Bapu

Bapu: Conversations and Correspondence with Mahatma Gandhi is an autobiographical description of F. Mary Barr's relationship and interactions with Mahatma Gandhi, whom she refers to as Bapu (father). Several of Gandhi's letters to the author, originally an English missionary in India, are included in full. The book was originally published in India in 1949. A revised edition was published in India in 1956. The book has been reviewed in several magazines,<ref name=ir/><ref name=ap/> and discussed in other books.<ref name=pandiri07/><ref name=weber11/> Background In her Prologue, Barr describes the book as an "offering to thousands of persons all over the world who look up to... Gandhi, but have not had the author's opportunity of seeing him at work over a period of years". She explains that her intent is "to show Gandhi, the human being, to those many Europeans who are frankly puzzled by his personality, and... to give a great deal of detail such as would satisfy those who love him" and wish to learn even more about him. For the latter group, Gandhi's letters are "given with his exact wording, punctuation and headings". When Gandhi was asked if he would mind her writing a book, he said "Yes, you may write your book. It will remove come cobwebs". A note from the publisher stated that the manuscript of the book had been received before Gandhi was assassinated, and that "it was felt that much of the feeling of devotion and understanding would have been lost if the present tense was changed, and so we prefer to present the book as if about a Living Personage". Synopsis Bapu opens with Barr explaining how she came to meet Mahatma Gandhi after having been in India for ten years in charge of a missionary boarding school in Hyderabad State. When she was in England on a furlough in 1931 she began to take an interest in Gandhi's writings and speeches. When returning to India, Barr had the good fortune of being a fellow passenger of Gandhi's on a ship from Italy to India, allowing her to become acquainted with Gandhi and observe the daily patterns of behavior of him and his small party of companions returning from the second Round Table Conference in London.