Prof. Nagindas Sanghavi earned his Masters degree from the University of Mumbai in1946.aught undergraduates in various colleges as a lecturer and headed a Department of Politics and History. He handled a course in 'Government and Politics in India' for the post-graduate students of the University of Mumbai. He retired in 1981. He has translated into Gujarati many treatises on political science and a history of USA. The Parichaya Trust published a serried of his lengthy articles on the Indian Constitution and political developments. He is the main author of Swaraj Darshan, which deals with post-Independent India; it was a reference book for post-graduate students of several universities in Gujarat. His Gujarat-A Political Analysts was published by the Centre for Social Studies, of which
Gandhi, an inspiration and despair to all who approached him, has been subjected to more analysis than any other person in contemporary history. And yet something is missing in the puzzle that Gandhi was and is. This volume is one more attempt to understand and to explain him by laying a little more emphasis on the societal factors and the situations that shaped him and structured his personality during his formative years in England and South Africa. This by no means is an easy task. Gandhi was a complex personality. Moreover, as a continuously evolving phenomenon, he underwent several startling changes in his habits, views and approaches to life. He therefore cannot be evaluated out of the time frame that was in existence at the time we talk about. Also, Gandhi has suffered a lot by the process of deification that started with his death or even before it. Much that is written about him is sheer hagiography with a few pieces of demonology too. Gandhi is too valuable a piece of humanity to be lost to history. We must strive to brush off the cobwebs gathering around him and portray him as the simple yet stupendous figure he was.
