Gandhiji's confession about his INTIMATE EUROPEAN CONTACTS and 'Hollowness of many of his pretensions'
I found following paragraph in his book "My experiments with truth" in chapter XI INTIMATE EUROPEAN CONTACTS
"Now again, as I start on this chapter, I find myself confronted with a fresh problem.
What things to mention and what to omit regarding the English friends of whom I am about to write is a serious problem.
If things that are relevant are omitted, truth will be dimmed.
And it is difficult to decide straightaway what is relevant, when I am not sure about the relevancy of of writing this story.
I understand more clearly today what I read long ago about the inadequacy of all autobiography as history.
I know that I do not set down in this story all that I remember.
Who can say how much I must give and how much I must omit in the interest of truth.
And what would be the value in a court of law of the Inadequate evidence being tendered by me of certain events in my life?
If some busybody were to cross-examine me on the chapters already written, he could probably shed much more light on them, and If it were a hostile critic's cross-examination, he might even flatter himself for having blown up 'the hollowness of many of my pretentions'
Emphasis and underlines in above paragraph are supplied by me. I have only tried to highlight his trueness in telling us that he has not been able to write all that he remembered.
-Haresh Raichura
17/10/13
