It was the tradition of the Inns of
Court, a law organization for the students, to dine together at least six times
each year. The first time Gandhi dined with his fellow students, he felt shy
and nervous. He was sure that the boys would make fun of him for refusing meat and
wine.
When wine was offered, he said,
“No, thank you.”
The boy sitting next to him said,
“I say, Gandhi, don’t you really want your share? You pay for it, you know!”
When Gandhi replied that he never
touched wine, the boy shouted to his friends, “By Jove, fellows, we are in luck
to have this chap sitting with us. That gives us an extra half bottle.”
“You can have my share of roast,
too,” Gandhi told them, looking quite content with his bread, boiled potatoes,
and cabbage. He was pleasantly surprised to find that his queer habits did not
make him unpopular. The next time he went for the dinner, he had a pile of law
books with him. He was taking the books to his room to study.