GANDHI returns to the lands of Travancore.

Mohandas Karamchand, Mahatma GANDHI (1869.1948)

Autograph letter signed “Bapu” to Shanta S. Patel.

Three pages in-4° in English.

Travancore. January 17, 1937.

A paternal soul. Gandhi, intimate and caring, gives his advice to his protégé Shanta S. Patel.

“My dear Shanta, I always think of you & want to write to you but never get the time. I have gotten some tonight by accident. We are on a little launch which is taking hours instead of half an hour to reach our destination. Not knowing this I took no handmade paper with me. Hence this note machine made paper.

Bharatan must have told you all about our conversation. You should forget him. He is already engaged & is about to be married. I am sorry but you will, I have no doubt, appreciate the situation.

If you can work on at Maganwardi with complete self-possession, it is well. But if you find it difficult, we must think on the possibilities. I expect to reach there 24 ^th or 25 ^th .

I hope you are throngly restored. I had sent a wire inquiring about your health. I hope Fischer continues to like his work & to keep his health. I see from the papers that you are having very hot weather. Here we are walking. There is no winter in the south of India. Travancore. Love. Bapu. 17 1 37

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French version: “My dear Shanta, I always think of you and I want to write to you but I never find the time. Luckily I have some this evening. We are on a small boat that takes hours instead of half an hour to reach our destination. Not knowing this, I did not take handmade paper. Hence this note on machine paper. Bharatan must have told you everything about our conversation. You should forget it. He is already engaged and about to get married. I'm sorry but you will be able to adapt, I have no doubt, to the situation. If you can continue to work at Maganwardi with complete peace of mind, that's good. But if you find this difficult, we need to think about other possibilities. I expect to arrive there on the 24th or 25th. I hope you are perfectly well. I sent a telegram to inquire about your health. I hope Fischer continues to enjoy his work and maintains his good health. I see in the newspapers that you are having very hot weather. Here we walk. There is no winter in South India. Travancore. Bapu. 17 1 37.”

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The recipient of this letter is Shanta S. Patel, daughter of Shankarbhai Patel. His family was very close to that of Gandhi who behaved as a protector of Shanta, as evidenced by this letter and the rest of their correspondence (which began around 1930).

Gandhi's letters to Shanta form a correspondence of precepts and life advice, covering all aspects of the young girl's life, from morality to diet. Gandhi's paternal tone confirms the role of substitute father that he seems to have played with Shanta, whom he sometimes calls his “Dear daughter”.

Gandhi here asks him to give up a man who is already committed and about to get married. This fatherly advice was accompanied by an invitation to stay and work at Maganwardi, the name of Gandhi's "headquarters" established in Wardha, in central India. This is where Mahatma Gandhi settled in 1936 after a final stay in prison. He spent twelve years there, until his death in 1948.

Shanta's name reappears in Gandhi's pen a few months later, on August 4, 1937, when he writes "Did I tell you that Shanta didn't go to England?" […] She is very happy with Mahadev and very useful to him” Gandhi apparently found her a husband and a position, with Mahadev Desia, his personal secretary.

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Gandhi's trip to Travancore in January 1937 remains highly symbolic of the Mahatma's action in India, and an important episode in his life. Indeed, a few years earlier, in 1925, Gandhi had been refused access to the sanctuary of the Travancore temple, having only been allowed to walk around it. “I was not allowed to go to the inner sanctum because I had gone to England,” Gandhi complained in an article in his journal Navjivan titled “Darshan of Kanyakumari” (March 29, 1925).

Indeed, going abroad was considered taboo by Hindus of the time and those who violated this belief were refused entry to temples. These people could only enter the shrines after performing purification rituals.

In 1933, the King of Travancore Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma ended these restrictions imposed on account of foreign travel and other so-called impurities. In January 1937, the king invited Gandhi as a special guest for the historic ceremony at the temples of Travancore which finally opened its doors to all Hindus, including those of the lower castes.

Finally, the name of Fischer which is mentioned perhaps refers to the journalist Louis Fischer who was invited by Gandhi to spend a week with him and who remains one of his most famous biographers.