‘Ahimsa must express itself through acts of selfless service of the masses.’
-Mahatma Gandhi
Many discussions have been held on Mahatma Gandhi and he has been popularly called the apostle of peace, Father of the Nation, Bapu, Mahatma and others. The teachings and values of the Mahatma are very popular in India and across the globe and no education is complete unless a student learns about the role and values of the Mahatma.
Though nominated five times between 1937 and 1948 for the Nobel Peace Prize, Gandhiji never received one. The United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution declaring October 2 as ‘the International Day of Non-Violence’ and January 30 as Day of Non-violence and Peace in schools.
During his visit to India in 2010, while addressing the Joint Session of the Parliament, United States President Barack Obama said that had it not been for Gandhi and the message he shared with America and the world, he wouldn’t be where he was. In September 2009, addressing a gathering at the Wakefield High School, Obama said that his biggest inspiration came from Mahatma Gandhi. The US president was replying to a question on ‘Who was the one person, dead or live, that he would choose to dine with?’ He went on to add that he found lot of inspiration in Gandhiji, who also inspired Martin Luther King Jr with his message of non-violence. Paying a tribute to the Mahatma, Obama said that he ended up doing so much and changed the world just by the power of his ethics.
Born on October 2, 1869, at Porbandar, Gujarat, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, propagated the philosophy of Satyagraha and Ahimsa. It is widely believed that Gandhiji popularly called Bapu was interested in everything concerning individual or society. Gandhiji’s crusade against untouchability and the notions of superiority and inferiority by birth and emancipation of Indian women are well known.
Gandhiji shot into prominence during his stay in South Africa, when he raised his voice against colonial and racial discrimination and the Asiatic (Black) Act and the Transvaal Immigration Act by beginning a non-violent civil disobedience movement. Returning to India in 1915, Gandhiji began long-needed social reforms such as ‘Harijan’ welfare, small-scale industries and self-reliance and rehabilitation of lepers. He called for equal rights to all in the society irrespective of which strata they belonged to.
Six years after his return to India, Gandhi took charge of the Indian National Congress and gave a call for achieving Swaraj - independence of India from foreign domination. He asked the countrymen to protest the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km Dandi Salt March in 1930, and also called the British to Quit India in 1942.
Gandhiji opened the party membership for a token fee and established a hierarchy of committees for improving discipline and transforming the party from an elite organisation to one of mass national appeal as evident in the recent protest of Anna Hazare on Jan Lokpal Bill. The Mahatma also brought the policy of boycotting foreign goods and using khadi. He exhorted all Indians to spend time daily on spinning khadi in support of the independence movement. Apart from boycotting British products, Gandhiji also urged the countrymen to boycott British educational institutions and law courts, and quit government employment and abandon British titles and honours among many others.
In his autobiography, ‘The Story of My Experiments with Truth’, Gandhiji admitted that Indian classics, especially the stories of Shravan and Maharaja Harishchandra, had a great impact on him and he had imagined himself as Raja Harishchandra. It is from these two characters that it is believed that Gandhiji identified himself with Truth and Love as supreme values.
Martin Luther King Jr. during his famous “I Have a Dream” speech also used the principle of Gandhiji’s Satyagraha, which meant an individual’s moral power. Satyagraha means ‘universal force’ and makes no distinction between kinsmen and strangers, young and old, man and woman, friend and foe.
Early Life
Gandhiji passed matriculation from Samaldas College at Bhavnagar, Gujarat, and studied Indian law and jurisprudence at University College London and trained to become a barrister at the Inner Temple. Gandhiji returned to India in 1891 and tried to begin his law practice in Bombay but failed and also tried his hand at teaching. He, however, began drafting petitions for litigants in Rajkot but was forced to abandon it and take up a year-long contract with an Indian firm, Dada Abdulla & Co., in the Colony of Natal, South Africa.
In 1895, in South Africa, Gandhiji faced discrimination when he was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to move from the first-class to a third-class coach, while holding a valid first-class ticket. He was again attacked for refusing to make way for a European passenger. Gandhiji also refused to follow a Durban court order asking him to remove his turban.
Gandhiji’s first major achievement came in 1918 with the Champaran agitation and Kheda Satyagraha. In Kheda in Gujarat, he established an ashram and organized volunteers to carry out a study of the villages. In a move to boost the confidence of the villagers, the Mahatma began clean-up, building schools and hospitals and encouraged villagers to condemn social evils.
Freedom Struggle
In his struggle against the British, Gandhiji employed the weapons of non-cooperation and non-violence. He condemned the actions of the British and retaliatory action of the Indians at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Punjab. It was only after this incident that Gandhiji gave a call for Swaraj. He began his three-week fast in the autumn of 1924 after all attempts to patch up the growing differences between Hindus and Muslims failed. In this, he achieved limited success. Gandhiji embarked on a six-day fast in September 1932 to force the government to adopt an equitable arrangement after he rejected the government view of separate electorates for untouchables under the new constitution.
In August 1946, Gandhiji opposed the partition and suggested an agreement asking the Congress and Muslim League to cooperate and achieve independence under a provisional government, and settle the issue of partition through a plebiscite in Muslim majority districts. To quell riots, Gandhiji personally visited the affected areas. Norwegian historian, Jens Arup Seip, states that the Mahatma’s teachings, the efforts of his followers, and his own presence, prevented more bloodshed during the partition. After invoking of the Indian Independence Act nearly 12.5 million people were displaced and thousands lost their lives.
Depiction in Films
Many films have been made on the Mahatma, but the most loved by the audience is Hindi film, ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’ that was released in 2006. In 1982, Ben Kingsley essayed the role of Gandhi, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2007, another film, ‘Gandhi, My Father’ explored the relationship between him and his son Harilal. Another movie, ‘The Making of the Mahatma’ talks about Bapu’s time in South Africa.
The apostle of peace appears on every Indian rupee and there are two temples dedicated to him - one in Sambalpur, Orissa, and the other in Chikmagalur district, Karnataka.
Gandhiji got married at the age of 13 years to Kasturbai Makhanji, popularly called Kasturba or Ba and had four sons - Harilal, Manilal, Ramdas and Devdas. While proceeding for his evening prayers, Gandhiji was shot dead by Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948 in New Delhi. Gandhiji’s philosophies and morals of life will keep him alive in people’s minds forever.
Long live Gandhiji and his ideals!
-Mahatma Gandhi
Many discussions have been held on Mahatma Gandhi and he has been popularly called the apostle of peace, Father of the Nation, Bapu, Mahatma and others. The teachings and values of the Mahatma are very popular in India and across the globe and no education is complete unless a student learns about the role and values of the Mahatma.
Though nominated five times between 1937 and 1948 for the Nobel Peace Prize, Gandhiji never received one. The United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution declaring October 2 as ‘the International Day of Non-Violence’ and January 30 as Day of Non-violence and Peace in schools.
During his visit to India in 2010, while addressing the Joint Session of the Parliament, United States President Barack Obama said that had it not been for Gandhi and the message he shared with America and the world, he wouldn’t be where he was. In September 2009, addressing a gathering at the Wakefield High School, Obama said that his biggest inspiration came from Mahatma Gandhi. The US president was replying to a question on ‘Who was the one person, dead or live, that he would choose to dine with?’ He went on to add that he found lot of inspiration in Gandhiji, who also inspired Martin Luther King Jr with his message of non-violence. Paying a tribute to the Mahatma, Obama said that he ended up doing so much and changed the world just by the power of his ethics.
Born on October 2, 1869, at Porbandar, Gujarat, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, propagated the philosophy of Satyagraha and Ahimsa. It is widely believed that Gandhiji popularly called Bapu was interested in everything concerning individual or society. Gandhiji’s crusade against untouchability and the notions of superiority and inferiority by birth and emancipation of Indian women are well known.
Gandhiji shot into prominence during his stay in South Africa, when he raised his voice against colonial and racial discrimination and the Asiatic (Black) Act and the Transvaal Immigration Act by beginning a non-violent civil disobedience movement. Returning to India in 1915, Gandhiji began long-needed social reforms such as ‘Harijan’ welfare, small-scale industries and self-reliance and rehabilitation of lepers. He called for equal rights to all in the society irrespective of which strata they belonged to.
Six years after his return to India, Gandhi took charge of the Indian National Congress and gave a call for achieving Swaraj - independence of India from foreign domination. He asked the countrymen to protest the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km Dandi Salt March in 1930, and also called the British to Quit India in 1942.
Gandhiji opened the party membership for a token fee and established a hierarchy of committees for improving discipline and transforming the party from an elite organisation to one of mass national appeal as evident in the recent protest of Anna Hazare on Jan Lokpal Bill. The Mahatma also brought the policy of boycotting foreign goods and using khadi. He exhorted all Indians to spend time daily on spinning khadi in support of the independence movement. Apart from boycotting British products, Gandhiji also urged the countrymen to boycott British educational institutions and law courts, and quit government employment and abandon British titles and honours among many others.
In his autobiography, ‘The Story of My Experiments with Truth’, Gandhiji admitted that Indian classics, especially the stories of Shravan and Maharaja Harishchandra, had a great impact on him and he had imagined himself as Raja Harishchandra. It is from these two characters that it is believed that Gandhiji identified himself with Truth and Love as supreme values.
Martin Luther King Jr. during his famous “I Have a Dream” speech also used the principle of Gandhiji’s Satyagraha, which meant an individual’s moral power. Satyagraha means ‘universal force’ and makes no distinction between kinsmen and strangers, young and old, man and woman, friend and foe.
Early Life
Gandhiji passed matriculation from Samaldas College at Bhavnagar, Gujarat, and studied Indian law and jurisprudence at University College London and trained to become a barrister at the Inner Temple. Gandhiji returned to India in 1891 and tried to begin his law practice in Bombay but failed and also tried his hand at teaching. He, however, began drafting petitions for litigants in Rajkot but was forced to abandon it and take up a year-long contract with an Indian firm, Dada Abdulla & Co., in the Colony of Natal, South Africa.
In 1895, in South Africa, Gandhiji faced discrimination when he was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to move from the first-class to a third-class coach, while holding a valid first-class ticket. He was again attacked for refusing to make way for a European passenger. Gandhiji also refused to follow a Durban court order asking him to remove his turban.
Gandhiji’s first major achievement came in 1918 with the Champaran agitation and Kheda Satyagraha. In Kheda in Gujarat, he established an ashram and organized volunteers to carry out a study of the villages. In a move to boost the confidence of the villagers, the Mahatma began clean-up, building schools and hospitals and encouraged villagers to condemn social evils.
Freedom Struggle
In his struggle against the British, Gandhiji employed the weapons of non-cooperation and non-violence. He condemned the actions of the British and retaliatory action of the Indians at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Punjab. It was only after this incident that Gandhiji gave a call for Swaraj. He began his three-week fast in the autumn of 1924 after all attempts to patch up the growing differences between Hindus and Muslims failed. In this, he achieved limited success. Gandhiji embarked on a six-day fast in September 1932 to force the government to adopt an equitable arrangement after he rejected the government view of separate electorates for untouchables under the new constitution.
In August 1946, Gandhiji opposed the partition and suggested an agreement asking the Congress and Muslim League to cooperate and achieve independence under a provisional government, and settle the issue of partition through a plebiscite in Muslim majority districts. To quell riots, Gandhiji personally visited the affected areas. Norwegian historian, Jens Arup Seip, states that the Mahatma’s teachings, the efforts of his followers, and his own presence, prevented more bloodshed during the partition. After invoking of the Indian Independence Act nearly 12.5 million people were displaced and thousands lost their lives.
Depiction in Films
Many films have been made on the Mahatma, but the most loved by the audience is Hindi film, ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’ that was released in 2006. In 1982, Ben Kingsley essayed the role of Gandhi, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2007, another film, ‘Gandhi, My Father’ explored the relationship between him and his son Harilal. Another movie, ‘The Making of the Mahatma’ talks about Bapu’s time in South Africa.
The apostle of peace appears on every Indian rupee and there are two temples dedicated to him - one in Sambalpur, Orissa, and the other in Chikmagalur district, Karnataka.
Gandhiji got married at the age of 13 years to Kasturbai Makhanji, popularly called Kasturba or Ba and had four sons - Harilal, Manilal, Ramdas and Devdas. While proceeding for his evening prayers, Gandhiji was shot dead by Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948 in New Delhi. Gandhiji’s philosophies and morals of life will keep him alive in people’s minds forever.
Long live Gandhiji and his ideals!
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