Page:The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. 1.djvu/155

 18 in Bombay and also the fares to and from London, about 60, and we get 1,008. These estimates include tuition and superintendence not calculated in the estimates given in the guide. And he must be in a sorry plight, indeed, who would require tuition for passing the Bar Final examination and superintendence so that he may not go astray. Will it not be better to keep your boy with you if he required a strict watch than trust him to the superintendence of a committee not one of whom you know personally? It must be by this time clear to those who know or must know that no amount of superintendence, especially of the above type, would set a student right if he is bent upon going astray. He must be trusted to take care of himself or not sent at all. Only, he must not be given a full command of the purse so that he may play fast and loose with it. It is the purse more than anything else that is the most powerful instrument in spoiling a student in England. Why, it would be quite safe to undertake to spoil two students on 250 a year. It is not, however, for a moment argued that a single penny more than 50 a year spent would be credited to extravagance. Far from it. Even 500 a year can be spent usefully in England. The aim of this guide is not, however, to show how 500 can be spent usefully per year in England, but to show that one can live happily on 50 per year and do all the things generally done by Indian students in England spending much more. In Appendix A, it will be found how from 15 per month I came down to 4 per month and, in so doing, how I was not obliged to sacrifice any of the comforts I used to enjoy before.

Appendix A
It was on the 4th September 1888 that I left for England to receive a Barrister's education per s.s. The Clyde. I had two Indian companions with me whom I did not know before.1 The mere fact that we were three Indians was a sufficient introduction to us. How I managed on the steamer:2 As I was not sure that I would be able to partake of the vegetable foods provided on the steamer, I was well provided with Indian sweets, ganthias, and plenty of Indian fruits. This was my first experience of a voyage on a steamer. I was, therefore, very modest and shy and would not go to the table to

1 2

Vide "London Dairy", 12-11-1888. Vide An Autobiography, Pt. I, Ch. XIII.

partake even of tea.