Following the operation Gandhi became more abstemious,

reducing
even further his minimal diet. Shortly thereafter, Viceroy Lord
Reading unconditionally
released Gandhi from prison, on "considerations of his
[ 115 ]
A
Gandhi's Passion
health." "I am sorry that the Government have prematurely
released me on
account of my illness," Gandhi wrote to Mohamed Ali, who had
been
elected to preside over the Congress that year. "Such a release
can bring me
no joy ... no relief. ... I am now overwhelmed with a sense of
responsibility
I am ill-fitted to discharge. . . . my utter incapacity to cope with the
work before me humbles my pride."3
Lord Reading's decision was based as much on political as on
medical
grounds. Elections were held under the new Government of India
Act of
1919 in the winter of 1920, and though Gandhi and his followers
boycotted
them, many moderate Congress leaders ran for the newly
expanded
Legislative Assembly. Nationalist heroes, like Motilal Nehru, M. A.
Jinnah,
and C. R. Das, all took seats in that inchoate Indian Parliament,
launched
with fanfare and solemnity by the Duke of Connaught, on behalf of
King-
Emperor George, on February 9, 1921. Later that year of mounting
noncooperation
and black flag boycotts (during which black flags are flown
over buildings and carried in parades), moreover, Edward, the
young Prince
of Wales, toured India, accompanied by his favorite cousin, young
Lord
Louis ("Dickie") Mountbatten. Mountbatten not only caught his first
glimpse of the empire over which he would preside a quarter
century later,

1
but at twenty-one proposed marriage to flamboyant heiress
Edwina Ashley,
then a house guest of Rufus Isaacs, Lord Reading. The British
imperial
process of gradual devolution of power thus moved at its stately,
though
"glacial" might be more apt, pace toward the avowed goal of
preparing India
for dominion status.
Chauri Chaura and its aftermath proved less cataclysmic and
disruptive
of daily life for most nationalist leaders than it did for Gandhi, who
had raced too far ahead of his ragtag army, the younger
generation blaming
him for calling a halt to the battle, the older for irresponsibility. But
as a
"Mahatma," his popularity among the Hindu peasantry remained
undiminished,
and though many sophisticated Congress leaders were
disillusioned
by his idealistic strategy, everyone recognized his unique powers
and
the yogic force of his great soul. As soon as Gandhi felt strong
enough to
see visitors, political pilgrimages began moving toward Poona,
Akali Sikhs
came in deputations to seek his sage advice and support in their
struggle,
and others came alone or in couples to wait in patient hope for a
brief audience.
In early March he was driven to Juhu beach, a suburb of Bombay,
where he stayed in his wealthy friend Narottam Morarji's
sumptuous bungalow,
named "Palm Bun." Soon he gathered several disciple-patients
to nurse there, Vallabhbhai Patel's frail daughter Maniben,
Maganlal
Gandhi's ailing daughter Radha, and his asthmatic friend Charlie
Andrews,
defrocked soon after joining Gandhi, who acted as his channel to
London's
establishment, the British-Indian hierarchy, and English press. He
tried to

2
[ H6 ]
Cotton Spinning
discourage visitors, explaining how "slowly" his wounds were
healing, but
people came just in hopes of catching a glimpse of him as he and
Charlie
walked along the beach before sunset.