Around the world, the person of Mahatma Gandhi has become something of a radar for the freedom and hope of the oppressed. The anti-war activist Mahatma Gandhi popularized the idea of (mass) civil disobedience.
Mahatma Gandhi’s Biography
He was born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, a coastal town on the Kathiawar peninsula.
His father, Karamchand Uttamchand Gandhi, served as Diwan (Prime Minister) of Porbandar State. Karamchand married four wives and Gandhi was the last child of his last wife – Putlibai.
Gandhi’s father had wanted him to be a government minister, so his family encouraged him to become a lawyer (although he was interested in becoming a doctor). In 1888 Gandhi sailed to London to study law.
He came back to India after his studies but due to his shyness and shyness, he struggled to practice. His first court hearing was a disaster. Gandhi was so nervous that he didn’t notice when it came time to question a witness.
The British-trained lawyer led India’s independent movement and exported his civil rights vision to South Africa during apartheid, where he defended the legal rights of Indians in the region for 2 decades.
Gandhi returned to India in 1914 and led a life of temperance and spirituality on the periphery of Indian politics. Gandhi is a great supporter of Britain during the First World War, but in 1919 he launched a new Satyagraha to protest the Indians’ mandatory British military draft. Thousands of Indians followed his call to protest and by 1920 he was the leader of the Indian independence movement. He reorganized the Indian National Congress as a political force and instituted a massive boycott of British goods, services and institutions in India.
In 1922 he abruptly broke the Satyagraha when violence broke out (was clearly allergic to violence). A month later he was arrested by British authorities on charges of sedition, found guilty and imprisoned.
After his release in 1924, he led an extended rapid protest against Hindu-Muslim violence. A new government came to power in Britain in 1945 and negotiations for the country’s independence began. Gandhi wanted a united India but the Muslim League, in which he gained influence during World War II.
After lengthy talks, Britain agreed to the establishment of the two newly independent states of India and Pakistan on August 15, 1947. Gandhi was deeply affected by the partition, and soon bloody violence broke out between Hindus and Muslims in India.
His death
Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic in the late afternoon of January 30, 1948 at the age of 78.
On this fate of his assassination, Gandhi,Weakened by repeated fasting, had clung to his two grandmothers as they led him from his living quarters at Birla House in New Delhi to a prayer meeting as a Hindu extremist Nathuram goddess, enraged at Gandhi’s tolerance of Muslims, Mahatma knelt in front of him before withdrawing a semi-automatic pistol and shot him three times at point-blank range and he died a few minutes later.
He remains the most notable political and spiritual leader in Indian history – a selfless advocate for the plight of the poor, for segregation and unjust taxation. As a lover of justice and fairness; As a devout character, Gandhi left no room for mediocrity with a subtle but effective attitude.
His family, wife
Mahatma Gandhi married Kasturba Gandhi in 1883 at age 13 and had four sons together; Harilal, Manilal, Ramdas and Devdas.
Height
Gandhi was not that short, he was 168 cm tall and weighed 50 kg. Although his other body measurements are not known online, he had one black eye and a bald head.
Quotations from Gandhi
These are some of the thoughtful quotes from the great Indian soul, Mahatma Gandhi:
1. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
2. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
3. Strength does not come from physical ability. It comes from an indomitable will.
4. Freedom isn’t worth having if it doesn’t include the freedom to make mistakes.
5. You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my spirit.
6. A leader is useless if he acts against the dictates of his own conscience.
7. The best way to find yourself is to put yourself in the service of others.
8. It is better to be violent when there is violence in our hearts than to put on the cloak of non-violence to hide impotence.
9. An error does not become truth through multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because no one sees it.
10. Nobody can hurt me without my permission.
11. You must be the change you want to see in the world.
12. A small group of determined spirits, fired upon by an insatiable belief in their mission, can change the course of history.
13. Fear has its uses, but cowardice has none.
14. Strength does not come from physical ability. It comes from an indomitable will.
15. Be the change you want to see in the world.
16. A “No” from the bottom of your heart is better than a “Yes” just to avoid trouble.
17. Hate the sin, love the sinner.
18. God has no religion.
19. Live as if you will die tomorrow. Study as if you will live forever.
20. To answer brutality with brutality is to admit moral and intellectual bankruptcy and only start a vicious circle.
21. Honest disagreements are often a good sign of progress.
22. Nonviolence is the greatest power available to humanity. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction that man’s ingenuity has invented.
Other facts
Mahatma Gandhi lived a simple life like a vegan, dressing and fasting as a spiritual requirement to win the fight.
By the time of Indian independence in 1947, Gandhi had been in prison and released from prison.