THE ROAD TO NOWSHBRA 67
way of peace. You seem to have made your final choice.
May you prove equal to it."
The halt at Nowshera was only for a couple of hours,
We reached Hoti Mardan at evening. Hoti Mardan is
the headquarters of the Mardan District. Like Nowshera
it also is a cantonment town and owes its strategic im-
portance to the fact that it is the centre of traffic for the
tribes inhabiting the adjoining territories of Swat, Buner,
Bajaur and Dir.
A note of caution rang through the talk that Gandhiji
gave to the Khudai Khidmatgars at Mardan. In reply to
his usual question, whether they had fully understood the
meaning of non-violence and whether they would remain
non-violent under all circumstances, one of them replied
that they could put up with every kind of provocation
except the abuse of their revered leaders. This gave
Gandhiji his cue, and he explained to them that non-vio-
lence could not, like the curate's egg, be accepted or re-
jected in part. It had value only when it was practised in
its entirety. " When the sun rises the whole world is filled
with its warmth so that even a blind man feels its presence.
Similarly when one lakh of Khudai Khidmatgars are fully
permeated with the spirit of non-violence, it will proclaim
itself and everybody will feel its life-giving breath.'7
He gave a detailed description of the close relations
that existed between him and the Pathans in South Africa
and a word picture of Pathan characteristics and added,
*' I know it is difficult, it is no joke for a Pathan to take
an affront lying low.31 The sign, he went on to explain, by
which he would judge whether the Khudai Khidmatgars
had really assimilated the spirit of non-violence would be
that they should have won the hearts of all, including the
lowliest and the most helpless, through their loving and
selfless service and be able to command their co-operation
and obedience not through fear but love. "I have known the
Pathans since my South African days. I had the privilege
of coming into close and intimate contact with them. Some
of them were my clients. They treated me as their Mend,
philosopher and guide, in whom they could confide freely.