136 WITH NO REGRETS

the hearty handshakes and warm smiles of greeting
made us feel at home and amongst friends.

The display of affection shown us by both the
Singhalese and Indians standing shoulder to
shoulder, seemed to augur well for the mission on
which Jawahar. had come. Though at the time we
thought that.Jawahar Jiad succeeded in his work
and had* eliminated some of the bitterness that
seemed to;be*£preadkig, the future showed all too
plainly' that it could not be so. A month after our
,.visit itl^iCeyion Government dismissed 800 Indian
employees and sent them back to India.

I loved Ceylon and everything I saw there. In
spite of a very busy programme, Jawahar always
found time to do a bit of sight-seeing. We saw some
lovely temples and gardens and were overwhelmed
with hospitality wherever we went. Singhalese and
Indians vied with one another in almost killing us
by kindness. And I wondered how it was possible
for such kind and good-natured people to have dif-
ferences which were creating so much trouble.

Though there is no 'purdah system' or segre-
gation of women in Ceylon, at most functions soon
after we arrived and had been garlanded our host
took charge of Jawahar and escorted him to the
men's group while our hostess took me to the
women's. Only at meals we mixed for a short while
and then somehow the men and women separated
again.

In India we have had no suffragette movement.
There are certain women's organisations which
have mostly concerned themselves with social re-
forms. But the great impetus to be free and equal
with their menfolk came from the National move-
ment. The technique of the non-violent struggle
was such that women could play their part shoulder
to shoulder with their men. Gandhiji's doctrine
appealed to them and showed them a way of break-