Part 1, Chapters 1-5 Summary

The book opens with Gandhi sharing a little of his family history. His family belongs to the Bania caste and has had three generations of Prime Ministers. His grandfather, Ota Gandhi, had six sons from two different wives and his father, Kaba Gandhi, outlived four wives. The last wife is the mother of Mohandas, who is the youngest of her four children. He has two half-sisters from two of his father's earlier marriages. His father was Prime Minister of the states of Rajkot and then Vankaner and a member of the Rajasthanik Court during his lifetime. A man who spent his life in public service,Gandhi's father is described by his son as uneducated with very little religious training, loyal to his family and his government with no ambition to acquire wealth, which is why he left them little...