Gandhi And Jainism

Author(s): Shugan C Jain
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 49

had started putting him in hard spot as he was told of almost impossibility of living in England without eating meat. His shyness rubbed salt to his pain. All such incidences made him a loner. 3
Arrival in Southampton was also a nightmare. His wearing white flannels, he preserved for use in England, became an object of ridicule as well as his being turned away from the first hotel he went to stay.
The initial hotel where Gandhi stayed was not only expensive but the vegetarian food there inedible also. His meeting Dr. Pranjivan Mehta* (a family acquaintance from India) gave him the first lessons of way of life in England as well as introduction to a friend to share room with and balance the budget etc. This friend was kind and caring and tried to change his eating habit but in vain (practice of Ramanama he learnt earlier came in handy to gather courage to resist). His house was in Richmond and he could hardly go to London even once a week. He stayed there for the first month.
Dr. Pranjivan Mehta then arranged another family guest house run by a widow in South Kensington. The land lady did suggest some vegetarian restaurants for which he used to walk a lot to find one suitable for food. On one such walk he found the book Salt's Plea for Vegetarianism displayed in the window of a vegetarian restaurant. He purchased the book and went straight to their dining room to have his first hearty meal in England. Prior to this, his own vegetarian practice was due to the promise he made to his mother, but Salt's text allowed him to formulate his own intellectual understanding such that he developed his own personal commitment to the diet. As a result, he began sharing his newly oriented perspective with others, advocating the nutrition, health, hygiene, and economic benefits to friends and colleagues. Later, Gandhi also came to understand vegetarianism as an essential aspect of spiritual purification and ultimate salvation. He read many more such books on dietetics to be better informed and convinced.
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