Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi (real name: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi) was born on 2nd October, 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat. He was the eminent leader in the freedom struggle of India whose actions such as non-violence and peace forced Britishers to leave India. His civil disobedience and non-cooperation movements are still talked about. During early 1910s, he was actively involved in the struggle for Civil Rights in South Africa.

Famously known as Mahatma Gandhi or Bapu (the father figure), he was a spiritual and political leader. He was an anti-war activist. He wanted to alleviate poverty, liberate women and do for the good of the farmers so that they get rid of the heavy taxes levied on them. He struggled to put an end to discrimination of all kinds.

Childhood

Mahatma Gandhi was born in a Hindu merchant caste family, to proud parents Karamchand Gandhi and Putlibai. He had two brothers and one sister. He was the youngest of all. The Indian classic stories of Shravana and Harishchandra had a great impact or rather indelible imprint on Gandhi in childhood. In a tender of thirteen, he got married to Kasturbai Makhanji (commonly named as Kasturba). He even became father of four children in a tender age.

Education

At his middle school and even in high school he was an average student. He passed his matriculation from Samaldas College in Gujarat with some difficulty. After that he went to London to study law and became an advocate.

Career

After pursuing law, Mahatma Gandhi had some failed attempts to practice law in India. Later, he went to South Africa to practice law and spent almost twenty years there opposing legislations against Indians. He faced discrimination on the basis of race and color. Him being thrown out of a train in Pietermaritzburg after refusing to move from the first-class, made him firm against the British Raj. In 1910, Gandhi formed a community ‘Tolstoy Farm’ near Johannesburg, where he propagated his ideology of peaceful resistance and succeeded in giving blacks the right to vote in South Africa. He returned to India in 1914 and supported the Home Rule Movement. In 1918, Gandhi started his successful Satyagrahas of Champaran (in Bihar) and Kheda (in Gujarat). Later, he actively launched non- cooperative and non-violent movements to achieve independence. In 1921, he promoted the Swadeshi Policy, where he appealed Indians to use Indian made products only. As a result he was sentenced to jail for almost two years. He also advocated self – dependence and boycotting Britishers. Dandi March was also one of his campaigns. Due to his efforts only we got independence.

At the end

Gandhiji was assassinated on 30th January 1948, at Gandhi Smriti (earlier known as Birla House). But even after his death people preached his lessons of non-violence, peace and simple living.