Gandhi’s Life Mission

“Hind Swaraj” or “Indian Home Rule” was written in 1910 in 10 days on board a ship when Gandhi returned from England to South Africa. That was before he left South Africa for India. The book was mentioned by M. Chatterjee as “a very basic document for the study of Gandhi’s thought”. It is Gandhi’s seminal work. Gandhi felt that “modern civilisation” posed a greater threat than colonialism. In the preface he elaborated that “it is not the British who are responsible for the misfortunes of India but we who have succumbed to modern civilisation…”

In 1939, Gandhi wrote: ”The key to understand that incredibly simple booklet (Hind Swaraj) is to realise that it is not an attempt to go back to the so-called ignorant, dark ages. But it is an attempt to see beauty in voluntary simplicity, [voluntary] poverty and slowness. I have pictured that as my ideal”.