Page:The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. 1.djvu/119

 twice in a week fruits and nuts. At 4 p.m. you can have a cup of tea and biscuits. Again at 6 p.m. a nice supper consisting of salad, cheese, bread, butter, jam, marmalade, tea, cocoa, etc., is provided and, as a finishing stroke, just at the time of going to bed, you can replenish the hungry stomach with biscuits and cheese. All this to an Indian would sound very strange and look like gluttony. A vegetarian must have found from the above that plenty of things can be had in the steamer that he can take. An Indian who has not been used to English dishes would, it is very likely, not relish the above dishes for some time. Though, after some time, he would find that all the dishes are very nice and nutritious. As a precaution, it would be better to keep a stock of some fresh fruits and sweets, e.g., jalebi, halva, etc., and some salty things, e.g., ganthia 1, etc. These with English dishes now and then would quite suffice. Care should be taken that English dishes are increased and the quantity of native things taken decreased. Such a gradual change would be effected imperceptibly and without affecting the constitution. The things to be found on board for a vegetarian are bread, butter, milk, fruit, nuts, jam, marmalade, rice, cheese, potatoes, cabbage, salad, cakes, tea, coffee, biscuits and porridge. This is really a large variety out of which many meals containing quite distinct articles can be made. Nothing can be more nutritious than porridge, bread and butter and a cup of cocoa or if you like tea. For dinner you can have one course of bread, butter and vegetables, another course of rice, milk and jam (a sweet preparation) and a third course of some fruit or bread and cheese. You can make a very good supper of bread, butter and cocoa and jam and salad or cheese or both. If these be not sufficient, special arrangements are made for vegetarians. The chief steward should be informed and requested to prepare some vegetable dishes and he very obligingly gets for you vegetable curry, fresh fruit and stewed fruit and brown bread. And you cannot want anything more. Some interesting facts would be found from the appendix as to how the writer of these pages managed on board. 2 If a pious Indian does not want to eat food cooked by Europeans, he can cook his own food in the Indian quarters, where they would give a space for cooking. Whether this is advisable or not is quite