Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi whose real name was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, was born in
1869 at Porbandar in the state of Gujarat in India. His fathers name was Karamchand
Gandhi and his mothers name was Putlibai. He was the youngest in the family of one
sister and three brothers. Both his parents were deeply religious and frequently visited
temples and took their meals only after daily prayers. In school Gandhi was a mediocre
student who was quite an introvert. He was even afraid to talk to any student in the class
as he thought that they would poke fun at him. However, he always upheld his honesty
and truthfulness. He believed in respecting his elders and was always blind to the faults
of the elders. Gandhi was married in 1882 at the age of thirteen to a girl named
Kasturbai. He passed his matriculation exams in 1887 and then soon returned to
Porbander as he found the studies of his college very tough. Then later on he went on to
the University of London in England to pursue the study of law after a lot of opposition
from his mother and some other people .He vowed not to touch woman, wine and meat.
He passed the London matriculation exam in the second attempt. At last he sailed back to
India in June, 1891.later on, he went to Bombay to study Indian Laws. In spite of getting
a case, he went to South Africa in April 1983. Gandhi sailed for South Africa in April
1893 and reached Natal at the close of May. It was in South Africa that Gandhi had a lot
of experience in laws, handling cases and many other fields. He observed the pitiful
conditions of the Indians and other colored people and also experienced it when on his
way to Pretoria from Natal, he was thrown out of a train because he was the only colored
person in the first class compartment. During this time Gandhi became deeply interested
in religion. In spite of his Christian friends tries of converting him to Christianity, he
kept his faith. He helped the Indentured Indian laborers and fought for their rights. After
three years in South Africa, Gandhi returned to India in 1896. Gandhi had a lot of
shortcomings in his personal life. He was a very suspicious husband and kept an eye on
all the movements of his wife, Kasturbai. This resulted in bitter quarrels becoming the
order of the day. But in his autobiography, Gandhi says that he did all this because he
wanted to make his wife an ideal wife and make her live a pure life. Some more of his
shortcomings were that at a young age he had started smoking and eating meat in
company of a cousin and a friend. He stole money from his servants pocket and bought
cigarettes. At last he gave up all the malpractices and became a strict vegetarian and stuck
to it all his life. He educated his children and the child of his widow sister. He also
became a very religious person and was greatly influenced by the saintliness of his
mother. He practiced Ahimsa (non-violence), Brahmacharya (celibacy) and Aparigraha
(non-possession). In his public life, Gandhi was very successful. When he went to South
Africa, he came in contact with many people and went through many experiences. He
protested against the color bar and helped all those who were neglected During the Boer
War he participated with the British. He and some other people joined to form the
Ambulance Corps who took care of the wounded fighters. Gandhi awakened a sense of
duty to the Indians settled in South Africa, so that they sent money for the famine relief
during the famines in India in 1897 and 1899. In 1917, he got the Indentured Emigration
from India, abolished. After returning to India, he set about reforming it. His campaign in
India started from Champaran, a small place in the state of Bihar. There he fought for the
rights of Indigo farmers. He upheld the principles of Swaraj (self rule), Swadeshi (self

sufficiency) and Satyagraha (truth as a medium of protest). He instructed the people not
to wear foreign clothes or use foreign goods. He told them to make their own clothes
using handlooms and the cloth that they wore was known as Khadi. Even Gandhi made
his own clothes by using a Charkha (spinning wheel), which became the symbol of
prosperity and integrity of India. Gandhi created a number of Ashrams or communities
where men, women and children from all backgrounds and nationalities came to learn
from his daily example on how to make non-violence and love the basis of their lives.
One of the ashrams was the Sabarmati Ashram in the state of Gujarat. He understood the
problems of the untouchables who were thrown out of society. He called these people
Harijans or people of the lord. Wherever he went, he collected money for the
Harijans. He traveled in the third class of the trains, which were dirty and meant for the
low caste Indians. When someone asked him why, he simply said, Because there is no
fourth. Gandhi faced many challenges towards the end of his life. In 1930, the British
government levied tax on salt, which was the primary ingredient of every households
meal. Gandhi collected some followers and marched to a small, coastal town of Dandi,
situated near the Arabian Sea, 240 miles away, where he proposed to produce salt from
the sea water. Thousands of people joined the march on the way. This was known as the
DANDI MARCH. Gandhi was arrested after this incident. But this did not hinder his
courage. He started the NON- CO-OPERATION MOVEMENT. Nobody was to cooperate with the British, which would lead to their leaving India. On the 8th of August
1942 the QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT started. This non-violent protest disrupted and
destroyed the British Government and their system of governance and added nationalistic
fire to every Indians heart. On the eve of independence, Hindus and Muslims in India
were in the throes of civil war. All the government forces were powerless to stop the
massacres. The bloodshed and destruction touched the very depths of Gandhi. He went
straight to the heart of the violence and walked barefoot through the remote, ravaged
villages as a one-man force for peace. He who trembles or takes to the heels, the
moment he sees two people fighting, is not non-violent, but a coward. A non-violent
person will lay down his life in preventing such quarrels said Gandhi and he truly
justified it. It was on the evening of 30th of January 1948, that the final tragedy took
place. Mahatma Gandhi was in Delhi, requesting for Hindu-Muslim unity. When the time
for prayer meeting came, he walked briskly with his arms on the shoulder of two of the
ashram girls. As he walked to the platform through the huge crowd, he held his palms
together in front of him. Suddenly, a young man placed himself in Gandhis path and
fired a gun point-blank into his heart. Such was the greatness of Gandhi that as his body
fell, he called out Rama, Rama, Rama which meant I forgive you, I love you, I bless
you. The killer was later identified as Nathuram Godse, a Hindu fanatic. This 30th day of
January, is known in India as the Martyrs Day.
Word Count: 1236

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