bowls, one Jota (a small jug) belonging to the Ashram, dhoti, a blanket and books comprise all my paraphemalia. I have taken a vow not to use a shirt, a cap and a coat. I wrap my upper body also with a dhoti. I use only hand-woven clothes. Swadeshi (exclusive use of articles made in one’s own country): I do not use a single foreign made article (but only if swadeshi is not taken in the éxpanded sense which you gave it in your speech at Madras). Truth, non-violence, Brahmacharya: I am sure that I have strictly observed these vows to the best of my understanding of them.
What more shall I write? In my dreams and in my waking hours, only one question haunts me: "Will God deign to take service from me?" I followed the rules of the Ashram (except one) and so, though the body may be roaming outside, I am, in reality, always in the Ashram.lt is the ideal of my life. The one exception, alluded to above, is about self-cooking, i.e., about making chapattis myself. I tried to observe that rule also, but could not do so in my excursions.
If any question of offering satyagraha arises, say, against the hardships of the third-class passengers in railways, I will come immediately; otherwise, I have given you above the latest date of my arrival in the Ashram.
What are the changes that have been made in the Ashram? How many students are there? What is your scheme of national education? And what changes should I make in my diet? I am longing for advice on all these points. And you must write the reply yourself, in your own hand; that is the earnest and insistent prayer of this ’Vinoba,’ your son, to whom you are no other than his revered father.
I will leave this town in a few days.
Vinoba’s Pranam.
105 �
