The friend who taught Gandhi to eat meat in his school days once stayed with him in South Africa and brought a lady of easy virtue to his house. Gandhi has narrated this incident in his autobiography but without mentioning the name of the man. When questioned why he did not reveal the name of the man, he said "I left that out deliberately. That man is still alive and some people know of my association with him. If I gave the whole story, they might begin to hate him."
There is another instance of his kindness. When Dr. Annie Besant was editing "New India" a newspaper she began making personal attacks against Gandhi. He stopped reading it, the reason he gave was "As long as I do not read it, I can retain my friendly feelings towards Mrs. Annie Besant and if I meet her again, I shall meet her with the same heartfelt respect which I have always entertained for her."
One day a young girl did not appear for dinner in the mess. Gandhi, in spite of his preoccupations, took keen interest in the welfare of every member of the Ashram and he was quick to notice her absence. Later on, he questioned her about it. She replied she had dined earlier than usual. In fact she had gone to the house of another inmate for dinner but she lied to Gandhi. It pained Gandhi to know that even one of those who was so close to him had failed to speak the truth. Instead of scolding the girl or sermonising at the prayer time, he imposed a three day fast upon himself for self purification.
In his later years he lived in a village called Segaon near Wardha in Central India. His home was not a palace but a mud hut without the corroding influence of power and wealth. He lived in four fifths nakedness. The village had no electricity; neither radios nor telephone. He was in every sense down to earth.
The hut had two single windows. The floor space was just sufficient for the occupant and a visitor or two. He had spread a white mattress on the floor. Near him was a small desk, an ink stand, a country-made waste-paper basket, a spittoon and an impoverished book-case. There was a table for his secretary. On the wall, near the pillow, was written OM. On another wall hung two card-boards with quotations from Ruskin's "Unto the Last" and from the Koran. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur put this notice on the wall "Be Quick, Be Brief, Be Gone."
Seated at the low desk near the window in the mud hut, Gandhi worked tirelessly, night and day, calmly. His mind was ever fresh. People from all parts of the country and some from distant lands visited him.
On entering his room, one could see the two cardboards, with the words "Do not negotiate when you are weak", "Keep silence when you are in temper." On his desk was a set of three monkeys in clay.
They indicated three evils to be avoided: Speak no evil; Hear no evil; See no evil.
This clay model had been presented to him by a Japanese visitor. The model represented three monkeys sitting together, the first with mouth shut, the second with eyes shut and the third with the ears shut. This model always accompanied Gandhi in his travels.