Summary

The girl with the donation box tells Sriram that they must leave so that the Mahatma, whom she calls “Bapuji” (424), can go to sleep. She tells him never to utter any falsehoods in his presence. They agree to meet outside her hut, where she tells him that her name is Bharati. She explains that she was orphaned as a young girl and subsequently taken in by Gandhi, who has acted as a kind of grandfather to her. Now she gives spinning lessons and attends to Gandhi’s needs. She pledges to take him to see Gandhi at three a.m. the next morning.

Mahatma call him into his room and invites him to sit. He makes Sriram take a vow to “wear only cloth made out of your own hands each day” (434). Sriram agrees. Gandhi asks Sriram about his grandmother...