Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Editor's introduction
- A note on the history of the text
- Principal events in Gandhi's life
- Biographical synopses
- Guide to further reading
- Glossary and list of abbreviations
- HIND SWARAJ
- SUPPLEMENTARY WRITINGS
- Gandhi's letter to H. S. L. Polak
- Gandhi's letter to Lord Ampthill
- Preface to Gandhi's edition of the English translation of Leo Tolstoy's Letter to a Hindoo
- Gandhi–Tolstoy letters
- Gandhi–Wybergh letters
- Gandhi–Nehru letters
- Economic development and moral development (1916)
- Gandhi on machinery, 1919–47
- Constructive programme: its meaning and place (1941), 1945
- Gandhi's ‘Quit India’ speech, 1942
- Gandhi's message to the nation issued before his arrest on 9 August 1942
- Gandhi's political vision: the Pyramid vs the Oceanic Circle (1946)
- Draft Constitution of Congress, 1948
- Bibliography
- Index
Gandhi's letter to H. S. L. Polak
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 November 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Editor's introduction
- A note on the history of the text
- Principal events in Gandhi's life
- Biographical synopses
- Guide to further reading
- Glossary and list of abbreviations
- HIND SWARAJ
- SUPPLEMENTARY WRITINGS
- Gandhi's letter to H. S. L. Polak
- Gandhi's letter to Lord Ampthill
- Preface to Gandhi's edition of the English translation of Leo Tolstoy's Letter to a Hindoo
- Gandhi–Tolstoy letters
- Gandhi–Wybergh letters
- Gandhi–Nehru letters
- Economic development and moral development (1916)
- Gandhi on machinery, 1919–47
- Constructive programme: its meaning and place (1941), 1945
- Gandhi's ‘Quit India’ speech, 1942
- Gandhi's message to the nation issued before his arrest on 9 August 1942
- Gandhi's political vision: the Pyramid vs the Oceanic Circle (1946)
- Draft Constitution of Congress, 1948
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In 1909 Henry Polak, one of Gandhi's close friends, was on a visit to India to lobby for South African Indians. In this letter Gandhi gives him a preview of HS.
[Ed.]London October 14,1909
My dear Henry,
… As you will be seeing practically the whole of India – a privilege I have myself not yet been able to enjoy – I think I should jot down the definite conclusions to which I have almost arrived after more matured observations made here.
The thing was brewing in my mind, but there was no certain clear light. The heart and brain became more active after I accepted the invitation of the Peace and Arbitration Society to speak to them on ‘East and West’. It came off last night. I think this meeting was a splendid success; they were earnest folk, but some insolent questions were put on the South African situation. You will not be surprised to learn that even in Hampstead there were men enough to stand up for the tragedy in South Africa, and to talk all the claptrap about the Indian trader being a canker, and what not. A dear old lady got up and said that I had uttered disloyal sentiments and, just as we have to deal with idolaters in South Africa who would think of and cling to form and superficiality as in the case of finger-impressions, so had I last night in the Friends’ Meeting House.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Gandhi: 'Hind Swaraj' and Other Writings , pp. 129 - 133Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1997