Letters from the Mahatma that hold his aspirations for his son, for the nation

New Delhi, May 3 'Scorching Love: Letters from Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to his son, Devadas' (OUP) reveals for the most part, for the first time Gandhi's letters to his youngest son, Devadas from 1914, when father and son were both in South Africa to 1948, when they were both in Delhi, the capital of free India where within hours of the last letter Gandhi was assassinated.

Gandhi wrote these letters by day, he wrote them by night, he wrote them from aboard trains, steamers, both right and left hands being pressed into service to rest one when tired out.

The letters, collated by Gopal Krishna Gandhi and Tridip Suhrud, span three decades during which the writer grew from being a fighter for the rights of Ind in South Africa to being hailed as Father of the Nation by millions in India and opposed by many as well, including the man who felled him by three bullets fired at point blank range on January 30, 1948.

The letters hold his aspirations for his son and for his nation. They bear great love and they also scorch. And we see Devadas, the recipient of the letters, move in them from compliant childhood and youth, to adulthood, questioning and remonstrating with his father and being just the independent son his father wants him to be.

The book is in five parts: South Africa 1893-1914 Deva! O Deva!; Home to Home; 1920-1929 Nothing is Certain About Me; The 1930s; and The 1940s

Gopal Krishna Gandhi is Distinguished Professor of History and Politics, Ashoka University, Sonipat, India. He has been awarded the Doctorate of Laws honoris causa by University of Natal, Durban; the Doctorate of Letters honoris causa by the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, a Doctorate of Literature honoris causa by the North Orissa University, Odisha, and a Doctorate of Literature, honoris causa by the University of Calcutta, and a Doctor of Letters, honoris causa by ITM University, Gwalior. His latest book is "Restless as Mercury (2021)".

Tridip Suhrud is a scholar, writer and translator working on the intellectual and cultural history of modern Gujarat and the Gandhiak intellectual tradition. As the Director and Chief Editor of the Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust (2012-17), he was responsible for creating the world's largest digital archive on Gandhi - the Gandhi Heritage Portal. His books include the critical edition of Hind Swaraj, Narayan Desai's four-volume biography of Gandhi, "My Life is My Message", and the four-volume epic Gujarati novel "Sarasvatichandra". His most recent work is a critical edition of Gandhi's autobiography "My Experiments with Truth" in two languages; Gujarati and English.

He is presently translating the diaries of Manu Gandhi, covering the period between 1942 and 1948.

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