Page:The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. 1.djvu/13

 In another month’s time ten years will have passed since Gandhiji’s life came to an end. He was of a ripe age, but he was still full of vitality and his capacity for work was prodigious. The end came suddenly by the hand of an assassin. India was shocked and the world grieved, and to those of us who were more intimately connected with him the shock and sorrow were hard to bear. And yet, perhaps, it was a fitting close to a magnificent career and in his death, as in his life, he served the cause to which he had devoted himself. None of us would have liked to see him gradually fade in body and mind with increasing years. And so he died, as he had lived, a bright star of hope and achievement, the Father of the Nation which had been shaped and trained by him for half a century.

To those who had the high privilege of being associated with him in some of his innumerable activities, he will ever remain the embodiment of youthful energy. We shall not think of him as an old man, but rather as one who represented with the vitality of Spring the birth of a new India. To a younger generation who did not come in personal contact with him, he is a tradition, and numerous stories arc woven round his name and activities. He was great in his life, he is greater since he passed away.

I am glad that the Government of India arc bringing out a complete edition of his writings and speeches. It is most necessary that a full and authentic record of what he has written and said should be prepared. Because of his innumerable activities and voluminous writings, the preparation of this record is itself a colossal undertaking and may take many years to complete. But this is a duty we owe to ourselves and to future generations.

In a collection like this there is bound to be a mixture of what might be called the important and the unimportant or the casual. Yet, sometimes it is the casual word that throws more light on a person’s thinking than a more studied writing or utterance. In any event, who arc we to pick and choose? Let him speak for himself. To him life was an integrated whole, a closely-woven garment of many colours. A word to a child, a touch of healing to a sufferer, was as important as a resolution of challenge to the British Empire.

In all reverence of spirit, let us undertake this task, so that succeeding generations may have some glimpses of this beloved