Gandhi Jayanti Essay

Every year on October 2 to commemorate the birth date of Mahatma Gandhi, The Father of Our Nation and affectionately called "Bapu" by children, Gandhi Jayanti is celebrated. He is one of the great Freedom fighters of our country who compelled the British to go back with his simple yet powerful ideology of non-violence. He once said-"In a gentle way, you can shake the world "and he really shook the whole British Empire just by being simple yet determined.

Birth and Schooling

Mahatma Gandhi was born in a Vaishnav household on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar. He was the youngest child. Political figure Karamchand Gandhi was his father. In Rajkot and Porbandar, he worked as a diwan. Putalibai, his mother, was a housewife.

His parents had given him the name Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. The great poet and novelist Ravindranath Tagore later granted Mohandas the title of Mahatama, which means a great soul, in 1915.

Mahatama Gandhi completed his primary education in Porbandar. He was not a very bright student then. At the age of 11, he came to Rajkot along with his father who was appointed as Diwan of Rajkot. Mahatma Gandhi took admission in Alfred High School and completed his high school from there.

Marriage and Adolescence

As child marriage was common in those days, Gandhi ji at the age of 13, was married to Kasturba Bai in May 1883. Later in his autobiography, he mentioned his feeling and condition as a child bridegroom and the challenges he faced. It makes sense that he was completely opposed to child marriage and knew why it was wrong. Though his elder son got married at the age of 18 as he was under the guardianship of Gandhi's Elder brother Lakshmidas, while Gandhi ji was in South Africa. He had even written a letter to his brother about how displeased he is.

He experimented with smoking, eating meat, and even money theft as a teenager, but he later realised his errors, felt bad about them, and accepted them. Throughout his entire life, he honored his pledge to himself to never do this again. King Harish Chandra, a character from Hindu mythology, served as a major inspiration for him as he decided to always be truthful.

The year 1885 was not a good year for Mohandas as his father died and he has this regret of not being with his father just before his death. Every day he used to take care of his father and at night he used to massage his father's feet until his father fall asleep or asked him to go. On the night of his father's death, his uncle from Rajkot had come to see his father and asked Mohandas to go to sleep as his uncle was a devotee of his elder brother Karamchand and wanted to serve him. Mohandas was happy as his uncle relived him and went straight to his wife and after some time his servant informed him that his father is no more. Mohandas was feeling very shameful as he was not there at the last moment of his father. Also, he was very upset and down with the feeling of regret because if found himself more inclined toward pleasure than being a devotee of his father.

Higher Studies:

Mohandas completed high school in 1887. He was a very shy and average student. After completing his schooling he got admission to Samaldas Arts College, Bhavnagar, for higher studies but he had completed his schooling in his mother tongue that is Gujrati, he was not able to cope with the English language suddenly and also he did not like the surrounding which was quite unfriendly for him and therefore he dropped out.

During that time one of his father's friends and advisor Majvi Dave, asked Mohandas to pursue law in England, which fascinated Mohandas and he started dreaming about it. Though his mother was not in support of sending Mohandas to go so far to a different country. However after Mohandas took a vow to not touch women, wine and meat, his mother permitted him to go.

Mohandas with his brother first went to Bombay. The stay in Bombay was not easy. He was outcasted because of his decision of going to England as per his caste people it was not a religious step. Also, he was not able to sail immediately as his brother's friends informed them that the weather is not good to sail. Therefore Mohandas's brother denied his journey till November. He made arrangements for Mohandas in Bombay and came back to Rajkot as he had some work and needed to see the family as well.

On 4^th September 1888, Mohandas got the opportunity to sail with Junagadh vakil Tryambakrai Mazmudar. On deck, he felt a little discomfort in joining others as he was very shy so he used to stay in his cabin most of the time. He was also not very sure about the food so he used to eat the sweets and snacks given by his mother for the journey.

During the last days of September, he finally reached. And found a rented place to live with the help of a friend. Though that was not easy for a young boy from a rural area with average academics to get adapted to the cosmopolitan life of London. He missed his home and his mother's love for him. He struggled a lot because of his dressing sense, food choices and etiquette. He was not ready to eat meat. His owner used to give him food but he used to eat only that much food which was kept on his plate. Many days he went starved because he was too shy to ask for more bread or extra food but finally one day he found a good vegetarian restaurant.

He started making changes in himself to become an English man. He was staying with a family but later he found it to be a costly deal as he had to involve with them at the parties, going for dinner and all. He used to keep track of his expenses. Later he took a room of his own and started walking instead of taking any conveyance. This not only had given him a cut in expense but also an illness-free life during his London stay. Later he rented a room in Lockhart's cheap Cocoa Rooms which had cheap rent compared to his previous stay and also started living a more simple life. He had also started cooking his breakfast by himself. He was feeling happier and more satisfied.

Gandhi took his academics seriously and attempted to refresh his knowledge of Latin and English by sitting for the University of London matriculation exam. But rather than focusing on his academic goals during his three years in England, he was more preoccupied with moral and emotional matters. But at that same time, he prepared for the London matriculation exam and passed it.

With this, he also read a lot of books on diet and vegetarianism. After adopting a purely vegetarian diet and learning about the principles of ahimsa, he came to understand that those who lack self-control use aggression as a means of achieving mastery. The route to mastery for individuals with self-control is ahimsa or nonviolence. He later came to another important philosophy in his life, that of brahmacharya, through the concept of renunciation, which was also a component of the revelation that led him to vegetarianism. Gandhi began his journey toward ahimsa, renunciation, and ultimately satyagraha itself when he decided to become a vegetarian. Without it, he would not have understood the need for morality and would not have evolved into the Mahatma.

Return to India

On 12^th June 1891, he sailed back to India. His community was divided into two parts. One was fine with his voyage and readmitted him to the community and the second who were still against him.

Gandhi started a law practice in Bombay after completing his education. Gandhi's attempts to become a lawyer, however, fail since he is too nervous to speak up in court, so he accepts a variety of other jobs at law companies and spent two years in India and practiced law but was not very successful. However, Gandhi traveled to South Africa to work for a law practise run by Muslims from India.

Gandhi and South Africa

In 1893 he moved to South Africa. He has spent 21 years in South Africa. He had faced discrimination there. One such incident which shook him to his core was when he has been thrown out of a first-class railway compartment because of his colour and origin, despite having the tickets, on the complaint of a white man who was not comfortable sharing the compartment with an Indian. Gandhi created the Natal Indian Congress in 1894 in response. This group organised nonviolent demonstrations against the oppression of native Africans and Indians by white people. He made a short visit to India in 1896 and then assembled 800 Indians to serve in South Africa alongside him. An angry mob surrounded them, and Gandhi was hurt in the conflict.

Gandhi organised the Indian Ambulance Corps for the British at the start of the Boer War in 1899, but Indians were still subjected to racial discrimination and torture. After reading 'Unto This Last', written by John Ruskin he got attracted to simplicity, hard work and austerity. He was no longer interested in money-making.

Campaigns by Mahatama Gandhi

Gandhi organised the first Satyagraha campaign in September 1906 to protest the Transvaal Asiatic ordinance, which was created to discriminate against the local Indians. He held Satyagraha once more in June 1907 in opposition to the Black Act.

He again received a prison sentence in 1908 for leading nonviolent movements. However, he was freed following his encounter with British Commonwealth leader General Smuts. To protest his second jail sentence after being attacked for doing so, he organised another Satyagraha. He was given a three-month prison term in Volkshurst and Pretoria in 1909. Gandhi travelled to England after being freed in order to ask the Indian people there for help.

In 1915 he returned to India and started protesting against excessive land tax and discrimination. He was against the concept of untouchability, violence and lies. He said "Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained."

He initiated the nonviolent noncooperation movement against the British government and boycotted everything made or held by the British. The campaign electrified the country, broke the fear and led to the arrest of thousands of fighters. But later in 1922 chauri chaura tragedy happened and Gandhi decided to call off mass civil disobedience.

Gandhi got arrested on March 10, 1922, and sentenced to six years imprisonment. He was released in 1924 due to appendicitis surgery. But till then a lot of changes happened in his absence.

He had taken a three-week long fast to make people follow the path of nonviolence. In 1924 he become president of the congress party And served for a year. In 1930 he launched the Salt march (dandi yatra) against the tax on salt, which was affecting the poor section.

On 30 January 1948, when he was on his way to an evening prayer meeting in Delhi, he was shot by a young Hindu Nathuram Godse. The last word heard from Gandhi Ji was - Hey Ram.

Learning from the Life of Mahatama Gandhi

• Truth always triumphs (Satyamev Jayate),
• Gandhi always taught people to forgive others as for him forgiveness is the trait of strong.
• Gandhi ji was very disciplined with his timetable, work, and routine, he never procrastinated.
• Gandhi ji was fond of cleanliness, he never hesitated in cleaning utensils, washrooms or anything. For him, cleanliness is next to godliness. He was a person who never liked someone else doing his work, which he was capable of doing.
• He has the idea of seeing the change first in himself and then in others. He was very calm and serene always. He never gave up unless he achieved what he set out to do.
• Gandhi taught us if we are unable to achieve success, never get distracted, and stay focused.
• He always said the mind is stronger than the body and he himself has proved this fact. He never yelled back, fight violently with the British or used muscle power rather he wins with his mind.

Gandhi's major movements for Indian independence

1. Champaran Satyagraha

In Bihar's Champaran district, under the Tinkathiya system, the circumstances of indigo cultivators deteriorated to the point of satyagraha in 1917. Following this method, the farmers were compelled to grow indigo on the best 3/20th of their land and sell it for less money. Due to unfavourable weather and high taxation, the situation for farmers grew worse. Rajkumar Shukla afterwards ran across Mahatma Gandhi in Lucknow and extended an invitation.

In Champaran, Mahatma Gandhi started protests and strikes against the landowners using the tactics of the civil disobedience campaign. As a result, the government established the Champaran agrarian committee, which included Gandhi ji as a member. All of the growers' demands were granted, and the Satyagraha was successful.

2. Kheda Satyagraha (1917-1918)

Mohan Lal Pandey launched a no-tax movement in 1917, calling for the cancellation of taxes owed as a result of a meagre agricultural yield or crop failure in the Gujarati village of Kheda. Mahatma Gandhi accepted the invitation and joined the cause on March 22, 1918. He began Satyagraha there. Indulal Yagnik and Vallabhbhai Patel also joined the cause. The British government finally complied with the demands, and the effort was successful.

3. Non-Cooperation Movement

In response to the massacre in Jallianwala Bagh, Mahatma Gandhi started the non-cooperation movement in 1920. Gandhi ji persuaded people to launch the nonviolent non-cooperation movement, which was a necessary step to achieving independence with the assistance of congress.

He developed the idea of Swaraj, which was essential to the Indian freedom struggle. As the movement gathered traction, people began to boycott British government entities such as business and education institutions as well as government offices. But, after the Chauri Chaura event which caused the death of 23 police officers, Gandhi called off the campaign.

4. Civil-Disobedience Movement (1930)

In a speech to the country published in the journal Young India in March 1930, Mahatma Gandhi declared his willingness to put an end to the movement if his eleven requests were granted by the government. However, Lord Irwin was in charge of the government at the moment, and he ignored him. Mahatma Gandhi started the movement vigorously as a result.

Between March 12 and April 6, 1930, he led the Dandi March, which launched the movement. On 6 April 1930, Mahatma Gandhi and his supporters marched from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi in the coastal Navsari District of Ahmedabad and defied the salt prohibition by producing salt.

Students dropped out of college and government employees quit their jobs as a result of this campaign. It also included boycotting imported clothing, burning clothing in public, failing to pay taxes, having women hold a dharna outside the government liquor store, etc.

Furthermore, Mahatma Gandhi adopted Khadi cloth as a foundational element of the Swadeshi Movement, a campaign to forbid the use of imported goods and materials. He believed that fostering indigenous industry and employment would assist in bringing India out of poverty. Additionally, it would relieve India of its dependence on pricy imports that were coming from Britain even if the basic material were Indian.

Gandhi saw the need for the Indian people to reclaim what was rightfully theirs and use their own labour and skills to build their own prosperity. Gandhi ordered every man and woman to produce and collect their own supplies for the yarn needed to create Khadi fabric, which became the centrepiece of this campaign. Additionally, he urged everyone-rich or poor-to spend some time each day spinning Khadi. Through pooling labour, this entire nationwide endeavour aided in bringing about togetherness. People from all social strata banded together to fulfil Gandhi's request, and their actions aided the nation in its drive toward economic independence. Entire communities joined the movement, using fashion as a means of achieving economic independence.

Conclusion:

The reason for celebrating Gandhi's birthday is his journey from being Mohandas to becoming Mahatma Gandhi. He tried, experimented, failed many times and then come to any conclusion or decision. His simplicity is worldwide famous. Whether it's hot or cold he has always been seen in a dhoti, one stick and his spectacles. Typically, when we think about Gandhi, we see him wrapped in a white shawl and wearing a white loincloth (dhoti).

He always believed in working. Work is worship is what his concept was. Gandhi made this statement. He said this because he wanted to emphasise to his countrymen how important hard effort is and how it yields wonderful benefits.

He was a very emphatic person. He never hesitated in accepting his mistakes. Because of his non-cooperative movement, a violent mob burnt the Chauri Chura police station where 23 policemen were trapped. After this incident, he immediately called off the movement and held himself responsible for this and asked for a fair penalty.

His vision was not only to make India independent from British rule but also to end the dependency on foreign products. And with this thought in 1918, he introduced the Swadeshi Movement.