Читать книгу Gandhi and Rajchandra - Uma Majmudar - Страница 12

Being an adherer to truth, once Gandhi was convinced about any idea, cause, or principle, he would practice it first himself and then only propagate it to enlist others. With a missionary’s zeal, therefore, Gandhi joined the London Vegetarian Society (LVS) in 1890—his most timely and propitious decision—which introduced him to some of the most prominent Victorian vegetarians of England: Henry Salt, Anna Kingsford, Dr. Allison, Joshua Oldfield, Edward Maitland, Howard Williams, and others. Earlier, in 1888, on behalf of the LVS, Gandhi had launched a weekly paper—Vegetarian—for the “Promotion of Humanity, Purity, Temperance, Health, Wealth, and Happiness” (Hunt, 1978, 20–30). Also as an elected secretary of the LVS in 1890, Gandhi undertook the responsibilities of organizing meetings and lectures, taking minutes, traveling for the promotion of vegetarianism, and also writing articles in the Vegetarian. Though he provided enough amusement to all LVS members with his nervous speeches, it’s worth noting that this once excruciatingly shy, tongue-tied Indian nincompoop was now breaking out of the cocoon of his shyness, ready to meet members of another dynamic group of the day.