The Story of My Experiments with Truth: Character Mind Map & Summary
The key characters of M. K. Gandhi's The Story of My Experiments with Truth (1927), grouped into branches, with the key episodes, a quick summary and the exam facts that come up again and again in UGC NET.
The Character Mind Map
Tap any name to open the details.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
A shy, ordinary boy from Porbandar who becomes a lawyer, a leader of Indians in South Africa and finally the leader of India's freedom struggle. He presents his life as a series of experiments in truth and non-violence.
Covers his life up to 1921👑 Family
Rajkot & PorbandarPutlibaiHis mother
Role: Deeply religious; her fasts and vows shaped his idea of self-control.
Outcome: Dies while he is in LondonKaramchand (Kaba) GandhiHis father
Role: Diwan of Porbandar and Rajkot; Gandhi confesses a theft to him in a note, and is forgiven with silent tears.
KasturbaHis wife
Role: Married at thirteen; he admits he was a jealous husband; she becomes his partner in every struggle.
🏠 Friends & Guides
MentorsSheikh MehtabA school friend
Role: Leads him into secret meat-eating and smoking, believing meat will make Indians strong.
RaychandbhaiSpiritual guide
Role: The jeweller-poet (Shrimad Rajchandra) who answers his religious doubts.
Gopal Krishna GokhalePolitical guru
Role: Gandhi calls him his political teacher; advises him to travel India for a year.
🤝 South Africa
1893–1914Dada AbdullaA merchant
Role: Brings Gandhi to South Africa for a law case in 1893.
Henry Polak & Hermann KallenbachEuropean friends
Role: Polak gives him Ruskin's Unto This Last; Kallenbach gives land for Tolstoy Farm.
Memory Hook
One simple pattern to remember the whole work.
Key Episodes
The turning points examiners love to ask about.
Quick Summary
The story, stage by stage.
Part IChildhood & Youth
- Childhood in Porbandar and Rajkot; the plays Shravana and Harishchandra teach him devotion and truth.
- Child marriage, meat-eating and the father's death.
Part IISouth Africa
- The train incident, his legal practice, and the founding of the Natal Indian Congress (1894).
- Work among indentured labourers.
Part IIIService
- The ambulance corps in the Boer War; the plague; simple living.
- The vow of brahmacharya (1906).
Part IVExperiments
- Phoenix Settlement, Tolstoy Farm and diet experiments.
- Satyagraha against unjust laws.
Part VReturn to India
- Champaran, Kheda and the Ahmedabad strike.
- The Rowlatt Satyagraha and his "Himalayan miscalculation"; the story closes in 1921.
Must-Know Exam Facts
Quick points for UGC NET, SET and PGT.
Publication
Written in Gujarati and serialised in Navajivan (1925–29); English translation by Mahadev Desai; volumes in 1927 and 1929.
Structure
Five parts; the account stops in 1921, since after that his life was public knowledge.
Title
Gandhi says his life is a series of "experiments" with truth, which he calls God.
Key Terms
Satyagraha, ahimsa, brahmacharya, swadeshi.
Himalayan Miscalculation
His phrase for calling civil disobedience before the people were ready (1919).
Style
Plain, confessional prose, often compared to Rousseau's and St Augustine's Confessions.
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