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103.155.222.166: /* Reception */

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Reception

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:24, 26 December 2021
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	\| orig_lang_code = gu		\| orig_lang_code = gu
	\| external_url =		\| external_url =
	\| wikisource = ~~An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth~~		\| wikisource = <!--not there yet-->
	}}		}}

	'''''The Story of My Experiments with Truth''''' ({{lang-gu\|Satya Na Prayogo athva Atmakatha}}, {{literal translation\|Experiments of Truth or Autobiography}}) is the autobiography of [[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi\|~~Mohandas K.~~ Gandhi]], covering his life from early childhood through to 1921. It was written in weekly installments and published in his journal ''Navjivan'' from 1925 to 1929. Its English translation also appeared in installments in his other journal ''[[Young India]]''.<ref name="Richard" /> It was initiated at the insistence of [[Swami Anand]] and other close co-workers of Gandhi, who encouraged him to explain the background of his public campaigns. In 1998, the book was designated as one of the "100 Best Spiritual Books of the 20th Century" by a committee of global spiritual and religious authorities.<ref>{{cite news\| url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/books/book372.htm \|title=Spiritual books of the century \| work=USA Today \| date=2 December 1999}}</ref>		'''''The Story of My Experiments with Truth''''' ({{lang-gu\|Satya Na Prayogo athva Atmakatha}}, {{literal translation\|Experiments of Truth or Autobiography}}) is the autobiography of [[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi\|Mahatma Gandhi]], covering his life from early childhood through to 1921. It was written in weekly installments and published in his journal ''Navjivan'' from 1925 to 1929. Its English translation also appeared in installments in his other journal ''[[Young India]]''.<ref name="Richard" /> It was initiated at the insistence of [[Swami Anand]] and other close co-workers of Gandhi, who encouraged him to explain the background of his public campaigns. In 1998, the book was designated as one of the "100 Best Spiritual Books of the 20th Century" by a committee of global spiritual and religious authorities.<ref>{{cite news\| url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/books/book372.htm \|title=Spiritual books of the century \| work=USA Today \| date=2 December 1999}}</ref>

	Starting with his birth and parentage, Gandhi has given reminiscences of childhood, [[Child marriage in India\|child marriage]], relation with his wife and parents, experiences at the school, his study tour to London, efforts to be like the English gentleman, experiments in dietetics, his going to [[South Africa]], his experiences of colour prejudice, his quest for ''[[dharma]]'', social work in Africa, return to India, his slow and steady work for political awakening and social activities.<ref name="KMGeorge1997">{{cite book\|last=Joshi\|first=Ramanlal\|author-link=Ramanlal Joshi\|editor-last=George\|editor-first=K. M.\|editor-link=K. M. George (writer)\|chapter=Satyana Prayogo Athwa Atmakatha (Experiments with Truth or Autobiography)\|title=Masterpieces of Indian Literature\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dXFOAAAAYAAJ\|volume=1\|year=1997\|publisher=[[National Book Trust]]\|location=New Delhi\|isbn=81-237-1978-7\|pages=358–359}}</ref> The book ends abruptly after a discussion of the Nagpur session of the Congress in 1915.<ref name="Lal1992">{{cite encyclopedia\|last=Mehta\|first=Chandrakant\|editor-last=Lal\|editor-first=Mohan\|title=Satyana Prayogo Athva Atmakatha\|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnPoYxrRfc0C&pg=PA3869\|year=1992\|publisher=Sahitya Akademi\|location=New Delhi\|isbn=978-81-260-1221-3\|page=3869}}</ref>		Starting with his birth and parentage, Gandhi has given reminiscences of childhood, [[Child marriage in India\|child marriage]], relation with his wife and parents, experiences at the school, his study tour to London, efforts to be like the English gentleman, experiments in dietetics, his going to [[South Africa]], his experiences of colour prejudice, his quest for ''[[dharma]]'', social work in Africa, return to India, his slow and steady work for political awakening and social activities.<ref name="KMGeorge1997">{{cite book\|last=Joshi\|first=Ramanlal\|author-link=Ramanlal Joshi\|editor-last=George\|editor-first=K. M.\|editor-link=K. M. George (writer)\|chapter=Satyana Prayogo Athwa Atmakatha (Experiments with Truth or Autobiography)\|title=Masterpieces of Indian Literature\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dXFOAAAAYAAJ\|volume=1\|year=1997\|publisher=[[National Book Trust]]\|location=New Delhi\|isbn=81-237-1978-7\|pages=358–359}}</ref> The book ends abruptly after a discussion of the Nagpur session of the Congress in 1915.<ref name="Lal1992">{{cite encyclopedia\|last=Mehta\|first=Chandrakant\|editor-last=Lal\|editor-first=Mohan\|title=Satyana Prayogo Athva Atmakatha\|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnPoYxrRfc0C&pg=PA3869\|year=1992\|publisher=Sahitya Akademi\|location=New Delhi\|isbn=978-81-260-1221-3\|page=3869}}</ref>
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	Part IV. Mahatma in the Midst of World Turmoil		Part IV. Mahatma in the Midst of World Turmoil

	Gandhi was in England when World War I started and he immediately began organizing a medical corps similar to the force he had led in the Boer War, but he also faced health problems that caused him to return to India, where he met the applauding crowds with enthusiasm once again. Indians continued to refer to him as "Mahatma" or "Great Soul," an appellation reserved only for the holiest men of Hinduism. While Gandhi accepted the love and admiration of the crowds, he also insisted that all souls were equal and did not accept the implication of religious sacredness that his new name carried.		Gandhi was in England when World War I started and he immediately began organizing a medical corps similar to the force he had led in the Boer War, but he had also faced health problems that caused him to return to India, where he met the applauding crowds with enthusiasm once again. Indians continued to refer to him as "Mahatma" or "Great Soul," an appellation reserved only for the holiest men of Hinduism. While Gandhi accepted the love and admiration of the crowds, he also insisted that all souls were equal and did not accept the implication of religious sacredness that his new name carried.

	In order to retreat into a life of humility and restraint, as his personal principles mandated, he decided to withdraw from public life for a while spending his first year in India focusing on his personal quest for purity and healing. He also lived in a communal space with untouchables, a choice which many of his financial supporters resented, because they believed that the very presence of untouchables defiled higher-caste Indians. Gandhi even considered moving to a district in Ahmedabad inhabited entirely by the untouchables when a generous Muslim merchant donated enough money to keep up his current living space for another year. By that time, Gandhi's communal life with the untouchables had become more acceptable.		In order to retreat into a life of humility and restraint, as his personal principles mandated, he decided to withdraw from public life for a while spending his first year in India focusing on his personal quest for purity and healing. He also lived in a communal space with untouchables, a choice which many of his financial supporters resented, because they believed that the very presence of untouchables defiled higher-caste Indians. Gandhi even considered moving to a district in Ahmedabad inhabited entirely by the untouchables when a generous Muslim merchant donated enough money to keep up his current living space for another year. By that time, Gandhi's communal life with the untouchables had become more acceptable.
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	==Reception==		==Reception==
	The autobiography is noted for its lucid, simple and idiomatic language and its transparently honest narration.<ref name="Lal1992"/> In a 1998 interview, Gujarati writer [[Harivallabh Bhayani]] mentioned this work as the most important work, together with [[Govardhanram Tripathi]]'s ''[[Saraswatichandra (novel)\|Saraswatichandra]]'', to have emerged in Gujarat in the last 50 years.<ref name="Bhayani1998">{{cite journal\|last1=Suhrud\|first1=Tridip\|last2=Bhayani\|first2=Harivallabh\|author2-link=Harivallabh Bhayani\|title=Harivallabh Bhayani: In Conversation with Tridip Suhrud\|journal=[[Indian Literature (journal)\|Indian Literature]]\|volume=42\|issue=5\|date=September–October 1998\|publisher=Sahitya Akademi\|location=New Delhi\|page=187\|jstor=23338789}} {{closed access}}</ref> ~~The autobiography itself has become a key document for interpreting Gandhi's life and ideas.{{sfn\|Malinar\|2019\|p=1706}}~~		The autobiography is noted for its lucid, simple and idiomatic language and its transparently honest narration.<ref name="Lal1992"/> The autobiography itself has become a key document for interpreting Gandhi's life and ideas.{{sfn\|Malinar\|2019\|p=1706}}

			In his essay "Reflections on Gandhi" (1949), [[George Orwell]] argued that the autobiography made clear Gandhi's "natural physical courage", which he saw as later confirmed by the circumstances of [[assassination of Mahatma Gandhi\|his assassination]]; his lack of feelings of envy, inferiority, or suspiciousness, the last of which Orwell thought was common to Indian people; and his lack of racial prejudice.<ref>{{cite book\|first=George\|last=Orwell\|author-link=George Orwell\|chapter=Reflections on Gandhi\|orig-year=1949\|page=526\|title=The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, Volume 4: In Front of Your Nose 1945–1950\|editor1-first=Sonia\|editor1-last=Orwell\|editor1-link=Sonia Orwell\|editor2-first=Ian\|editor2-last=Angus\|editor2-link=Ian Angus (librarian)\|publisher=Penguin\|year=1968}}</ref> Noting the circumstances of the book's serialisation, Orwell argues it "is not a literary masterpiece, but it is the more impressive because of the commonplaceness of much of its material."{{sfn\|Orwell\|1968\|p=525}} Orwell found the book to indicate that Gandhi "was a very shrewd, able person who could, if he had chosen, have been a brilliant success as a lawyer, an administrator or perhaps even a businessman."{{sfn\|Orwell\|1968\|p=523}}

			In a 1998 interview, Gujarati writer [[Harivallabh Bhayani]] mentioned this work as the most important work, together with [[Govardhanram Tripathi]]'s ''[[Saraswatichandra (novel)\|Saraswatichandra]]'', to have emerged in Gujarat in the last 50 years.<ref name="Bhayani1998">{{cite journal\|last1=Suhrud\|first1=Tridip\|last2=Bhayani\|first2=Harivallabh\|author2-link=Harivallabh Bhayani\|title=Harivallabh Bhayani: In Conversation with Tridip Suhrud\|journal=[[Indian Literature (journal)\|Indian Literature]]\|volume=42\|issue=5\|date=September–October 1998\|publisher=Sahitya Akademi\|location=New Delhi\|page=187\|jstor=23338789}} {{closed access}}</ref>

	== Influences ==		== Influences ==

123.201.133.235: Fixed Gujarati to English translation error

2021-08-10T16:57:52Z

Fixed Gujarati to English translation error

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The Story of My Experiments with Truth - Revision history

imported>TamaraNibbi737: minor edit

103.155.222.166: /* Reception */

123.201.133.235: Fixed Gujarati to English translation error