Mahatma Gandhi

Famous Quote

"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." "In a gentle way, you can shake the world." "Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes. "I remain an optimist. Not that there is any evidence that I can give that right is going to prosper, but because of my unflinching faith that right must prosper in the end."

Marriage and Family

At the ripe young age of 13, Mahatma Gandhi married Kasturba (14). This marriage was an arranged one (by their powerful parents), and would last for around sixty-two years, until Gandhi's death. Gandhi and Kasturba had six children together. Unfortunately, their first child, whom they had at 16 and 17, would never be named, as it never made it past a few days old. Biologically, all of his children were boys, as he had 5 sons (including the infant mortality), although he did adopt a daughter, named Laxmi.

Important Accomplishment

Considering everything that Gandhi has done throughout his lifetime, I would say that his biggest achievement was his peaceful Indian revolution, that split the country from the powerful Britain. The one compromise of their new-found independence, was that the country was forced by the British to split in two. This would cause the formation of the country Pakistan. He united a nation, to revolt against its one in power.

Dreams and Goals-Hardships and Obstacles

Gandhi was born with high hopes. At first, he planned to become a successful lawyer, as was expected from somebody in a family of his stature, but unfortunately, he failed to find success in this career. As he found himself, as an activist, his goals would drastically evolve into freeing India from the grasps of the British Empire, and changing the world. He also dreamed of spreading Satyagraha, or passive resistance to those under oppression. This would later inspire the famed civil-rights activist; Martin Luther King jr, among others. Gandhi was not one unfamiliar to the difficulty of hardships. Once, while in South Africa, he had to leave a courtroom because he was wearing a turban. Only a few days later, he would find himself thrown out of a first-class railway compartment, to be left freezing at the station. Also, during this same journey to Pretoria, he was beaten up by the white driver of his stagecoach for refusing to give up his seat for a European passenger. While in Pretoria, hotels refused to shelter him, and labeled themselves "European Only".

Interesting Facts and Stories

Gandhi's birthday (October 2) is a National Holiday in India. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 5 times, and never won. He had 5 biological children before taking a vow of celibacy. Gandhi's real name is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. "Mahatma" means "Great Soul". Winston Churchill was basically Gandhi's archenemy. More than 2,000,000 attended Gandhi's funeral. Indira Gandhi, the only female prime minister of India, isn't related to Mahatma Gandhi.

Conclusion

I deeply admire Mahatma Gandhi, for his courageous and devoted acts of peaceful protest. I truly agree with his philosophy of 'Satyagraha', ro devotion to truth, as well as his "civil disobedience". I believe that he was key to (especially) our history, and country's development, as large characters, such as the famed civil rights activist Martin Luther King jr, would've likely never done what they had, or the way they had, if it weren't for the inspiration they received from Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi was truly inspiring, and incredible.

Death

January 30th, 1948, is the day to end it all. On this day, while on his way to his daily prayer, Mahatma gandhi was shot dead by Nathuram Godse. At the time, Nathuram Godse was a newspaper editor for Agani, a newspaper that he had started with a friend, when he first started plotting the murder. Although we can't be certain, we're pretty sure that his reasoning was because of Gandhi's protest of the indian government withholding supplies from Pakistan. They actually failed on their first attempt, which was an attempt to use a bomb, which was too far away from Gandhi when it exploded, and the second was to walk up to him on his way to his daily prayers, and simply shoot him, close-range. This second attempt, sadly worked. He shot Gandhi 3 times before a crowd had gathered, by which point, he was pretty-much already dead. Gandhi was 78 at the time of his death.

Birth and Childhood

Mahatma Gandhi was born October 2, Porbandar (present-day Gujarat), into a deeply religious family. His mother was an evangelical follower of Vishnu (Hindu god), and his father was the Dewan of Porbandar (Head minister). They were both extremely ascetic, and his mother was also influenced by Jainism, a powerful self-disciplinary nontheistic religion. It strongly promoted passiveness, and some believe that this also forced Gandhi to become who he did.

Important Life Event

Possibly the most influential events of his life, he lost quite a few people at a young age. When he was 16, he lost his father, Karamchand, to a large fistula (connection of multiple hollow spaces in a body). He was 63 at the time of his death. That same year, he and Kasturba would have their first child together, which sadly, died after only a few days after its birth. 6 years later, when gandhi was 22, his mother died from an unknown cause at the age of 52. Also, he wouldn't be told of her death until he returned to India, a few months later. His family had decided not to tell him while he was in England, because they wanted him to focus on work and school, instead of rush home.

Important Life Event

Probably the most important part of his life, his time in South Africa was a long and painful one. Although he had seen some of it before, Gandhi had never really been exposed to racism until he arrived in South Africa. At the time of his arrival, Mahatma Gandhi was very quickly exposed to the racism of the social climate in South Africa at the time. Although he predated apartheid, he was still exposed to the racist, nationalist propaganda of people of his time, especially the ANC (African National Congress). Had he not been exposed to the extremes of the discriminatory laws, agenda, and people, he may have not evolved into the social activist that he had.

School, College and Career

While at school, Gandhi didn't exactly flourish, or excel. This would change at 19, when Gandhi left home to study law in England. He studied at the Inner temple college for just 24 months (2 years), before going home to set up a law practice in Bombay (modern day Mumbai), which, all in all, failed. He was then rejected for the role as a part-time/substitute teacher in a Bombay High school. He would find a temporary job writing petitions for people involved in lawsuits, before accepting a contract for an indian law firm in South Africa. He would spend the next 20 years or so in South Africa, where he would quickly evolve into the social activist that we know him as today. His experiences in South Africa, and especially with apartheid probably had the largest effect on his development, and philosophy.