Page:Speeches And Writings MKGandhi.djvu/343

 .consider that you are only sharing the thoughts of a -man who allows himself to think audibly, and if you think that I seem to transgress the limits that courtesy imposes upon me, pardon me for the liberty I may be taking. I visited the Viswanath temple last even- ing, and as I was walking through those lanes, these were the thoughts that touched me. If a stranger drop- ped from above on to this great temple, and he had to consider what we as Hindus were would he not be justified in condemning us ? Is not this great temple a a reflection of our own character ? I speak feelingly, as a Hindu. Is it right that the lanes of our sacred temple should be as dirty as they are ? The houses round about are built anyhow. The laaes are tortuous and narrow. If even our temples are not models of roominess and cleanliness, what can our self-govern- ment be ? Shall our temples be abodes of Holiness, cleanliness and peace as soon as the English have retired from India, either of their own pleasure or by com pi us ion, bag and baggage ?

I entirely agree with the president of the Congress that before we think of self-government, we shall have to do the necessary plodding. In every city there are two divisions, the cantonment and the city proper. The city mostly is a stinking den. But we are a people unused to city life. But if we want city life, we cannot repro- duce the easy going hamlet life. It is not comforting to think that people walk about the streets of Indian Bombay under the perpetual fear of dwellers in the storeyed buildings spitting upon them. I do a great deal of Railway travelling, I observe the difficulty of third class passengers. But the Railway Administration is by no means to blame for all their hard lot.

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