Saturday Story from Siva (13): The Story of MK Gandhi and His Experiments With Truth

Hi,

Good morning! Today is 2nd October, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a man who preached and practised truth and non-violence and made an enormous difference with a significant impact on the lives of billions of people around the world. Here is an excerpt from his autobiography, “The Story of My Experiments With Truth”...

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An Excerpt from "The Story of My Experiments With Truth"

By Mohandas K Gandhi

There was an incident during the time when I was in the seventh standard. Dorabji Edulji Gimi was the headmaster then. He had made gymnastics and cricket compulsory for boys of the upper standards. I disliked both. The reason of my dislike for gymnastics was my keen desire to serve as nurse to my father. As soon as the school closed, I would hurry home and begin serving him. Compulsory exercise came directly in the way of this service. I requested Mr. Gimi to exempt me from gymnastics so that I might be free to serve my father. But he would not listen to me.

Now it so happened that one Saturday, when we had school in the morning, I had to go from home to the school for gymnastics at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. I had no watch, and the clouds deceived me. Before I reached the school the boys had all left. The next day Mr. Gimi, examining the roll, found me marked absent. Being asked the reason for absence, I told him what had happened. He refused to believe me and ordered me to pay a fine of one or two annas (I cannot now recall how much).

I was convicted of lying! That deeply pained me. How was I to prove my innocence? There was no way. I cried in deep anguish. I saw that a man of truth must also be a man of care. This was the first and last instance of my carelessness in school.

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A man of truth must also be a man of care. Else, one should be prepared to pay the price, the way Gandhi ji did it at that instance. But the realization helped him becoming more careful and remaining a man of truth. Truthfulness helps build trust among people, and therefore it is said to be the foundation of all human virtues. Truth Alone Triumphs. It’s just a matter of time.

You can read an online copy of “The Story of My Experiments With Truth” of MK Gandhi at the link given below:

http://www.mkgandhi.org/linktoautobio.htm

To your continued SUCCESS,

With love and regards,

Siva