attention that could be showered on me under Sheth Ambalal's roof, I began to get redress and urged him to remove me to the Ashram. At Ashram, a number of doctors came and advised eggs or advised meat broth instead of milk. But for all of them his answer was NO. He said "for me the question of diet was not one to be determined on the authority of Shastras. It was the one interwoven with my course of life which is guided by principles no longer depending on outside authority. I had no
Pg. 102 | Gandhi & Jainism
