The Man They Called Mahatma - Assignment Example

The man they called Mahatma Introduction Born to Karamchand Gandhi and Putlibai on the 2nd of October 1869, at Porbandar, a sleepy town in Gujarat, Mohandas K.Gandhi was the youngest child in the family. He was known to be an average student. An incident in school reflected his rebellious and self-assertive nature. While at Alfred High School in Rajkot, another town in the sate of Gujarat, Mr.Giles, a British educational inspector came there to examine the students studying there. The students including Mohandas were asked to spell a few words in English. While all others spelt the words correctly, Mohandas had made a mistake. The class teacher seeing this asked Mohandas to copy from his neighbour’s slate. Mohandas refused and was rebuked by the teacher for his attitude. Mohandas married Kasturbai at the young age of thirteen, a marriage that lasted for sixty-two years. Mohandas set sail for England from Bombay on September 4th 1888 and enrolled for studies in law at Inner Temple Inns of Court. He was called to the bar on June 10th 1890, and set sail for India on 12th of June. From a barrister-at-law to a Mahatma, a leader of millions of Indians was a transformation unparalleled in history. On return to India, Mohandas had an uneventful and mediocre practice that lasted two years. Fallout with a British Political Agent had made Mohandas view things differently. He wanted to leave India. Opportunity came to him in the form of a business firm in Porbandar that wanted him to represent them in South Africa. Gandhi’s experience in South Africa transformed him and he came back a different man and went on to become the man they called Mahatma. The Events The following excerpts were key events that transformed the Mahatma to what we all know him to be: After landing in Durban, Natal, the lawsuit required Mohandas Gandhi to travel to Pretoria. He was given a first class ticket for the travel. During the overnight journey at a place called Maritzburg, Gandhi was manhandled and removed from the train. South Africa was at that time under Apartheid. On that bitter night at Maritzburg the germ of social protest was born in Mohandas Gandhi1. It dawned on Gandhi that he as an individual should fight for his rights against adversities and that through his actions; others will follow and win freedom. In 1901 when Gandhi decided to return to India, the Indian community got together and honored him and his family with a party. The congregation showered Gandhi and his family with gold, silver and diamonds for their contribution to confront the white minority government on their behalf. Gandhi had earlier received gifts in 1896, but they were inconsequential and Gandhi took them out of kindness. This time around the gifts were very precious and this began to haunt Gandhi. He was torn between the yearning for financial freedom and worldly freedom2. He decided to do away with the worldly pleasures and gifted the precious metals for community service, and he followed the same principle when leading a simple life in India. The pledge at the Imperial Theatre in Johannesburg on September 11th 1906 was a critical date in Gandhi’s life. This day, Gandhi pledged before God not to obey the proposed anti-Indian ordinance if it became law3 thus was born “Satyagraha”, Satya for truth, and agraha for firmness or force. Gandhi followed this path in his disobedience movement act against the British later in India. The Satyagraha was “the vindication of truth not by infliction of suffering on the opponent but on one’s self”4 The Salt Satyagraha, also known as the Dandi March on March 12th 1930, is an event that shook the entire British Empire. Gandhi and 78 volunteers walked from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi defying the orders of the British Government to pay tax on salt that was easily available from the sea. They walked 241 miles to reach Dandi to produce salt on their own. Analysis Though Gandhi was an unsuccessful lawyer, destiny had other things in store for him. A business firm offered to send Gandhi as their legal advisor to South Africa. He set sail for Durban and what followed thereafter was the transformation of an unsuccessful lawyer to an outstanding spokesperson of the under-privileged and minority group. He became a very successful representative of these people in the court of law and shot to prominence. The incident leading to his removal from the first class compartment of the train to Johannesburg shook Gandhi. The attitude of the leader in the stage coach was insulting and hurt his pride5. Many other events directed against the colored people made Gandhi stand up in support of the oppressed. He petitioned against such acts against Indians and won laurels. The local Indians recognized Gandhi as their leader in the fight against imperialism and dictatorship and began showering him with expensive gifts. Gandhi could not digest this. He wanted to return these gifts back to them. He wanted to disown worldly pleasure and donated the lot to the cause of community service. He wanted to lead a simple life free from the clutched of financial excesses and temptations. He wore hand- woven clothes made of cotton and lived on simple food. He would spend mornings offering prayers to Lord Rama (an incarnation of the Hindu God Lord Vishnu). Ahimsa and Satyagraha were his weapons. "Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man." said Gandhi once. This principle was carried on till his death on 30th January 1948. It is Gandhi’s practice of non-violence that saw him fight the white minority Government in South Africa with considerable success. The same principle was applied when he returned to India to face the British rulers. He was able to mobilize millions of people to rally behind him that caused problems for the British rulers. His experience in South Africa taught him to face the British with renewed vigor and succeed. An incident that comes to mind is that involving Gandhi in jail. Gandhi began his Satyagraha and refused to take food. His health began to deteriorate and was causing a lot of embarrassment and uneasiness to the British. The Government didn’t want to risk having Gandhi die in jail. They freed Gandhi. It was a moral victory for Gandhi. When Indian sub-continent was split into the Hindu’s India and Muslim’s Pakistan, Gandhi was pained to see bloodshed all over the country, Hindus fought Muslims and atrocities were targeted at common people. Gandhi went on hunger strike that almost became suicidal. This brought to end the slaughter of millions of innocent people. So strong was Gandhi’s determination that he was willing to sacrifice his life to achieve his goal, a goal that could bring peace and happiness to India. He led a celibate life till that fateful day of January 30th the bullet from Nathuram Godse fell him. He never wavered in his unshakable belief in nonviolent protest and religious tolerance. He left fate at the hands of the Lord. He was a man of words. Never once did he fall back on his words. Gandhi fought passionately and unremittingly against the British rule and the evil countrymen in India. He kept his hands clean and fought without malice, falsehood or hate. He was the Mahatma.6 The End of an Era On 30th January 1948, Gandhi troubled because he was late hurried to the prayer ground supported by his close aides Abha and Manu. No one would have guessed that this would be their last meeting with the Mahatma. A congregation was in waiting. Nathuram Godse was in the front row, his hand in his pocket gripping the pistol. When Gandhi folded his hands, smiled and blessed the crowd, Godse took out the pistol and pulled the trigger7. The advocate of non-violence fell to the bullet fired by his countryman, murmuring, “Hai Ram”. Observations Gandhi never believed in other people’s beliefs or methods unless he experienced them himself. He would trust his own judgement. He did however believe the more common beliefs. He urged people not to follow his observations, but to seek the truth by experimenting them themselves. This theory is rather confusing in the context of his teaching to his family. Gandhi was educated and became a lawyer. He never believed in it. This is reflected in his wife and children. They never got formal education and were taught by Gandhi. His wife never had the privilege to go to school after marriage. If Gandhi advocated the theory of self experimentation, why didn’t he allow his wife and later his children to experience true education? Paper Generalization In the preparation of “The man they called Mahatma”, there were limitations in the developmental approach to this subject in terms of space and research. Only a brief outline of an incident could be elaborated on and this limited research. Gandhi was a fascinating man who did things the way he thought were right and in most cases it turned out to be true. There are incidents early in his life that speaks of this man differently. He too was an ordinary person like us and did have his ego too. A complete study of this great man would need more space. I must admit that my study of the Mahatma elicited more fascination for this man. There is truth in what he says "Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man". This is reflected in his action not to prosecute the guilty for their murderous assault on him in Durban. The people began to see him differently and he became an icon overnight. He had exercised “self-restraint”8. Bibliography Book used: The life of Mahatma Gandhi by Louis Fischer, London: Granada Publication Limited, 1982. Read More