Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is among the most enigmatic, charismatic, deeply revered and equally reviled figures of the twentieth century. His Autobiography, one of the most widely read and translated Indian books of all time, is a classic that allows us to glimpse the transformation of a well-meaning lawyer into a Satyagrahi and an ashramite.
In this first-ever Critical Edition, eminent scholar Tridip Suhrud shines new light on Gandhi's life and thought. The deeply researched notes elucidate the contexts and characters of the Autobiography, while the alternative translations capture the flavour, cadence and quirkiness of the Gujarati. In the original and insightful introduction, Suhrud traces Gandhi's evolution into a seeker of Truth as God, and explores possible modes of reading the Autobiography.
This Critical Edition of the Autobiography is an absorbing, illuminating text about the life-affirming journey of the most public and most complex figure of Indian history.
About the Author: M. K. Gandhi (Author)
Mohandas K. Gandhi was born in 1869 in Porbandar, India. He studied law in London and was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1891. He worked to improve the rights of immigrant Indians in South Africa, returning to India in 1915 to take up the struggle for independence from Britain. Gandhi never wavered in his belief in non-violent protest and in 1947 he succeeded in uniting India in a national movement. In January 1948 Gandhi was assassinated as he walked to take evening prayers.
Tridip Suhrud (Introducer)
Tridip Suhrud is a scholar, writer and translator who works on the intellectual and cultural history of modern Gujarat and the Gandhian intellectual tradition. As the director and chief editor of the Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust (2012-17), Ahmedabad, he was responsible for creating a digital archive-the Gandhi Heritage Portal-of all of M.K. Gandhi's works. Apart from a number of books on Gandhi's life, Suhrud has co-edited the critical annotated edition of Hind Swaraj, translated Narayan Desai's four-volume biography of Gandhi, My Life Is My Message, and translated the four-volume epic Gujarati novel, Sarasvatichandra.