He tried to provide legal mediation between an acquaintance and his brother, but their relationship only worsened. His education and credentials ultimately failed to repair or prevent many of the mistakes he and others made.

Once he was back in India, Gandhi lost some confidence in his decision to practice law. He completed his studies, passed the barrister exams, and enrolled in the Indian courts. Gandhi’s mother disapproved of his plan, and he tried to placate her by renouncing wine, women, and meat while in England. He remained there only for a semester then, he traveled to England, with the intention of doing three years of prerequisite coursework to become a barrister. His later activist work was heavily informed by his early losses and mistakes.Īfter the death of his father, Gandhi decided to study at a local college in Bhavnagar, Samaldas College. Another of Gandhi’s most formative experiences was the early death of his father, Karamchand Gandhi. Gandhi married when he was only thirteen, and expresses deep regret for it, calling it “preposterously early” and fully denouncing its moral basis. The latter play, in which the central figure Shravana realizes a deep respect for his parents, moved Gandhi to do the same. He explores some of his first favorite books, including the plays Harishchandra and Shravana Pitrabhakti Nataka. He admits to stealing and drinking excessively – all actions from which he now aspires to redeem himself. Gandhi recalls eating meat, a practice he later renounced, and relates that he had a rather hedonistic lifestyle in general. The beginning of the autobiography traces Gandhi’s childhood and young adult life in Rajkot and Porbandar. Gandhi expresses ambivalence about the usefulness of the typical autobiography, a Western literary invention. He also claims that the book is moral and spiritual in nature, mostly straying from politics. In the book’s introduction, Gandhi disclaims that the opinions and ideas expressed in his autobiography are subject to change and that its purpose is not to relay a static picture of himself, but to show how personal truths evolve over time. The book has been recognized as one of the most important spiritual works of the twentieth century. The autobiography seeks to explain the experiential roots of Gandhi’s activist vocation. Gandhi was compelled to write the autobiography by his close friend, Swami Anand, who would become his literary manager. Published in a weekly journal, Navjivan, between 19, it covers the span of time between Gandhi’s early childhood through roughly 1921.

The Story of My Experiments with Truth is the autobiography of Indian activist Mohandas K.

Mahatma gandhi autobiography in english