Last Sunday I was just flipping few books at Landmark store in Spencer Plaza in Chennai and I come across a book by Jad Adams – GANDHI: Naked Ambition. Truly I had no desire to touch that book, I have read enough of Gandhi written by different biographers, but I was provoked by the title. I went on to read introduction….
Born in Bania family, Gandhiji was strongly influenced by Jain belief in ahimsa, non-violence and sanctity of all life. At school he befriend a Muslim boy, Sheikh Mehtab, who convinced him that they could not get the better of the English until they become as physically strong. And the English were strong because they ate meat and most Indian did not. So young Gandhi tried meat. At first he threw up but persisted and tried a dozen times before he give it up all together.
He was also persuaded to have sex and taken to brothel. He fail to perform and the whore threw him out. He got married in 1883 to 14-year-old Kasturba Kapadia, who was totally illiterate. She was not much of a companion, but provided him with all sex he wanted. The most traumatic event of his early married life was when one night, while he was engage in sex, his father died in next room. It convince him that sex was sinful and only permissible if the couple wanted a child.
Adams is a modern historian; he knows how to hold his reader attention.
Book is available in all leading book stores for Rs. 699/-
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