大象传媒

Checking the chronology of events this incident must have occurred sometime before the monsoon possibly April or May 1944.
The Indian Leader, Mahatma Gandhi, had registered his displeasure at something by going on a hunger strike which had lasted several weeks until he was at the point of death. Then his matter of principle was accepted and the hunger strike had ended, leaving him in a very weakened state. One of his supporters owned a large bungalow on Juhu Beach some half a mile away from our own C.O.B.U. Headquarters, and offered Gandhi the use of this residence for his recuperation which he accepted.
As his physical condition improved he began to hold political meetings on the beach outside this bungalow, to which large numbers of Indians attended. One of his supporters was the daughter of a British Admiral, a Miss Slade, considered by the military as something of a crank, but no doubt she was sincere in her belief. We were advised to keep away from these meetings, but curiosity was strong and I sometimes walked down the beach in the evening to see what was happening. They always seemed peaceful enough, and of course Gandhi's principle had always been non-violence, although his followers did not always adhere to his direction in this respect.
In the weeks before the monsoon the temperature tended to increase, often up to 100 degrees F or even more, but soon after dawn, before the sun gained its full power the heat was quite tolerable and I found it pleasant to get up early and walk a mile or so down the fine sandy beach before breakfast.
I did this one morning and noticed two figures approaching in the distance. One of them was carrying something. As we got nearer I could see it was a wicker chair which he put just inside the water and his companion sat in it. When I got level I could see it was Gandhi himself. I felt I ought to say something so opened up with, 'Good Morning Mr Gandhi, I hope your health is improving.' He seemed pleased at this greeting and assured me it was. We then spoke of his 'Quit Indian' Campaign and I assured him that all the troops I had spoken to would be delighted to do just that, when we were able to do so. And so we parted on the best of terms.
In retrospect it seemed a slightly odd conversation between a young representative of the occupying power and an ageing leader of the Independence movement, but it was perfectly amicable, and a great experience to have chatted to one of the architects of modern India.
I was saddened to read of his assassination some years later.

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