Gandhiji- The Drill Master

Gandhiji- The "Drill Master"Once Gandhiji visited Ahmedabad to meet the members of the Satyagraha  Ashram at Sabarmati, whom the had  not seen for a period of two years, and though most of his time was fully occupied with the work immediately in front  of him,  he willingly acceded to the request of Harijan friends and of the servants of Harijans to give them some time. Before he had talks with them he had a few minutes with Harijan children who saw him without  appointment, and who could not be turned away, no matter how busy he was. In fact it would have pained him had they been turned away.They were thirteen and as there were other people in the room, they could not all stand or sit in a row, so Gandhiji gave them their first lesson by subjecting them to a little bit of drill.“Come along, do you know how to count? Start from left to right. Let me see how many you are.“One-two-three-four-four-four.” The boy who was questioned looked dazed never gone throughThis sort of thing and repeated the same number as his predecessor. The same thing happenedwith the seventh boy. With difficulty they counted thirteen. The process was repeated thriceor four times, quite correctly the last time.“Now tell me if you know odd numbers and even numbers.”One or two smart boys shouted out ‘yes’, the rest were confused as soon as they learnt the mystery of odd and even numbers, the were asked to stand where they were and the even numbers were asked to take a step forward. There was again some confusion which occasioned plenty of laughter and mirth. Order was soon restored and there were now two rows of seven and six awaiting further orders.“Now those of you who smoke – please raise your hands.” Six hands immediately went up. A tiny tot also raised his sympathetically. His elder neighbour immediately corrected him saying, “You must not raise your hand. You never smoke.”This was followed by a little lesson on the evils of smoking.“But now tell me something about your teacher. Is he a good teacher?”A chorus of “yes”.“Does he teach well?”Again “O yes”.“Does he beat you?”“No”.“Never?”“That is very good. So he has no faults, at all?”“No, Sir”.“That cannot be. Do you know any one who is without a fault, any one who is perfect?”A pause for a minute or two.“You”, said the smartest of them to the pleasant discomfiture of Gandhiji.“No. If I was perfect, would government send me to jail again and again?” Every one seemed puzzled and perplexed.“Well, no one is perfect but god. We have all to be somewhat like him and the only way is truth. No one is perfect but god. We have all to be somewhat like him and the only way is truth. No matter what your faults may be, always speak the truth, and you will never come to grief.”