द इण्डियन स्ट्रगल / भारतीय स्वाधीनता संग्राम (नेताजी सुभाष चन्द्र बोस - ऐतिहासिक विश्लेषण)

66 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE Patna (in Bihar), Calcutta and Dacca (in Bengal). Some of these were for literary education, while others were for technical or medical education—but spinning was compulsory in all of them. In many places there were separate institutions for girls. Many of these institutions still exist and some of them are in a flourishing condition. Besides these educa- tional institutions, another set of institutions spontaneously grew up all over India. These were called ‘Ashramas.’ Built on the model of the hermitages of old, they were homes for the whole-time political workers. New recruits were also trained there and the local office of the Congress would often be housed in the same premises. The Ashramas also served sometimes as centres for spinning and weaving. From these centres, raw cotton and yarn would be distributed among the spinners and weavers and would be received back as yarn and cloth respectively. In many Ashramas there would also be a reading-room and a library for the use of the Congress workers and of the local public. In the programme of progressive non-co-operation adopted at Nagpur in December, 1920, there was, besides the triple boycott, an item regarding the renunciation of titles conferred by—and resignation of all posts held under—the Government. A comparatively large number of men gave up their titles but an insignificant number resigned their jobs and among the latter was myself. I had passed the Indian Civil Service in England in 1920, but finding that it would be impossible to serve both masters at the same time—namely the British Government and my country—I resigned my post in May 1921, and hurried back to India with a view to taking my place in the national struggle that was then in full swing. I reached Bombay on July 16th and the same afternoon I obtained an interview with Mahatma Gandhi. My object in seeking the interview was to get from the leader of the campaign I was about to join, a clear conception of his plan of action. During the last few years I had made some study of the methods and tactics employed by revolutionary leaders in other parts of the world and in the light of that knowledge I wanted to understand the Mahatma’s mind and purpose. I remember vividly the scene of that afternoon. On arriving