Selected Letters of Gandhi : Part-1

Chapter-49: Age of Marriage

To granddaughter Manu

I approve of your views on your marriage. You were dangerously ill as a little child and there was no hope that you would recover. But your life was saved thanks to Ba’s devoted nursing and skilled medical treatment. But that illness was so severe that your growth was arrested for the best part of five years, and you are weak even now, so that you might fall ill but for Bali’s excellent care. Therefore I always consider you to be at least 5 years younger than you actually are. For us in the Ashram the earliest age at which a girl should think of contracting marriage is twenty-one. At this rate you will hardly be ready for marriage at 25. However I have no intention of binding you down.....
For the present you must attend to your studies, build up a good constitution and understand as well as discharge your duties in terms of the Gita doctrine.

Translated from Gujarati