Lt-Gen Sir Ivan Mackay

former Australian High Commissioner in India

Mahatma's name a household word It will surely interest you in India to learn how Mahatma Gandhi was revered in Australia, in a country which has never seen him but knew him well through his books and from his pictures. It will be only in this way in the future, alas, that he will be known, even in India. Mahatma Gandhi, himself, was a simple and homely man. Although Mahatma Gandhi's name has been for years a household word in Australia where we have read of him in newspapers, seen his photographs and formed some idea of his great influence and prestige, it was not until we actually landed in India that we could fully appreciate the extent of that influence, particularly his spiritual influence, exercised upon the hearts of the people.

We Australians who have been in India during the recent vivid years of Mahatma Gandhi's life count ourselves fortunate to have had the privilege of meeting and talking with a man who, even now and more so by future generations, will be numbered among the greatest figures of world history.