Gandhi in Anecdotes It is often said that anecdotes throw more light on the life and message of great men and women, than the most eloquent and incisive of analyses. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of anecdotes can be picked up from the life of Gandhi. Each of them will throw light on one aspect of his personality or another. Some of the incidents that I have chosen are from his days in South Africa; some from his days in the United Kingdom, and others from the days in India . I have picked up these incidents or anecdotes, in the hope that they will bring out some of the aspects of Gandhi’s many-splendoured and unique personality. I will be happy if they serve this purpose. It is very difficult to decide what to choose, and what to omit. In making the choice, many anecdotes relating to well-known public occasions have been omitted since they find mention in most biographies of Gandhi. The least that one can do, therefore, is to request the reader to turn to a biography as well. I owe an apology to the reader on two counts. Firstly, I have not rewritten all the anecdotes in my own words. Some have been rewritten or introduced with a brief outline of the context in which the incident occurred. In other cases, I have excerpted the words of the persons who have recounted the anecdotes, since I thought that authenticity and eye-witness narration should not be diluted by a second recounting. This has resulted in the absence of uniformity in style. This is the second count on which the reader is entitled to an apology.