An Autobiography or My Forbidden Face

An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth

Author: Mahatma Gandi

Translated by Mahadev Desai and with a New Preface
The only authorized American edition
Mohandas K. Gandhi is one of the most inspiring figures of our time. In his classic autobiography he recounts the story of his life and how he developed his concept of active nonviolent resistance, which propelled the Indian struggle for independence and countless other nonviolent struggles of the twentieth century.

In a new foreword, noted peace expert and teacher Sissela Bok urges us to adopt Gandhi's "attitude of experimenting, of tesing what will and will not bear close scrutiny, what can and cannot be adapted to new circumstances," in order to bring about change in our own lives and communities. All royalties earned on this book are paid to the Navajivan Trust, founded by Gandhi, for use in carrying on his work.

Table of Contents:

	Foreword	xi
	Translator's Preface	xix
	Introduction	xxiii
Part I
Chapter I	Birth and Parentage	3
Chapter II	Childhood	6
Chapter III	Child Marriage	8
Chapter IV	Playing the Husband	11
Chapter V	At the High School	14
Chapter VI	A Tragedy	19
Chapter VII	A Tragedy (Contd.)	22
Chapter VIII	Stealing and Atonement	25
Chapter IX	My Father's Death and My Double Shame	28
Chapter X	Glimpses of Religion	31
Chapter XI	Preparation for England	35
Chapter XII	Outcaste	39
Chapter XIII	In London at Last	42
Chapter XIV	My Choice	45
Chapter XV	Playing the English Gentleman	48
Chapter XVI	Changes	52
Chapter XVII	Experiments in Dietetics	55
Chapter XVIII	Shyness My Shield	59
Chapter XIX	The Canker of Untruth	63
Chapter XX	Acquaintance with Religions	67
Chapter XXII	Narayan Hemchandra	72
Chapter XXIII	The Great Exhibition	76
Chapter XXIV	'Called'--But Then?	78
Chapter XXV	My Helplessness	81
Part II
Chapter I	Raychandbhai	87
Chapter II	How I Began Life	90
Chapter III	The First Case	93
Chapter IV	The First Shock	96
Chapter V	Preparing for South Africa	100
Chapter VI	Arrival in Natal	102
Chapter VII	Some Experiences	105
Chapter VIII	On the Way to Pretoria	109
Chapter IX	More Hardships	113
Chapter X	First Day in Pretoria	118
Chapter XI	Christian Contacts	122
Chapter XII	Seeking Touch with Indians	125
Chapter XIII	What It Is to Be A 'Coolie'	128
Chapter XIV	Preparation for the Case	131
Chapter XV	Religious Ferment	135
Chapter XVI	Man Proposes, God Disposes	138
Chapter XVII	Settled in Natal	141
Chapter XVIII	Colour Bar	145
Chapter XIX	Natal Indian Congress	148
Chapter XX	Balasundaram	153
Chapter XXI	The [pound] 3 Tax	155
Chapter XXII	Comparative Study of Religions	158
Chapter XXIII	As a Householder	162
Chapter XXIV	Homeward	165
Chapter XXV	In India	168
Chapter XXVI	Two Passions	172
Chapter XXVII	The Bombay Meeting	175
Chapter XXVIII	Poona and Madras	178
Chapter XXIX	'Return Soon'	180
Part III
Chapter I	Rumblings of the Storm	185
Chapter II	The Storm	188
Chapter III	The Test	191
Chapter IV	The Calm After the Storm	196
Chapter V	Education of Children	199
Chapter VI	Spirit of Service	202
Chapter VII	Brahmacharya--I	204
Chapter VIII	Brahmacharya--II	208
Chapter IX	Simple Life	212
Chapter X	The Boer War	214
Chapter XI	Sanitary Reform and Famine Relief	217
Chapter XII	Return to India	219
Chapter XIII	In India Again	222
Chapter XIV	Clerk and Bearer	225
Chapter XV	In the Congress	227
Chapter XVI	Lord Curzon's Darbar	229
Chapter XVII	A Month with Gokhale--I	231
Chapter XVIII	A Month with Gokhale--II	233
Chapter XIX	A Month with Gokhale--III	236
Chapter XX	In Benares	239
Chapter XXI	Settled in Bombay?	243
Chapter XXII	Faith on Its Trial	246
Chapter XXIII	To South Africa Again	249
Part IV
Chapter I	'Love's Labour's Lost'?	255
Chapter II	Autocrats from Asia	257
Chapter III	Pocketed the Insult	259
Chapter IV	Quickened Spirit of Sacrifice	262
Chapter V	Result of Introspection	264
Chapter VI	A Sacrifice to Vegetarianism	267
Chapter VII	Experiments in Earth and Water Treatment	269
Chapter VIII	A Warning	271
Chapter IX	A Tussle with Power	274
Chapter X	A Sacred Recollection and Penance	276
Chapter XI	Intimate European Contacts	279
Chapter XII	European Contacts (Contd.)	282
Chapter XIII	'Indian Opinion'	285
Chapter XIV	Coolie Locations or Ghettoes?	287
Chapter XV	The Black Plague--I	290
Chapter XVI	The Black Plague--II	292
Chapter XVII	Location in Flames	295
Chapter XVIII	The Magic Spell of a Book	297
Chapter XIX	The Phoenix Settlement	300
Chapter XX	The First Night	302
Chapter XXI	Polak Takes the Plunge	304
Chapter XXII	Whom God Protects	306
Chapter XXIII	A Peep into the Household	310
Chapter XXIV	The Zulu 'Rebellion'	313
Chapter XXV	Heart Searchings	315
Chapter XXVI	The Birth of Satyagraha	318
Chapter XXVII	More Experiments in Dietetics	320
Chapter XXVIII	Kasturbai's Courage	322
Chapter XXIX	Domestic Satyagraha	325
Chapter XXX	Towards Self-Restraint	328
Chapter XXXI	Fasting	330
Chapter XXXII	As Schoolmaster	333
Chapter XXXIII	Literary Training	335
Chapter XXXIV	Training of the Spirit	338
Chapter XXXV	Tares Among the Wheat	340
Chapter XXXVI	Fasting as Penance	342
Chapter XXXVII	To Meet Gokhale	344
Chapter XXXVIII	My Part in the War	346
Chapter XXXIX	A Spiritual Dilemma	348
Chapter XL	Miniature Satyagraha	351
Chapter XLI	Gokhale's Charity	355
Chapter XLII	Treatment of Pleurisy	357
Chapter XLIII	Homeward	359
Chapter XLIV	Some Reminiscences of the Bar	361
Chapter XLV	Sharp Practice?	363
Chapter XLVI	Clients Turned Co-Workers	365
Chapter XLVII	How a Client Was Saved	367
Part V
Chapter I	The First Experience	373
Chapter II	With Gokhale in Poona	375
Chapter III	Was it a Threat?	377
Chapter IV	Shantiniketan	380
Chapter V	Woes of Third Class Passengers	383
Chapter VI	Wooing	385
Chapter VII	Kumbha Mela	387
Chapter VIII	Lakshman Jhula	391
Chapter IX	Founding of the Ashram	395
Chapter X	On the Anvil	397
Chapter XI	Abolition of Indentured Emigration	400
Chapter XII	The Stain of Indigo	404
Chapter XIII	The Gentle Bihari	406
Chapter XIV	Face to Face with Ahimsa	409
Chapter XV	Case Withdrawn	413
Chapter XVI	Methods of Work	416
Chapter XVII	Companions	419
Chapter XVIII	Penetrating the Villages	422
Chapter XIX	When a Governor is Good	424
Chapter XX	In Touch with Labour	426
Chapter XXI	A Peep into the Ashram	428
Chapter XXII	The Fast	430
Chapter XXIII	The Kheda Satyagraha	434
Chapter XXIV	'The Onion Thief'	436
Chapter XXV	End of Kheda Satyagraha	439
Chapter XXVI	Passion for Unity	441
Chapter XXVII	Recruiting Campaign	444
Chapter XXVIII	Near Death's Door	450
Chapter XXIX	The Rowlatt Bills and My Dilemma	454
Chapter XXX	That Wonderful Spectacle!	457
Chapter XXXI	That Memorable Week!--I	460
Chapter XXXII	That Memorable Week!--II	466
Chapter XXXIII	'A Himalayan Miscalculation'	469
Chapter XXXIV	'Navajivan' and 'Young India'	471
Chapter XXXV	In the Punjab	475
Chapter XXXVI	The Khilafat Against Cow Protection?	478
Chapter XXXVII	The Amritsar Congress	482
Chapter XXXVIII	Congress Initiation	486
Chapter XXXIX	The Birth of Khadi	489
Chapter XL	Found at Last!	491
Chapter XLI	An Instructive Dialogue	494
Chapter XLII	Its Rising Tide	497
Chapter XLIII	At Nagpur	500
	Farewell	503
	Index	506

New interesting textbook: Peppers Cookbook or American Culinary Federation

My Forbidden Face: Growing up under the Taliban: A Young Woman's Story

Author: Latifa

In a moving tale of oppression and courageous defiance, sixteen-year-old Latifa tells her story of growing up in war torn Afghanistan. She was a prisoner in her own home as the Taliban wreaked havoc on the lives of Afghan girls and women. The regime banned women from working, from schools, from public life, even from leaving their homes without a male relative. Female faces were outlawed as the burka, or head-to-toe veil, became mandatory. Like a contemporary Anne Frank, Latifa was forced to observe, absorb, and make sense of what was happening to women, to her country, to her family, from the confines of her four walls. In 2001, after escaping to Pakistan, then to Paris, with her parents, Latifa's future finally opened up. Written during exile, this book is an extraordinarily powerful account of a teenager's life under terrible circumstances and a celebration of the resilience of the human spirit.

Entertainment Weekly

It chronicles one Afghan family's 'nightmare in broad daylight' with an intimacy you won't find in newspapers. Grade: A-

Washington Post

The stories of the women of Afghanistan are at once individually dramatic and collectively numbing.

Los Angeles Times

[My Forbidden Face] is her story, told with a young girl's unflinching faith in the future.

Publishers Weekly

Readers who want to know what life was really like when the Taliban ruled Kabul should turn off CNN and read this book. Latifa (who writes under a pseudonym) was a 16-year-old aspiring journalist when her brother rushed home one day in late 1996 with word that the white flag of the Taliban flew over their school and mosque. She writes, "We knew the Taliban were not far away... but no one truly believed they would manage to enter Kabul." The bizarre edicts of the women-suppressing regime slowly become a reality: women weren't allowed outside the home unless they were shrouded in a "chadri" (which covers the face and arms, unlike a burka, which covers the entire body and according to Latifa is worn only in distant provinces) and accompanied by a male relative. "A girl is not allowed to converse with a young man. Infraction of this law will lead to the immediate marriage of the offenders." No wearing of bright colors or lipstick; no medical care from a male doctor. And women doctors were not allowed to work, essentially cutting off medical care for women. Latifa's story puts a face on these now-familiar rules, and conveys the sheer boredom of the lively teenager-turned-hermit and the desperation of not knowing if she'll ever complete her education in such an upside-down world. Despite its rushed ending (the family fled to France in May 2001 with the help of French Elle) and the occasional reminder that the author is now only 22 (there's talk of Madonna, Brooke Shields, fashion and Indian films), this memoir is one instance where a thousand words are worth more than any picture. (Mar.) Forecast: Although the first serial was to be in now defunct Talk, this book should sell well. It's not as heavy as many of the other Taliban tell-alls, and will appeal to the Oprah reader and even curious teens. Watch for the review of another very similar book, Zoya's Story: An Afghan Woman's Battle for Freedom (Morrow) in Forecasts next week. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

From the moment the Taliban entered Kabul, young Afghani women experienced oppression; head-to-toe veils (burkas) became mandatory and the women weren't allowed to go out in public without a male relative as escort. At the age of 16, Latifa had planned to attend a university with the intention of earning a degree and telling the truth about the power structure (which seemed to change weekly) in her country. When the Taliban took over her hometown, the author and her family were forced to stay within the confines of their small apartment to insure their safety; in May 2001, they escaped to Pakistan. Latifa wrote this memoir la Anne Frank's; her use of language is vibrant, reinforcing the sense of her family's terror and bewilderment. Latifa's story, brought to life by actress Edita Brychta, while ultimately triumphant, is an acute reminder of the ways in which women are treated as chattel. Recommended for libraries with large audio collections.-Pam Kingsbury, Florence, AL Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.