A goodbye to London
December 5, 2023
On December 5, 1931, Gandhi said goodbye to London for the fifth and final time. He was 62 years old, and would never again set foot in the capital of the British Empire.
He had arrived in September for the Second Round Table Conference, which brought together various parties to discuss the future of India. Gandhi came seeking a path to independence, but since the government refused to commit to the possibility, the conference was a general failure. Worse, it sowed seeds of further division among India’s minorities by dangling a proposal for separate electorates in front of them. This would come to pass the following year, leading to controversy and the Epic Fast in September 1932.
Gandhi was an international celebrity; you can find newsreels of his arrival on YouTube. Crowds flocked to see him. His daily walks in his loincloth drew curious children asking “Gandhi, where’s your britches?” Celebrities tried to meet him; most were turned away, although he did chat with Charlie Chaplin about the perils of industrialization after someone explained that the film star had grown up in the slums.
He also took a day trip to Lancashire, which was home to the textile industry that had been idled by the Indian boycott of foreign cloth. One of the mill owners invited him, hoping to arouse his sympathy. Gandhi, of course, identified with the workers, and they welcomed him. He was sympathetic to their trouble, but when they complained about the economic hardships, Gandhi told them, “You have no idea what poverty is.”
According to Gandhi in London, a larger European tour was seriously considered. There were also invitations from America. However, tensions were rising back in India, and it was decided that returning home sooner was better. As it turned out, he was arrested and indefinitely detained within a month of leaving London. I wonder if Gandhi had known that, would he have taken a more roundabout trip back?
Goat’s milk was an important part of Gandhi’s diet; he brought two milking goats on the trip with him. Is there a food you take with you on your trips?