Canal. I was weak, but felt entirely out of danger, and I gradually went on increasing my exercise. The improvement I attributed largely to the pure air of the temperate zone.
Whether it was due to past experience or to any other reason, I do not know, but the kind of distance I noticed between the English and Indian passengers on the boat was something I had not observed even on my voyage from South Africa. I did talk to a few Englishmen, but the talk was mostly formal. There were hardly any cordial conversations such as had certainly taken place on the South African boats. The reason for this was, I think, to be found in the conscious or unconscious feeling at the back of the Englishman’s mind that he belonged to the ruling race, and the feeling at the back of the Indian’s mind that he belonged to the subject race.
I was eager to reach home and get free from this atmosphere.
On arriving at Aden we already began to feel somewhat at home. We knew the Adenwalas very well, having met Mr. Kekobad Kavasji Dinshaw in Durban and come in close contact with him and his wife.
A few days more and we reached Bombay. It was such a joy to get back to the homeland after an exile of ten years.
Gokhale had inspired a reception for me in Bombay, where he had come in spite of his delicate health. I had approached India in the ardent hope of merging myself in him, and thereby feeling free. But fate had willed it otherwise.