ABSTRACT
On 9 January 1915 Gandhi stepped ashore in India, the land that, in less than ten years he would infuse with the spirit of satyagraha, 'passive resistance' to the enemy, reinforced by the spiritual power of ahimsa. From his first contacts with this India rediscovered, it is evident that Gandhi was unaware of the immense problems his countrymen faced in their own land. His return would from here on seal his life to Indian's destiny. He was 'wedded' to India much like those great Frenchmen who 'married France'. Gandhi entered the fray with his first battle in the name of satyagraha, enjoined on behalf of the peasants of Champaran district in Bihar on the borders of Nepal at the foot of the Himalayas. During the summer of 1918, when Gandhi was appealing to volunteers from Gujarat to join the British Army, probably in the ambulance services, he was struck down with a bad attack of dysentery that almost killed him.
