Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-06-03

OF British admiral and noD Mira
bal, disciple of Mdhdtmd Gdndhi
tells TOR the first time Uhy she
abandoned her high social position
for place among the humble.
BY the Associated Press
BOMBAY, June 3-Mirabai, just
freed from the cell where she served
three months for her activities in
Mahatma Gandhi's civil disobedience
campaign, seemed more impenetrable
than ever.
Daughter of the late Rear Admiral
Sir Esmond Slade, commander of Brit
ish naval forces in East Indian waters,
she abandoned her identity as Madeline
Slade and her high social place in Lon
don and Bombay. to become a humble
disciple of Gandhi.
Tells Her Story.
Her reasons have been known in an
obvious, fragmentary manner, but she
always has refused interviews. But
now she was ready to talk, and this Is
her story:
Il was reared in luxury and ease. I
had splendid education, Travelled
widely. danced, had pretty Clothes, love-
ly jewels. many admirers
But 1 lacked spiritual satisfaction
and real contentment and I decided
that life was an empty sham.
Il found people vain, petty, ambitious,
jealous. selfish.
They sought only their own comfort,
happiness and gain. Humanity and its
sufferingS and SORROWS was secondary
IN them They had M ideals
Il began to seek light. I found 1t
when I met Remain ROLAND, the great
French philosopher He advised me. If
I wanted to do the utmost good in this
world, to join Mr.. Gandhi'S ashram (re-
treat at Ahmedabad, on the banks Of
the sacred Sarbarmati River.
Lives in Seclusion.
Il went to Switzerland and for year
lived in seclusion with the poorest
Swiss peasants. I studied spinning and
weaving: I familiarized myself with
Hindustani; I read all Of Mahatma
Gandhi's works; dressed in homespun.
Then I came to India. landing at
Bombay where, many years previously,
I had been a social butterfly. 1 went
straight to Mr. Gandhis ashram. 400
miles from Bombay.
In Mahatma Gandhi I felt I not
only had met my parent. but my guide
and teacher. 1t was like finding some
thing that had lost.
''On November Z. 1925. I took the
vcw required of all who enter Mr..
Gandhi's shrine This enjoins strict
chastity On all. even married couples,
who henceforth must live as brother
and sister 1t demands that ones
service be dedicated to the poor. that
one must pray. fast. spin. weave and
escfew all worldly pleasures.
Il was in daily contact with Mahat-
ma and through him with God.
found myself-through MI Gandhi.
Through his teachings I came to
understand the beauty of other re-
ligions. and to know Christianity bet
ter. For he is a greater Christian than
millions Of those who call themselves
such.
"All Religions Are Good"
The political side Of Gandhi is the
, least part of him. AS moral teacher
and reformer the world has not known
his equal since Buddha and Christ.
I He made no attempt TO convert me
from Christianity, 1 am not an ortho-
doz Hindu. The Mahatma did not
baptize me or immerse me in the holy
Gauges. as has been reported.
"Gandhi hates conversion and be-
lieves all religions are good
The past is absolutely effaced
Madeline Slade. as such, is dead Only
Mirabai, which is the name given me by
Gandhi. lives
Miss Slade explained that Mira was
Rajputana princess. who gave up
mundane pleasures to become a devotee
Of Krishna. the Hindu god. and that
the bal is Hindu feminine suff1x.
She is sometimes called "Mirabehn"
the termination "behn" meaning sis
ter"
My former life is erased from the
tablets Of my soul" she concluded. las
wcrshiper of Mahatma Gandhi and
CT Rama, the Hindu god of gods, have
an infinitely richer spiritual existence
to look forward to.
Even while I was in prison the Ma
hatma guided me. though the walls Of
two iails separated us