Abstract
‘I had been used to fasting, now and again, but for purely health reasons.’ Fasting, however, had much deeper implications for Mahatma Gandhi. In 1925, when he wrote the above words, Gandhi was discussing his experiment in using fasting as a ‘technology of self’ (The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1925). ‘That fasting was necessary for self-restraint,’ he added. ‘I learnt from a friend.’ Nearly 25 years later, he was far more categorical: ‘Control of the palate is the first essential in the observance of the vow. I saw that complete control of the palate made the observance very easy and so I now pursued my dietetic experiments not merely from the vegetarian’s but also from the brahmachari’s point of view’ (Diet and Diet Reform, 1949).
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Notes
Alter J. (2000a) Gandhi’s Body: Sex, Diet, and the Politics of Nationalism, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Alter J.S. (2000b) Gandhi’s Body: Sex, Diet and the Politics of Nationalism Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, p. xv.
Gandhi M. (1940b) Sanitary Reform and Famine Relief, Ahmedabad: Navjivan Press.
Sarkar T. (2011) Gandhi and Social Relations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Skaria A. (2010) Living by Dying. In: Anand Pandian and Daud Ali (eds) In Ethical Life in South Asia, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Gandhi M. (1933) Self-Restraint versus Self-Indulgence, Ahmedabad: Navajivan Press.
Alter, Gandhi’s Body. Also see Bala S. (2008) The Dramaturgy of Fasting in Gandhian Nonviolent Action. In: Wagner Meike and Ernst W.D. (eds) Performing the Matrix: Mediating Cultural Performances. München: ePODIUM, pp. 289–306.
Gandhi M. (1940a) Fasting as Penance, Ahmedabad: Navajivan Press.
Hofmeyr I. (2013) Fasting as Penance, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
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© 2015 Srirupa Prasad
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Prasad, S. (2015). Body, Hygiene, and the Affective Politics of Gandhi’s Swaraj. In: Cultural Politics of Hygiene in India, 1890–1940. Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137520722_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137520722_3
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