Culmination of 150th Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi essay in 500 words in English
Answers
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2nd October, 1869, at Porbandar, a small town on the Western coast of India, which was then one of the many tiny states in Kathiawar. He was born in a middle class family of Vaishya caste. His grandfather had risen to become the Prime Minister of Porbandar and was succeeded by his son Karamchand who was the father of Mohandas. Putlibai, Mohandas’s mother was a saintly character, gentle and devout and left a deep impression on her son’s mind. She was Karam Chand’s fourth wife, the first three having died in childbirth. Mohandas went to an elementary school in Porbandar, where he found it difficult to master the multiplication tables. He had two brothers and a sister and was youngest of all.
He was seven when his family moved to Rajkot. There he attended a primary school and later joined a high school. Though conscientious, he was a ‘mediocre student’ and was excessively shy and timid. The stories of Shravan and Raja Harishchandra had a great impact on him. While he was still in high school, he was married, at the age of 13, to Kasturba who was also of the same age. A friend of the family suggested that if the young Gandhi hoped to take his father’s place in the state service, he had better become a barrister, which he could do in England in 3 years. Gandhi jumped at the idea. The mother’s objection to his going abroad was overcome by the son’s solemn vow not to touch wine, women and meat.
Gandhi went to Bombay to take the ship for England. In Bombay, the people of his caste, who looked upon crossing the ocean as contamination, threatened to excommunicate him if he persisted in going abroad. But Gandhi was adamant and was thus, formally excommunicated by his caste. Undeterred, he sailed on 4th September, 1888, for Southampton at the age of 18.
A first class ticket was purchased for him by his client. When the train reached Maritzburg, the capital of Natal, at about 9 pm, a white passenger who boarded the train objected to the presence of a coloured man in the compartment and Gandhi was ordered by a railway official to shift to a third class. When he refused to do so, a constable pushed him out and his luggage was taken away by the railway authorities. It was winter and bitterly cold. This was the turning point in Gandhi’s life.
He extended his stay in South Africa to protest against the bill that denied Indians the right to vote. In 1910s, he established the Tolstoy farm for peaceful resistance. After the rights of the blacks were restored, Gandhi was hailed as a hero. In January 1915, he finally returned to India, Mahatma, with no possessions and with only one ambition to serve his people.
At the end of his year’s wanderings, Gandhi settled down on the bank of the river Sabarmati, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, where he founded an Ashram in May 1915. He called it the ‘Satyagraha Ashram.’ The inmates, about 25 men and women, took the vows of truth, ahimsa, celibacy, non-stealing, non-possession and control of the palate and dedicated themselves to the service of the people.
It was the Rowlatt Act with its denial of civil liberties which finally brought Gandhi into active Indian politics. From 1919 to his death in 1948 he occupied the centre stage of the Indian politics and was the hero of the great historical drama which culminated in the independence of our country. Like a magician, Gandhi roused a storm of enthusiasm in the country with his call for non-cooperation. He began the campaign by returning to the Viceroy, the medals and decorations he had received from the government for his war services and humanitarian works.
The anti-climax came suddenly in February 1922. An outbreak of mob violence in Chauri-Chaura shocked and pained Gandhi that he refused to continue the campaign and undertook a fast for five days to amne for a crime committed by others in a state of mob hysteria.
On 12th March, 1930, after having duly informed the Viceroy, Gandhi, followed by 78 members of his ashram, both men and women, began his historic 24 day march to the sea beach at Dandi to break the law which had deprived the poor man of his right to make his own salt. The rest is history how a single man shook the foundations of the British Empire and how at his single call the entire nation rose from slumbers to fight for their rights unanimously, forgetting all their differences. In 1942, he launched the Quit India Movement with the slogan ‘Do or Die’.
“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” -Gandhiji
Answer:
nzjsndnxjxnnxifbxihejxurhd8ehehjsjdjdbdjjebdjdhdifbdjdh
Explanation: