The Story of My Experiments with Truth Characters

Gandhi. Gandhi, guys. This is the man who inspired Albert Einstein (yes, freakin' Einstein) to say: "Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and...

They say that behind every great man is a great woman…and Kasturbai Gandhi is no exception. From child bride to kick-butt behind-the-scenes wifey, she's pretty amazing.But, Gandhi's wife plays a...

Indian leader Gokhale founds the Servants of India Society and serves as a mentor to Gandhi. He gives a ton of help to the young mentee. Gandhi says: He told me whom to approach and how to approach...

The main thing about Gandhi's mom is the impression of saintliness she leaves on him (1.1.7). She stuck to her vows despite illness, wouldn't think of taking her meals without saying her prayers, a...

Our autobiographer's father, Kaba Gandhi, serves as a positive influence on the author. In his example, Kaba Gandhi teaches his son the value of religious tolerance (1.10.8). And, perhaps most impo...

This dude is the author's nephew, and he becomes one of his uncle's foremost followers. In fact, Big G writes that:Maganlal Gandhi left his business for good to cast in his lot with me, and by abil...

This guy is one of Gandhi's sons. His big scene in The Story of My Experiments with Truth is when he's 10 years old and gets super sick with typhoid plus pneumonia and signs of delirium (3.22.1). Y...

Polak is an editor Gandhi befriends at a vegetarian restaurant (4.18.2), proving that you always have to be on the lookout for new chums, even when you're chowing down on lunch. Polak becomes one o...

Kallenbach is another of Gandhi's followers. Big G wrote about Kallenbach at length in his book Satyagraha in South Africa, so he doesn't go into much detail about him here. But, he says, Kallenbac...

This nameless dude is a guy Gandhi befriends in his youth, hoping to reform him. But, Gandhi's pal is a bad influence on the author, convincing him to eat meat (1.7.1), visit a brothel (1.7.9), and...

When Gandhi goes to South Africa to work for a law firm, Abdulla Sheth is his contact person, his man on the ground (if this book were a spy novel). At first, Sheth finds Gandhi strange and doesn't...

Balasundaram, an indentured worker, comes to Gandhi for help (2.20.2) after he is beaten by his dirtbag master. This incident snowballs and becomes an opportunity for the Natal Indian Congress to b...

Parsi Rustomji is one of Gandhi's clients and co-workers. But, whoops, he gets caught smuggling (4.47.3). Gandhi tells him to confess to the government (4.47.7), which he does…and he gets off wit...

Andrews is one of Gandhi's followers. We're basically given zero information about him, other than the knowledge that he's someone Gandhi very totally trusts and respects.

Rajkumar Shukla is one of the agriculturists who labors under the abusive tinkathia system. He comes to Gandhi, asking the author to help them overcome the system (5.12.4), and Gandhi definitely ta...

This guy (a writer and translator Gandhi meets in England), is super fun. He has a shabby appearance—"a clumsy pair of trousers, a wrinkled, dirty, brown coat after the Parsi fashion, no necktie...

Okay, we could not leave this guy out. This doctor's name is actually Sjt. Kelkar, but because he treats Gandhi by applying ice to his body, he earns the name "Ice Doctor" (5.28.11-12)…which defi...