‘I’m a mother to you’: Mahatma Gandhi to Manu Gandhi when she came to stay at the ashram with him

December 19, 1946, Srirampur

This afternoon Bhai and I reached Srirampur. At that time Bapuji was in conversation with persons from the Azad Hind Fauj (the INA). He looked at me and tweaking my ear said, “So, you’ve arrived?” Those persons left five to seven minutes later. Bapuji then enquired about my health. I asked, “How do I appear to you?” He replied, “Just as you were. But you seem to have put on some weight.” He asked Bhai, “When did you leave? Was it crowded on the way?” And went on to say to him, “I have received Manu’s letter.” When she came to Delhi, I had reasoned with her to stay with me, but her desire was to be with Umiya. She wrote a letter and left it for me. I liked it very much. Most probably I have written about it as well. After that, I came away to Bengal. One has to do or die here. I was not certain if Manu would be prepared to come here. You also wrote that the atmosphere around me was not good. In some ways, it pinched me to ask her to come. And so when this letter from Manu arrived,...

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