FREE ESSAY ON MAHATMA GANDHI

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 father's name was Karamchand Gandhi and
his mother's 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 servant's 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 household's 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 co-operate 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 Indian's 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 Gandhi's 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 Martyr's Day.