Writing Life looks at the lives and work of three 19th century thinkers of Gujarat – Narmadashankar Lal Shankar, Manibhai Nabhubhai & Govardhanram Tripathi. (The last mentioned is the author of Saraswatichandra). Poets, essayists and Novelists, these three writers deeply influenced the intellectual life of Gujarat. Moreover, the book shows, how the idea of `social reform’ is deeply linked in their work to the idea of `the nation’. The author also shows how Gandhi, following these writers, created another notion of `nation’, `reform’ and the moral dimensions of these.