Mahatma Gandhi: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi also known as Mahatma Gandhi is considered as the father of the nation of this country. He was the leader of the nationalist movement in the freedom struggle against British rule. He was an Indian lawyer, political ethicist, anti-colonial nationalist, writer and compassionate person.
Birth and Childhood of Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in a place called Porbandar in Gujarat, North-West India. He was born in a Hindu family. His father Karamchand Gandhi was a political figure and was also the Chief Minister of Porbandar. His mother’s name was Putlibai Gandhi, his father’s fourth wife, the previous wives having died in childbirth. Gandhi was born in a Vaishya family so from an early age he learned many things like non-injury to living beings, tolerance and vegetarianism.
Mahatma Gandhi’s marriage
In May 1883, he was 13 years old when he married a girl named Kasturba Makkarji, also 13, a marriage arranged by his parents. Together they had four sons, Harilal (1888), Manilal (1892), Ramdas (1897), Devdas (1900).
Education of Mahatma Gandhi
In this essay on Mahatma Gandhi, let us know about education of Mahatma Gandhi there was not enough opportunity for education in Porbandar, all school children used to write in dust with their fingers. However, he was lucky that his father was Diwan of Porbandar and Rajkot so his father manage to give him education but He was average in education. At the age of 13, he lost a year of school due to marriage. He was not a bright student in the classroom or on the playground, but he always obeyed the orders given by his elders.
That is why he did not spend all his teenage life like other children. He wanted to eat meat but never did because of his parents’ beliefs. In the year 1887, Gandhi passed the matriculation examination from Bombay University and joined Samaldas College, a college in Bhavnagar. It was clear to him at that time that he had to become a barrister if he wanted to carry on his family tradition and become a high ranking person in the state of Gujarat.
At the age of 18, he was offered to continue his studies in London and was not very happy at Samaldas College so he accepted the offer and left for London in September 1888. After arriving in London, he had difficulty understanding the culture and understanding the English language. A few days after his arrival, he joined the Inner Temple Law College, one of the four law colleges in London.
It was not easy for him to make the transition from a city in England to college in India but he took his studies very seriously and started learning his English and Latin. His vegetarianism became a very problematic subject for him as everyone around him ate meat and he began to feel ashamed.
Some of his new friends in London said that “not eating meat would weaken him physically and mentally”. But eventually, he found a vegetarian restaurant and a book that helped him understand his reason for becoming a vegetarian. Since childhood, he himself wanted to eat meat but never did because of his parents but now in London, he is convinced that he has finally adopted vegetarianism and never thought of eating meat again.
After a while he became an active member of a society known as the London Vegetarian Society and started attending all the conferences and journals. In England Gandhi not only met food fadists but also met some men and women who had vast knowledge of Bhagavad-Gita, Bible, Mahabharata etc. From them he learned a lot about Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and many others.
Many of the people he met were rebels from these people who did not support the Victorian establishment Gandhi gradually absorbed politics, personality and more importantly ideas. He passed his studies from England and became a barrister but some painful news awaited him back home in India. Gandhiji’s mother died in January 1891 while Gandhiji was still in London.
He returned to India in July 1891 and began his legal career but lost his first case in India. He soon realized that the legal profession was overcrowded and changed course. He was then offered to become a teacher in Bombay High School but turned it down and returned to Rajkot. With dreams of a better life, he began drafting petitions for lawsuits that soon ended with the displeasure of the local British official.
Fortunately in the year 1893, he got an offer to go to Natal, South Africa and worked there for 1 year in an Indian company as it was on contract basis.
Civil Right Movement in Africa
South Africa had many challenges and opportunities waiting for it. From there he started to grow a new leaf. Two of his four sons were born in South Africa. He had to face many difficulties there too. Once he was defending his client and had to run away from the court because he was so nervous, he could not speak properly. But bigger problems awaited him, as he faced racial discrimination in South Africa.
On the journey from Durban to Pretoria, he faced a lot from being “asked to take off his turban at court” to “travelling on the footboard of the car to make room for European passengers”, but he refused. He was hit by a taxi driver and thrown out of the first class compartment but these incidents strengthened him and gave him the strength to fight for justice.
He started educating others about their rights and duties. When he learned of the bill to disenfranchise Indians, that was when others urged him to fight on their behalf. Finally in July 1894 at the age of 25 he became an accomplished political campaigner.
He drafted petitions and got them signed by hundreds of compatriots. He was not able to stop the bill but managed to attract public attention in Natal, England and India. He then formed several societies in Durban. He planted the seed, the spirit of unity in the Indian community.
His success can be gauged from the fact that the most prominent newspapers of the time like The Times of London and Calcutta Statesman and Englishman wrote about him. He started wearing the white Indian dhoti in this period which later became his trademark. He started a non-violent protest against the tax known as ” Satyagraha ” where he led a march with over 2000 people and was later arrested and imprisoned for nine months.
Mahatma Gandhi’s contribution to India’s freedom struggle and achievements
Back in India, in the year 1919, the British began arresting and imprisoning anyone suspected of treason, when Gandhi stood up and began breaking the Non-Violent Order. Gandhiji’s goal of Indian independence became clear after the tragic incident in the city of Amritsar where more than 20000 protestors were being fired upon by the British Army.
400 people were killed and 1000 were injured. He started a mass boycott of British goods and establishments and asked everyone to stop working for the British. He was arrested again in 1992 and sentenced to 6 years in prison. In 1930 he started the Salt March and the well-known expedition of walking 390 km along the Arabian Sea.
As many as 60,000 opponents of the Salt Act were imprisoned, including Mahatma Gandhi. During World War II, when Mahatma Gandhi launched the Quit India campaign to remove British rule from India, he was again arrested and imprisoned along with many other prominent leaders of the Indian Congress. He met King George V on behalf of the Indian National Congress, but did not make much progress.
After the end of the war, the British government changed and this time there was progress they were ready to discuss independence for India but a tragic event followed the partition of the country into India and Pakistan. India got independence in 1947. In the year 1948, a Hindu extremist killed Gandhi. In this essay on Mahatma Gandhi, learn about the contributions made by Mahatma Gandhi!
Questions and Answers for Mahatma Gandhi
Why was Mahatma Gandhi famous?
He was known for his silent protests, disrespect campaign in India, satyagraha and passive resistance. His death caused India to mourn for 13 days, his birthday 2nd October is celebrated as a national holiday in India.
Why is Mahatma Gandhi called Mahatma?
The title Mahatma means “Great Soul” . It is a title given to him by Rabindranath Tagore but he never accepted it as he believed that he did not deserve this title.
Books dedicated to or written by Mahatma Gandhi
He was a writer since childhood, he loved writing books and has many books written by him. Some of the most famous of them are Autobiography of Gandhi, The Essential Gandhi, Hind Swaraj and other writings, Words of Gandhi, Satyagraha in South Africa and many more.
Many authors have written about Mahatma Gandhi some of them are Mahan Atma by Joseph Lelyveld, India Before Gandhi by Ramachandra Guha, The Good Boatman by Rajmohan Gandhi, Gandhi: Prisoner of Hope by Judith M Brown, etc.
While writing an essay on Mahatma Gandhi you can include books dedicated to him or his autobiography.
Conclusion
Mahatma Gandhi struggled a lot from his early life but regardless of all the sufferings, he made his way. And it is a very important part of the history of our freedom.