I was one of the Secretaries of the Reception Committee elected at a public meeting

I was one of the Secretaries of the Reception Committee elected at a public meeting in Colombo in connection with his visit to Ceylon in November 1927. That office gave me the rare privilege of being with him most of the fortnight he spent in Ceylon. Even after his visit to Ceylon I kept in touch with him by occasional correspondence with him and meeting him a number of times in India. I had also the good fortune of spending about three days with him at Sabarmati Ashram and a day at the Sewagram Ashram near Wardha.…In December 1928 I spent three memorable days at Sabarmati. I was accommodated at the hut of Shri Mahadev Desai, Gandhiji’s devoted secretary. The day after my arrival there Mother Kasturba Gandhi asked me to have the mid-day meal (lunch) with them at their hut. Gandhiji, myself and a friend sat (on the floor) together and the meal was served by Kasturba and Lakshmi, daughter of Rajaji who later married Devdas Gandhi. Food was served on metal plates and at the end of the meal I got up with the plate intending to wash and put it back in the kitchen. Kasturba wanted the plate to be given to her for washing but I said that I would do it myself and hesitated to give over the plate when Gandhiji told me that the washing of the plate was the duty of the host in the Ashram and that I should not break that rule. I of course had to submit to the order. There are no servants in the Ashram and the cooking, cleaning et cetera are done by the inmates themselves. At the time I was there, there were about 250 inmates-men, women and children engaged in various activities and the children were taught in a school there which later became known as the Gujarat Vidyapith. There was no corporal punishment in the school… I arrived on a day where Gandhiji was observing silence and when I went into his room he wrote on a piece of paper that he was glad that I had come to Sabarmati and that I should go round and study the activities of the Ashram and also the good work of Vallabhai Patel in Ahmedabad as its Mayor. The day before I was to leave Sabarmati I told him that I was leaving for Bombay the next day by the night train. He asked me to use one of the carts in the Ashram to go to the Ahmedabad Railway Station from Sabarmati, a distance of about five miles. But later I changed my mind in regard to the time of departure and wanted to take an earlier train at about 1p.m., so as to spend a few hours at Baroda on the way to Bombay. That morning I went to Gandhiji to tell him that I thought of leaving by an earlier train instead of by the night train. He asked me why I had changed my mind and I told him that I thought I could see a little of Baroda on my way if I left by the earlier train. He laughed heartily and said “you want to see Baroda for a few hours and like the Americans want to be able to swear on the Bible that you have seen Baroda.” I had nothing to say in reply and muttered that I would take the later train. He laughed again and said that there was no harm in seeing a little of Baroda and that I could take the earlier train.There was another incident which is worth recording. A wealthy lady had come to the Ashram and given a handsome donation towards its funds. The lady looked rather sorrowful and when questioned by the Mahatma she said that she had no children and was very unhappy. This provoked a characteristic reply from Gandhiji. He said to her that all over India there were thousands of children in great need and some of them orphans and she could adopt one or more of them and that she had a large field for selecting healthy and handsome children. It may be that a child born to her may be defective in body and mind and which may make her unhappy for life. He added that in adopting a child she could select one which satisfies her and that the fact that the child was not born to her should me of no concern as it was a matter of mere sentiment. He also said that in adopting such children she would be doing an act of merit in that it brings happiness and comfort to unfortunate children.