This is a bit shocking to me ...
Well starts off with some normal stuff one would write , remember there was no email so people communicated with every one peers with letters
But ..then it gets R rated .. anyhow , perhaps some Indians would shed some light
I can't judge based on a book written by fictional man about a real man ...
How ever copies of letters would be nice to read to see what the fuss is all about
But generally folks who were classmates do write emails and communicate it would be too homophobic to say guys can communicate with friends ..
This is not a South Asian way to think its more or less Western view
Very sad indeed that such a innocent act of writing to friend in school or what ever has been made into this in order to distort history
So just because a white man , German guy was friends with Indian guy in time when British considered South Asians as slaves ... makes him gay
Kinda very silly if you ask me on other hand it also shows Germans were not "Racist" as claimed by World war 2 .. clearly Gandhi is sitting with German man freely - this picture is again evidence that white people in general in germany were not racist as media tell us
If anything I think the thread should be closed .. as its not fair in all honesty to speak ill of a dead man who can't defend himself
Reference:
www.mkgandhi.org/associates/kallenbach.htm
They had a great deal in common a deep attraction for simple life and working for the good of their fellow beings. At the time Gandhi was struggling for the rights of Indians and Africans in a land dominated by white men.
The form of resistance that Gandhiji used was unique: satyagraha. He would patiently appeal to the good sense of the whites while also refusing to follow their laws that he regarded evil. He was willing to suffer punishment for breaking these laws but refused to hate the white men.
Kallenbach was attracted by this method. He and Gandhiji worked together for the poorest of the poor. They changed their own life style and honoured every useful work. They said that a lawyer or an engineer was not superior to a cobbler or a scavenger. In fact they went to a Chinese cobbler in Johannesburg and learnt to make footwear. And they undertook to clean their own latrines, something most people would not do in these days.
In 1903 Gandhi's family came over to South Africa. Though Kallenbach became a dear uncle to his three children, Gandhi would not let him buy costly toys for them. They must not feel that they are different from poor people, he would say.
In 1910 Kallenbach, who was a rich man, donated to Gandhi a thousand acre farm belonging to him near Johannesburg. This was a very great gift indeed and was used to run Gandhi's famous 'Tolstoy Farm' that housed the families of satyagrahis.
I think what really happened was that they were Lawyers collegues , and that they fought for common causes while he was in South Africa etc and that friendship continued beyond in later days in life ..
Not to me mistaken by idiotic rant by some fictional book writers who always conjure up stuff
The western Authur , unable to understand the friendly , has labeled it incorrectly in reality
Vaseline is used for injuries , scars , and during uprising its possible that this was meant to indicate that healing scars Vaseline is used and this may be reminded Mr Gandhi of previous injuries sustained while on similar "opposition" movements where Kallenback and Gandhi took part (South Africa).
The letters may with Vaseline may have been writen when he was in jail or may have suffered some hits who knows
As for Mr Kallenbach he was simply attracted to simplicity of Mr Gandhi how he changed his lifestyle and how he became a very simple person in his later times which he tried to replicate.
The statement , that Gandhi wanted to serve him , in South Asian language its a common term people use with friends to show that they would be there in time of need for a friend or family member etc which again shows the bond that was formed between two men of different race in a time when such things were uncommon etc
