English - Lesson 14: "Stealing and Atonement" - a few extracts from Gandhiji's autobiography 'My experiments with truth' (PUBLIC EXAMINATION)

In this lesson you will read a few extracts from Gandhiji’s autobiography ‘My Experiments with Truth’. What does he reveal about himself? 

Were his childhood and teenage years like yours? 

Was he always truthful or did he learn to be truthful? 

Did he find it difficult to be truthful? 

Find out how he became convinced of the positive consequences of being truthful.

Let's read the lesson

A relative and I became fond of smoking. 

Not that we saw any good in smoking or were very fond of the smell of a cigarette. We simply imagined a sort of pleasure in emitting clouds of smoke from our mouths. 

My uncle had the habit, and when we saw him smoking, we thought we should copy his example. 

But we had no money. So, we began to collect stubs of cigarettes thrown away by my uncle.

The stubs, however, were not always available and could not emit much smoke either. 

So we began to steal coins from the servant’s pocket money in order to purchase Indian cigarettes. 

In the meantime, we heard that the stalks of a certain plant were porous and could be smoked like cigarettes. 

We got them and began this kind of smoking.

But we were far from being satisfied with such things as these. 

Our want of independence began to upset us. 

It was unbearable that we should be unable to do anything without the permission of our elders. 

At last, in sheer disgust, we decided to commit suicide!

But how were we to do it? From where were we to get the poison? 

We heard that dhatura seeds were an effective poison. 

Off we went to the jungle in search of these seeds, and we got them. 

Evening was thought to be an auspicious hour. 

We went to Kedarjee Mandir, put ghee in the temple lamp, had the darshan and then looked for a lonely corner. 

But our courage failed us. Supposing we were not instantly killed? 

And what was the good of killing ourselves? 

Why not rather put up with the lack of independence?

But we swallowed two or three seeds, nevertheless. 

We dared not take more. 

Both of us fought shy of death and decided to go to Ramji Mandir to compose ourselves, and to dismiss the thought of suicide.

I realised that it was not as easy to commit suicide as to think about it. 

The thought of suicide ultimately resulted in both of us bidding good-bye to the habit of smoking stubs of cigarettes and of stealing the servant’s coppers for the purpose of smoking.

Ever since I have grown up, I have never desired to smoke and always regard the habit of smoking as barbarous, dirty and harmful. 

I have never understood why there is such a rage for smoking throughout the world. 

I cannot bear to travel in a compartment full of people smoking. 

I become choked.

But much more serious than this was the theft I was guilty of a little later. 

I stole the coins when I was twelve or thirteen, possibly less. 

The other theft was committed when I was fifteen. 

In this case I stole a bit of gold out of my brother’s armlet. 

This brother had run into a debt of about twenty-five rupees. 

He had on his arm an armlet of solid gold. 

It was not difficult to clip a bit out of it.

Well, it was done, and the debt cleared. 

But this became more than I could bear. 

I resolved never to steal again. 

I also made up my mind to confess it to my father. 

But I did not dare to speak. 

Not that I was afraid of my father beating me. 

No. I do not recall his ever having beaten any of us. 

I was afraid of the pain that I should cause him. 

But I felt that the risk should be taken; that there could not be a cleansing without a confession.

I decided at last to write out the confession, to submit to my father, and ask for his forgiveness. 

I wrote it on a slip of paper and handed it to him myself. In this, not only did I confess my guilt, but I asked adequate punishment for it and closed with a request to him not to punish himself for my offence. 

I also pledged myself never to steal in future.

I was trembling as I handed the confession to my father. 

He was then confined to bed. 

His bed was a plain wooden plank. 

I handed him the note and sat opposite the plank.

He read it through, and tears trickled down his cheeks, wetting the paper. 

For a moment he closed his eyes in thought and then tore up the note. 

He had sat up to read it. 

He lay down again. I also cried. I could see my father’s agony. 

If I were a painter I could draw a picture of the whole scene today. 

It is still so vivid in my mind.

Those tears of love cleansed my heart and washed my sin away. 

Then I could read in it nothing more than a father’s love; but today, I know that it was pure Ahimsa. 

When there is such Ahimsa, it changes everything it touches. 

There is no limit to its power.

This kind of sublime forgiveness was not natural to my father. 

I had thought that he would be angry, say hard things, and strike his forehead. 

But he was so wonderfully peaceful, and I believe this was due to my clean confession. 

A clean confession, combined with a promise never to commit the sin again, is the purest type of repentance. 

I know that my confession made my father feel absolutely safe about me and increased his affection for me beyond measure.

– Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

(an adaptation from ‘My Experiments with Truth’)

TERMINAL QUESTIONS

1. Gandhiji and his friend smoked cigarette stubs and stalks of some plants. Do you think they were right in doing so? Give your opinion.

Gandhiji and his friend should not have smoked cigarette stubs because smoking is injurious to health.

2. Why did Gandhiji and his friend want to commit suicide? Do you think suicide is a solution to problems?

Gandhiji and his friend wanted to commit suicide as they felt unhappy that they needed permission from their elders to do anything. They wanted to be independent. They wanted to be able to act without taking permission from their elders. Committing suicide is definitely not a solution to any problem. We should rather face problems with courage.

3. Gandhiji took gold from his brother’s armlet. Do you think his action was correct or incorrect? Give reasons for your answer, in 20 – 30 words.

Gandhiji was wrong to have taken the gold from his brother’s armlet because he took it without telling his brother. This act was the same as stealing. Stealing is not justified, even if it is for a good cause.

4. Why did his father weep when he read Gandhiji’s confession?

Gandhiji’s father was angry and sad that his son had stolen something but pleased that he had shown honesty and courage and confessed his wrongdoing.

5. You see your friend stealing. How will you deal with the situation? What will you say or do? Answer in 20 – 30 words.

1. Tick the correct answer.

a. Who did Gandhiji try to imitate as a child?

i his father

ii. his friend

iii. his servant

iv. his uncle

b. From where did Gandhiji first get money to smoke Indian cigarettes?

i. he earned it

ii. from his father

iii. he stole it

iv. from his friend

c. Why did he and his friend go to Ramji Mandir?

i. to pray

ii. to make an offering

iii. to ask for cigarettes

iv. to calm themselves

2. Why did their courage fail them when they wanted to swallow the dhatura seeds?

Their courage failed them because they feared they would not die instantly and also because they were not sure whether killing themselves would solve their problem.

3. When did Gandhiji give up the idea of smoking?

Gandhiji and his friend gave up the idea of smoking after they had given up the idea of suicide.

4. How did Gandhiji regard the habit of smoking when he grew up?

When he grew up, he regarded smoking as barbarous, dirty and harmful.

1. How much was Gandhiji’s brother’s debt?

Gandhiji’s brother had run into a debt of about twenty-five rupees.

2. Why did Gandhiji take out a bit of gold from the armlet?

Gandhiji took the bit of gold as he had a plan/idea to use it to clear his brother’s debt.

3. What do you think Gandhiji did with the bit of gold?

Gandhiji sold the bit of gold and used the money he got by selling it to clear his brother’s debt.

or

He gave away the bit of gold in exchange for ending his brother’s debt.

4. Why did Gandhiji decide to confess to his father?

Gandhiji felt disturbed and unhappy after he took the gold from his brother’s armlet.

He realised he had done something wrong, but he felt this was not enough. He felt that a real and complete cleansing was possible only if he confessed.

5. Have you ever done something wrong to help someone close to you? How did you

feel afterwards? Write about it in approximately 100 words.

1. How did Gandhiji’s father react on reading his letter of confession?

Gandhiji’s father was overwhelmed and wept when he read his letter of confession.

2. Who taught Gandhiji the lesson on ‘Ahimsa’?

Gandhiji father taught him the lesson on ‘Ahimsa’.

3. ‘Ahimsa’ in the story means____________________________________________

In the story, ‘Ahimsa’ means to avoid causing pain, being violent and to bring about change in a peaceful and loving manner.

4. What according to Gandhiji is the purest type of repentance?

According to Gandhiji the purest type of repentance is a clean confession with a request for an adequate punishment for it, and a promise never to commit the wrong again.