Page:Masani - Gandhi's story.pdf/67

Rh Another time Menakshi, a girl of seventeen, came to see him. She was wearing a great number of ornaments. “Who are you?” Gandhiji asked her.

“I am a little girl," she replied.

“What has a little girl to do with jewelry?” he asked her.

Menakshi promptly replied, “Because I want to remain a girl."

Gandhiji then told her all about Annapurna and Kaumudi. After listening to him, Menakshi said, “I too would like to give my jewelry to the poor. Will you take it?”

“Yes,” said Gandhiji, “but you must first get your parents' permission.”

That day Menakshi went back home and told her parents that she would like to give her jewelry to Gandhiji. Her father then explained to her that she could not do this. The family was in debt. They had not sold Menakshi's jewels so far only because it was considered unlucky for a girl to be without any ornaments, but if Menakshi was not going to wear these ornaments any more they must be sold to clear the debts.

Menakshi was tearful and her father, seeing her unhappy, told her that she could take a gold bangle and a necklace to give to Gandhiji. The next day when Menakshi went to Gandhiji with the bangle and