It makes me wonder why every youth of India who is interested in some kind of whimsical reading must have read ‘Love Story’ by Eric Segal but this book ‘Mira & the Mahatma’ by Sudhir Kakar remains a distant dream for them. Even I possess the book but because of lack of interest in fiction and something which is unrealistic, I could not read it till date. It is pity that despite being the true tale, the most sacred and pure book on relationship remains unpopular till date. This is the most touching, emotional, captivating and influencing narration by Sudhir Which I have ever read. It makes me fall in love with Mahatma and more importantly his discipline, loyalty, modesty and self control. The powers of words fail to describe the sacrifices made by him to make India free from the shackles of British Raj.

This biography revolves around three characters, the Mahatma (Gandhi ji), Madeleine aka Mira and the author himself. It is an account of admiration, love rather true, pure and unconditional love of a British Admiral’s daughter for the Mahatma and our nation. Madeleine reads about Gandhi ji in a book given to her by Roman Roland and immediately falls in love with him and decides to settle down in Sabarmati Ashram. Her father, who was a British Admiral, could not stop her from shifting to India from England. Her fascination towards Gandhi ji is as pure as Mira’s love for Lord Krishna and hence the name Mira, which was given to her by Gandhi ji. Even Gandhi ji becomes obsessed with her but he sacrifices everything for the freedom of our country and could not give the due to her. In the end, I feel pity for Madeleine who sacrificed her life for India and Mahatma but her contribution to the freedom struggle remains unrecognized. SK has tried his best to give due credit to Madeleine by depicting the detailed account of her sacrifices to the readers.

My take from the book is that Mahatma is the most valuable and unique incarnation of God without whom a free India would have been a dream. The book is an account of the other side of Gandhi ji which made a lady from England to shower all her love on him. If you are looking forward to read a real love story, ‘Mira and the Mahatma’ by Sudhir Kakar is the best option. Read this book and you may regret for having read all the fictions which are an imagination. The sacrifice made by Gandhi ji and his inmates has created a great curiosity inside me to take a plunge into the freedom struggle of India and dig out all that has been done to ensure that we breathe in free air.

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