Page:Labour in Madras.djvu/149

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LABOUR IN MADRAS
123


123 THE NOBLE CRY There is a great and noble cry of Satyagraha going round the country now. But in our times of difficulty, that is what we practised and for 'several weeks in the face of poverty and of starvation we showed here in this place by the help of our spiritual strength, qualities which have won us, and deservedly won us, a good reputation. For that reason you will see that our work has been of great success not only to ourselves but of value also to the Motherland. The great lessons which we have learnt in this place of suffering silently but at the same time cultivating a spirit of independence are being learnt by the Nation now under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi. The glory of that particular experience was that during that struggle not a single individual received any burt from us. But it is little use our talking of what had taken place in the past however successful. We have to think of the future which is of great value and importance. Do not think that in the coming year we shall have no troubles or difficulties. We will have difficulties, we will have troubles, we will have many things to consider together here, and therefore it is necessary that we should think of our future. The future work depends more on you than on myself. I can only indicate to you the lines of activity that you can follow. The first line of activity for every single individual amongst you, I would advise you is this : at the present time you look upon yourselves as individuals belonging to your families and perhaps a iew of your friends. I think more, in the coming days, of the great country to which you belong, the country of which you are citizens, let me assure