Thrice in her life my wife narrowly escaped death through serious illness.
The cures were due to household remedies. At the time of her first
attack Satyagraha was going on or was about to commence. She
had frequent haemorrhage. A medical friend advised a surgical
operation, to which she agreed after some hesitation. She was
extremely emaciated, and the doctor had to perform the operation
without chloroform. It was successful, but she had to suffer much
pain. She, however, went through it with wonderful bravery. The
doctor and his wife who nursed her were all attention. This was in
Durban. The doctor gave me leave to go to Johannesburg, and told me
not to have any anxiety about the patient.
In a few days, however, I received a letter to the effect that
Kasturbai was worse, too weak to sit up in bed, and had once become
unconscious. The doctor knew that he might not, without my consent,
give her wines or meat. So he telephoned to me at Johannesburg for
permission to give her beef tea. I replied saying I could not grant
the permission, but that, if she was in a condition to express her
wish in the matter she might be consulted, and she was free to do as
she liked. 'But,' said the doctor, 'I refuse to consult the
patient's wishes in the matter. You must come yourself. If you do
not leave me free to prescribe whatever diet I like, I will not hold
myself responsible for your wife's life.'
I took the train for Durban the same day, and met the doctor who
quietly broke this news to me: 'I had already given Mrs. Gandhi beef
tea when I telephoned to you.'
'Now, doctor, I call this a fraud,' said I.
'No question of fraud in prescribing medicine or diet for a patient.
In fact we doctors consider it a virtue to deceive patients or their
relatives, if thereby we can save our patients, said the doctor with
determination.
I was deeply pained, but kept cool. The doctor was a good man and a
personal friend. He and his wife had laid me under a debt of
gratitude, but I was not prepared to put up with his medical morals.
'Doctor, tell me what you propose to do now. I would never allow my
wife to be given meat or beef, even if the denial meant her death,
unless of course she desired to take it.'
'You are welcome to your philosophy. I tell you that, so long as you
keep your wife under my treatment, I must have the option to give
her anything I wish. If you don't like this, I must regretfully ask
you to remove her. I can't see her die under my roof.'
'Do you mean to say that I must remove her at once?'
'Whenever did I ask you to remove her? I only want to be left
entirely free. If you do so, my wife and I will do all that is
possible for her, and you may go back without the least anxiety on
her score. But if you will not understand this simple thing, you
will compel me to ask you to remove your wife from my place.'
I think one of my sons was with me. He entirely agreed with me, and
said his mother should not be given beef tea. I next spoke to
Kasturbai herself. She was really too weak to be consulted in this
matter. But I thought it my painful duty to do so. I told her what
had passed between the doctor and myself. She gave a resolute reply:
'I will not take beef tea. It is a rare thing in this world to be
born as a human being, and I would far rather die in your arms than
pollute my body with such abominations.'
I pleaded with her. I told her that she was not bound to follow me.
I cited to her the instances of Hindu friends and acquaintances who
had no scruples about taking meat or wine as medicine. But she was
adamant. 'No,' said she, 'pray remove me at once.'
I was delighted. Not without some agitation I decided to take her
away. I informed the doctor of her resolve. He exclaimed in a rage:
'What a callous man you are! You should have been ashamed to broach
the matter to her in her present condition. I tell you your wife is
not in a fit state to be removed. She cannot stand the least
little hustling. I shouldn't surprised if she were to die on the
way. But if you must persist, you are free to do so. If you will not
give her beef tea, I will not take the risk of keeping her under my
roof even for a single day.'
So we decided to leave the place at once. It was drizzling and the
station was some distance. We had to take the train from Durban for
Phoenix, whence our Settlement was reached by a road of two miles
and a half. I was undoubtedly taking a very great risk, but I
trusted in God, and proceeded with my task. I sent a messenger to
Phoenix in advance, with a message to West to receive us at the
station with a hammock, a bottle of hot milk and one of hot water,
and six men to carry kasturbai in the hammock. I got a rickshaw to
enable me to take her by the next available train, put her into it
in that dangerous condition, and marched away.
Kasturbai needed no cheering up. On the contrary, she comforted me,
saying: 'Nothing will happen to me. Don't worry.'
She was mere skin and bone, having had no nourishment for days. The
station platform was very large, and as the rickshaw could not be
taken inside, one had to walk some distance before one could reach
the train. So I carried her in my arms and put her into the
compartment. From Phoenix we carried her in the hammock, and there
she slowly picked up strength under hydropathic treatment.
In two or three days of our arrival at Phoenix a Swami came to our
place. He had heard of the resolute way in which we had rejected the
doctor's advice, and he had, out of sympathy, come to plead with us.
My second and third sons Manilal and Ramdas were, so far as I can
recollect, present when the Swami came. He held forth on the
religious harmlessness of taking meat, citing authorities from Manu.
I did not like his carrying on this disputation in the presence of
my wife, but I suffered him to do so out of courtesy. I knew the
verses from the Manusmriti, I did not need them for my conviction. I knew also that there was a
school which regarded these verses as interpolations: but even if
they were not, I held my views on vegetarianism independently of
religious texts, and Kasturbai's faith was unshakable. To her the
scriptural texts were a sealed book, but the traditional religion of
her forefathers was enough for her. The children swore by their
father's creed and so they made light of the Swami's discourse. But
Kasturbai put an end to the dialogue at once. 'Swamiji,' she said,
'whatever you may say, I do not want to recover by means of beef
tea. Pray don't worry me any more. You may discuss the thing with my
husband and children if you like. But my mind is made up.'