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chapter in the evolution of Non-Co-operation may eclipse, in its kaleidoscopic transformation, the amazing developments of the past. The most persistent Non-Co-operator may yet be the most ardent of co-operators. Orthodox non-co-operation may develop into responsive co-operation.
Before I pass on to my active work in connexion with the Reforms, let me interrupt the narrative by reference to my associa- tion with a movement which is helping to draw Europeans and Indians together—I mean the Rotary Club.
Whatever may be the opinion about the merits of the Reforms—and here I frankly admit that there is considerable room for diffe- rences—it must be admitted by all that they have been largely instrumental in establishing better relations between Europeans and Indians than existed before. With the advent of the Reforms there came the recognition on the part of the European community of the equal status of Indians with them as fellow-subjects of the Empire. This is apparent from the writings of the European Press and the utterances of prominent European leaders. The same whole- some change is observable in our social relations, where a sense of ease and equality is the dominant note. On the Indian side the sober section of our people are beginning to realize that for good or for evil—for good as I believe—Europeans and Indians have to live together, and that we should make the best of the situation. With this conviction on both sides, our relations are bound to improve, to our mutual advantage.
A feature of the present situation has for me a personal aspect to which I must refer. In the pre-reform days, I was perhaps the one Indian who, above all others, excited feelings the reverse of friendly in the mind of the European community. I had no quarrel; the feeling was perfectly natural. I was the most persistent and the most outspoken among living Indian agitators, denouncing the Government for its shortcomings, and the European community for its narrowness of vision and its attachment to its special privi- leges. Further, we did not know one another sufficiently well, and ignorance is the mother of all that makes for hatred and resentment. Things have changed since then. Our angle of vision has changed with closer contact and with better knowledge. In public work and in helping the Reforms, we have become col- leagues, and the feeling between European and Indian leaders is being gradually transformed into one of mutual esteem and respect.
While these momentous changes were silently shaping themselves