COURAGE IN THE 'COOLIE'

Soon after one of Gandhi's English Associates, Muriel Lester, arrived in India, she was at dinner with an English Civil Servant who was the Magistrate of the District. The English Magistrate, seeing I had only just arrived in India, said one night at dinner: Do you want to know what Gandhi has done for India? Ten years ago, if a coolie had suddenly crossed my path and frightened the horse I was riding, I would probably have sworn at him and shouted: "Get out of my way — you!" He would have cowered before me and disappeared. Now I should not shout at a coolie like that. But if I did, he wouldn't disappear. He'd instead, stand facing me with complete assurance, look me full in the face, and politely enquire: “Why should I move?"
Source: Recalled by Muriel Lester, Chandra Spanker Shukla “Incidents in Gandhi's Life”
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