Essay: Mohandas Karmchand Gandhi

Mohandas Karmchand Gandhi. He was born  2nd of October’ 1869 in Porbander (India) to Karamchand Gandhi and Putlibai. His father use to work as a chief minister of Porbander State whereas his mother Putlibai was a housewife and fasted religiously. He was also known as the Father Of The Indian Nation and was also referred  to as Mahatma (great soul) and fought  for India’s Freedom by achieving it through Non-Violence means. As a child one of his favorite pass times twisting dog’s ears.  There were two events in Gandhi’s childhood, which left an unforgettable impression on his mind. One of them was reading a book about Shravan’s devotion to his parents. How Shravan carried his blind parents on a pilgrimage ‘(CWMG, (p.20) 39:10). The other event was seeing the play of Harischandra, the king who went through many ordeals because of his commitment to truth. Gandhi wondered: ‘Why should all not be truthful like Harischandra?’. His biographer, Louis Fischer, described the Mahatma’s life as ‘a living sermon’ ([1951] 2014, 461).  When asked about his message to the world, this was what Gandhi said: ‘My life is my message’ (CWMG, 89: 156). Indeed, his life was a personification of what he stood for. Gandhi conceded that reading John Ruskin’s book Unto This Last, the material of which he presented in Gujarati under the title Sarvodaya, marked the turning point. As Louis Fischer notes, Ruskin ‘was content to revolutionize his mind but lacked the strength to change his life. In May 1883, Gandhi at the age of 13 got married to Kasturbai in an arranged marriage. Due to this event he lost a year in school but later was allowed to make-up by rushing up his studies. He was possessive and unjustly suspecting the loyalty of his young wife. There were quarrels. On one occasion, Gandhi broke his wife’s bangles in anger and sent her back to her parents’ home. As a husband, in the early years, he was temperamental. Gandhi loved his father Karamchand Gandhi dearly. Every night Gandhi pressed his father’s legs and stayed with him all night until he had fallen asleep. His devotion to his parents ‘knew no bounds’. Gandhi blamed his dark side, the ‘carnal lust’, as he called it, for his downfall.: ‘It took him long to get free from the bonds of lust, and he  had to pass through many ordeals before he could overcome it’ (CWMG, 39:30). It became very clear to him how darkness and light co-exist in the human life. In April 1893, Gandhi at the age of 23, went to South Africa to be a lawyer for Abdullah’s cousin. He spent almost 21 years of his life where he learnt about  politics and  ethics. Immediately as he arrived in South Africa, Gandhi faced  insults and humiliations because of his skin colour. The legal dispute that had brought him to South was between two Indians, Abdulla’s cousin and Tyeb Sheth on the other side. While  reading the case Gandhi was convinced that  his client’s case was strong. He also saw that delaying the trial with increasing bills was not good for both of the parties. He felt that a compromise was in the best interests of both. Therefore, Gandhi successfully appealed for an out-of-court settlement. The matter was taken to an judge, whose verdict went in preference of his client Abdulla. If Tyeb Sheth was made to pay all at once as per the verdict, he would have been forced to face bankruptcy. The human side in Gandhi (p.22) made him encourage his client Abdulla to be noble and allow payment in instalments. It was not an easy task, but Gandhi succeeded. Gandhi tells that from this case he ‘learnt the true practice of law’. He relates in his Autobiography: ‘I had learnt to find out the better side of human nature and to enter men’s hearts. I realized that the true function of a lawyer was to unite parties riven asunder’ (CWMG, 39:111). The case of Abdullah that had brought him to South Africa was concluded in May 1894 and the Indian community had prepared a farewell as Gandhi had planned to return to his home counter India, Herman (2008), pp. 88–89. On that very day Gandhi happened to read the news that the new Natal government discriminatory proposal led Gandhi in extending his original period of stay in South Africa. He then intended to help Indians in a opposing a bill to deny them the right to vote, a right then projected to be an exclusive European right. He asked Joseph Chamberlain the British Colonial Secretary, to review his place on this bill. Power, Paul F. (1969). In 1906 Gandhi adopted a methodology of Satyagraha which means devotion of truth for the first time. Rai , Ajay Shanker (2000) . Struggle for India’s Independence started from 1915 to 1945. Gandhi joined the Indian Nation Congress and was introduced to Indian issues, politics and the Indian  people by Gokhale.  Gokhale was a significant leader of the Congress Party best known for his moderation and his persistence on working inside the system. Gandhi took Gokhale’s liberal approach and transformed it to make it look Indian. Prashad, Ganesh (September 1966). Gandhi took the leadership in 1920 of the Indian National Congress. Tensions had escalated until Gandhi demanded instant independence in 1942 and the British responded by imprisoning him and tens of thousands of Congress leaders. Meanwhile, the Muslim League did co-operate with Britain and moved against Gandhi’s sturdy opposition, to demand for a totally separate Muslim state of Pakistan. In August 1947 the British partitioned the land  into two with India and Pakistan each achieving independence on terms that Gandhi disapproved Markovits, Claude (2004). Gandhi’s first major achievement came in 1917 with the Champaran campaigning in Bihar. The Champaran campaigning showed the sympathy to the local peasants  against their British landlords who were supported by the local administration. The peasants was forced to grow Indigo, a cash crop whose demand had been decreasing over two decades, and were forced to sell their crops to the planters at a fixed price. Unfortunate with this, the peasants appealed to Gandhi at his ashram in Ahmedabad. Pursuing a strategy of nonviolence,  Gandhi took the administration and won from the authorities, Hardiman, David (April 2001).  In 1918, Kheda was hit by floods and famine and the peasants were demanding liberation from taxes. Using Non-Cooperation as a method, Gandhi commenced a signature campaign where peasants assured non-payment of revenue even under the threat of sequestration of land. A social boycott made.  Gandhi worked hard to win public support for the agitation across the country. For five months, the organization declined , however at last in the End of May 1918, the Government gave way on important requirements and calmed  the conditions of payment of revenue tax until the famine ended. In Kheda, Vallabhbhai Patel represented the farmers in discussions with the British, who suspended revenue collection and discharged all the prisoners, Hardiman, David (April 2001). After 28 years of freedom struggle under the leadership of Gandhi now it was time for Non-Cooperation Movement. Non-Cooperation involved boycotting the British goods , education and British Employment.  The main goal was to get Swaraj in action if the Indians refused to cooperate, Lewis V. Baldwin & Paul R. Dekar (2013).