[3] After a brief visit to India (accompanying his parents), Manilal returned to South Africa in 1917 to assist in printing the Indian Opinion, a Gujarati-English weekly publication, at Phoenix, Durban.

In 1926, Manilal informed his father Mahatma Gandhi about Fatima Gool, with whom he had fallen in love in South Africa.

But Gandhi conveyed his disagreement and wrote:If you stick to Hinduism and Fatima follows Islam it will be like putting two swords in one sheath; or you both may lose your faith.

[5]In 1927, Manilal married Sushila (24 August 1907 – 1988), a woman from his own community and similar background, in a match arranged by their families in the usual Indian way.

It was Mahatma Gandhi who sought her hand for his second son; the match was arranged, and after the wedding, Sushila duly joined her husband in South Africa.