A Letter to a Hindu

“Love is the only way to rescue humanity from all illsand in it you too have the only methodof saving your people from enslavement.”A Letter to a Hindu was Leo Tolstoy’s response to letters from Tarak Nath Das – an Indian revolutionary and international scholar. Das wished to know the Russian author’s views on how India could gain independence from the British. Tolstoy’s response elaborates how India and Indians have love in their very roots and they could use the methods of non-violence protests and peace to win independence. When the young Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi came across the letter he translated it and published it with his Introduction. It holds insights from some great minds from the pre-independence era – like Swami Vivekananda – and is a reflection of India’s rich heritage and cultural roots.