“Gandhiji was like a powerful current of fresh air that made us stretch ourselves and take deep breathes….He was undoubtedly the greatest and most dominating figure of India…”- Pandit NEHRU

Gandhiji was one of the very few great men of the world who set the stamp of their personalities of an epoch. It is not possible for anyone to portray the life and achievement of a man like Gandhiji. To try to do it is to try to hold the whole world in the palm. J.H. Holmes says “Mahatma Gandhi is the greatest Indian since Gautam- the Buddha   and the greatest man since Jesus Christ”. In reality, Gandhiji was not just a man or a superman but a rare phenomenon that the world may witness once in a millennium. He ruled literally fifty crore of Indians for long thirty years, without any claim to power or authority; inspired them, guided them and finally led them to their inevitable destiny by providing them independence from British rule. World famous scientist Albert Einstein paid tribute to Gandhiji on the day of his assassination by saying “Generation to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this ever walked on this earth in flesh and blood”.  Hence, it is most justified and appropriate to call Gandhiji a magician who hypnotized the people, a mystic who tried to impress the image of God upon the faces of brutes, a soldier who fought with the weapons of a saint. He was certainly one of the history’s amazing paradoxes.

Gandhiji was born on 2nd October 1869  in Porbunder, Gujarat in a well to do  family.  He inherited political insight from his father Karamchand Gandhi who was the Dewan of Kathiawar state and religious temperament from his mother Putuli Bai who was a very pious lady. His father was a very fine and brave man, very good at his work. His mother was so serious in her religion that she never thought of beginning a meal without prayer. Gandhiji’s real name was Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi. In his school days it was not easy for Gandhiji to make friends with other boys and his only companions were his books and lessons. He used to run home from school as soon as classes were over for fear that someone would talk to him or make fun of him. As a little boy he was very honest. He did not like to take part in school games  thinking that they were a waste of time. But later he changed his mind about the value of games in playground.

One day he had to come to school at four o’clock for school games. He had no watch and the cloudy weather deceived him. When he arrived, the game was over. The next day when he explained to the head of the school about the reason of his delay, he was not believed. He was told that he was not telling the truth and was punished. So, at this early age he began to understand that a man of truth must also be a careful and punctual man. Gandhiji in his school days was very poor in handwriting, and did nothing to improve it because he believed that it was not important. But later, in South Africa he felt ashamed of himself when he saw the excellent handwriting of lawyers.

Gandhiji was married at the early age of 13. This early mirage did not help his lessons and he lost a year in high school. Fortunately, by hard work he was later able to finish two classes in one year. Gandhiji’s family members were fully vegetarians. One day in school one of his friends set out to make him believe that eating of meat was good for him. He explained in this way by saying that “The vegetarians are weak people. The English men are able to rule over us because they eat meat”. One day the two friends went off to a quiet place by the river and there Mohandas tasted goat’s meat.  But after taking meat he thought of his father and mother and promised not to taste meat. That is why on through his whole life he never tasted meat again.

At about this time he had another friend who insisted him to smoke for getting pleasure in blowing smoke from mouths like grown up men. They had little money to buy cigarettes, and the unsmoked ends of their uncle’s cigarettes were not enough. So, sometimes they stole a little money from the servant’s in the house. But soon he gave up smoking and came to feel that it was dirty and harmful. There was one more event of the same kind. Once, at the age of 15 he stole a small piece of gold from his brother’s armlet in order to repay his debt. But as a worshipper of truth and honesty he could not remain silent.  This deed lay heavy on his mind. He wrote a letter to his father about what he had done asking that he be punished and promising that he never again would steal. His father read the letter and tears came.

At the age of 18 Gandhiji went to college. But only after part of a year he went to London to study to be a lawyer. He sailed for England leaving his parents, wife and child. He wore the new foreign clothes provided by his friends in the ship. As a vegetarian he faced so many problems there and at last prepared his own breakfast, lunch and supper. After 4 years of study, he completed his law degree and returned to India in 1891. In India he practiced as a lawyer but found his works as a lawyer not at all interesting. He felt that he was not fitted for this kind of profession.

At the age of 24 Gandhiji went to Durban, South Africa by getting a letter from a rich Indian merchant staying there. In South Africa Gandhiji came face to face with sad way in which the Indian community lived there- a life of racial discrimination and social segregation. When he entered to the court wearing foreign clothes and a turban, the judge of the court ordered him to take off his turban. Gandhiji refused and left the court. Most of Indians in South Africa were working as Coolies (labourers). Gandhiji fought for their right and soon came to known as a ‘coolie lawyer’. Once Gandhiji was traveling in a first class compartment in a train in South Africa. A White man traveling in the train called a guard who ordered him to leave the carriage as he was a Black coloured man. But Gandhiji showed him his first-class ticket and did not leave the coach. A police man came and forced him to leave the train. He was very shocked by this type of law there and decided to fight against it. Thus began 20 years of hard work for the Indians of South Africa. It was this humiliating experience that made Gandhiji to invent the most powerful of the weapons- Satyagraha, non-violent, non-cooperation.  He left that country in 1914 only after very great improvements in the conditions of the Indians there had taken place.

Gandhiji returned to India in January 1915. His work in South Africa had been followed by the people and everywhere people praised him and followed him. He settled down near Ahmedabad, where he started an Ashram. People of any race or any religion were invited to come and join him. Even people of the lower castes, who were considered as Untouchables were welcomed in the Gandhi Home. Gandhiji’s fame spread near and far and people started calling him as ‘Mahatma’.           Soon after Gandhiji had arrived in the country, he threw himself into the mainstream of the national struggle for freedom. The unorthodox methods he advocated and his transparent sincerity struck a responsive chord in the hearts of the common people. Within a few years he had come to exercise a marked influence on shaping the policies of the Indian National Congress. Gandhiji gave a call for Non-Cooperation movement in 1920 by which people all over India started boycotting the British offices, colleges, schools. In 1929 Gandhiji started the Civil Disobedience movement and the entire nation rose like one man and disobeyed the British Government. In the same period in 1930 he undertook the Dandi March to break the Salt Law. In 1942 Gandhi launched the Quit India movement asking the Britishers to leave India. Finally India was proclaimed free on 15th August 1947.

Gandhi was not happy with the partition of India. He was not anywhere to be seen in the midst of festivals in Delhi. He was busy in fighting his war against rapid communalism. He observed the day with fasting and prayers. He described the partition of the country as” a spiritual tragedy”. After partition terrible things happened in many parts of India and Pakistan. What had happened before 15th August 1947 repeated again and again and in communal riots, the toll of life had run into tens of thousands and the migration into millions.  For Gandhi both the Indians and Pakistanis were equal, his beloved children. So, keeping in mind the miserable conditions of the poor people of Pakistan, Gandhiji began his fast unto death on 13th January 1948 to persuade the government of India to release certain substantial sum of money (Rs.55 crores) to Pakistan and to protect the life and property of Muslims in India. On 18th January the Indian Government agreed to release the money and the Delhi Peace Committee pleaded to protect the life and property of the minority Muslims. But exactly 12 days after, on 30 January, a Hindu youth named Nathuram Godse from Poona, bent down before Gandhiji who was on his way to his daily prayer meetings as if in respect and shot him dead thinking him a friend of the Muslims. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India speaking over the radio that night said, “The light has gone out of our lives and everywhere it is dark…”.

Gandhiji’s simple living-a simple loin cloth to wear, a poor cottage to live in; his teaching of truth and non-violence; his insistence on good conduct; the earnestness with which he practised what he taught; his sincere interest in the welfare and upliftment of the socially and economically segregated and love and respect to each religion elevate him to the status of a selfless saint. His famous autobiography ‘My Experiment with Truth’ is a masterpiece showing the details of the life and career of this great saint.