The lives and writings of Annie Besant and Satyamurthy had great influence on his mind and character in his formative years. It was in 1919 that he met Mahatma Gandhi for the first time and started following with great interest the events in Gandhi's life. Gandhi's epic struggle in South Africa, the founding of the Ashram in Ahmedabad and the Champaran struggle made a profound impression on him and the utter simplicity of Mahatma's life also evoked his unbounded admiration.