'Gandhi was never a man to conceal his private life'

Gyan Prakash, professor of history at Princeton University, shares his ideas and views on the man we call Mahatma.

One of the controversies in 'Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India' is the reference to the interesting friendship between Gandhi and Kallenbach. Gandhi has had many interesting relationships with sexuality and celibacy. Can you tell us more on that subject?

To be sure, Gandhi had a close, intimate relationship with Kallenbach. Joseph Lelyveld makes it clear that there is no evidence of a sexual relationship but suggests a homo-erotic one existed. To be scandalised by this is to know nothing about Gandhi's strong and open views on sexuality and love. Gandhi wrote openly and frequently about his struggles with physical desire in newspaper articles, letters and his diary. An unusual figure, he crossed many known boundaries of the public and the private.