Three years in London

Student of law
Gandhi came from a poor family, and he had dropped out of the cheapest college he could afford. [50] Mavji Dave
Joshiji, a Brahmin priest and family friend, advised Gandhi and his family that he should consider law studies in
London.[51] In July 1888, his wife Kasturba gave birth to their first surviving son, Harilal. [52] His mother was not
comfortable about Gandhi leaving his wife and family, and going so far from home. Gandhi's uncle Tulsidas also
tried to dissuade his nephew. Gandhi wanted to go. To persuade his wife and mother, Gandhi made a vow in
front of his mother that he would abstain from meat, alcohol and women. Gandhi's brother Laxmidas, who was
already a lawyer, cheered Gandhi's London studies plan and offered to support him. Putlibai gave Gandhi her
permission and blessing.[49][53]
On 10 August 1888, Gandhi aged 18, left Porbandar for Mumbai, then known as Bombay. Upon arrival, he
stayed with the local Modh Bania community whose elders warned him that England would tempt him to
compromise his religion, and eat and drink in Western ways. Despite Gandhi informing them of his promise to
his mother and her blessings, he was excommunicated from his caste. Gandhi ignored this, and on 4
September, he sailed from Bombay to London, with his brother seeing him off. [52][54] Gandhi attended University
College, London which is a constituent college of University of London.

Gandhi in London as a law student

At UCL, he studied law and jurisprudence and was invited to enroll at Inner Temple with the intention of
becoming a barrister. His childhood shyness and self withdrawal had continued through his teens, and he
remained so when he arrived in London, but he joined a public speaking practice group and overcame this
handicap to practise law.[55]
Vegetarianism and committee work
Gandhi's time in London was influenced by the vow he had made to his mother. He tried to adopt "English"
customs, including taking dancing lessons. However, he could not appreciate the bland vegetarian food offered
by his landlady and was frequently hungry until he found one of London's few vegetarian restaurants. Influenced
by Henry Salt's writing, he joined the London Vegetarian Society and was elected to its executive
committee[56] under the aegis of its president and benefactor Arnold Hills. An achievement while on the
committee was the establishment of a Bayswater chapter.[26] Some of the vegetarians he met were members of
the Theosophical Society, which had been founded in 1875 to further universal brotherhood, and which was
devoted to the study of Buddhist and Hindu literature. They encouraged Gandhi to join them in reading
the Bhagavad Gita both in translation as well as in the original. [56]
Gandhi had a friendly and productive relationship with Hills, but the two men took a different view on the
continued LVS membership of fellow committee member Dr Thomas Allinson. Their disagreement is the first
known example of Gandhi challenging authority, despite his shyness and temperamental disinclination towards
confrontation.
Allinson had been promoting newly available birth control methods, but Hills disapproved of these, believing they
undermined public morality. He believed vegetarianism to be a moral movement and that Allinson should
therefore no longer remain a member of the LVS. Gandhi shared Hills views on the dangers of birth control, but
defended Allinson's right to differ. [57] It would have been hard for Gandhi to challenge Hills; Hills was 12 years his
senior and unlike Gandhi, highly eloquent. He bankrolled the LVS and was a captain of industry with his