Mohandas Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, the youngest child of his father’s fourth wife. His father was a chief minister of Rajkot, a poor Indian state, and it was here Gandhi began his schooling. Later his father became the chief minister of a more prosperous state with a better school. The Gandhi family belonged to the Vaishya caste of Hindus. Gandhi’s mother was a deeply religious woman who divided her time between her home and the temple. Mohandas Gandhi grew up instilled with religious idea such as nonviolence, the belief that all the universe is eternal, fasting for self purification, mutual tolerance between creeds and sects, and vegetarianism. Gandhi was a mediocre student who was reported as being diffident toward his studies and a young man who “shone neither in the classroom nor on the playing field.” At the age of thirteen his parents arranged a marriage for him, as was customary among the Hindus. As a teenager Gandhi went through a period of rebellion, including petty thievery, practicing secret atheism, eating meat, and smoking. After each episode of rebellion, however, Gandhi would promise himself that he would never do that thing again, and, astonishingly, never did.

Gandhi’s family was set on his becoming a barrister. After graduating high school, he attended an Indian college for a while before deciding to continue his studies in England. His mother did not want him to go to England, but after promising her that he would abstain from alcohol, meat, and women, she gave her permission. In England Gandhi found his time more occupied by “personal and moral issues” than those of law. He was teased for his religion and dress fashions and for his vegetarianism. At last he found a vegetarian...

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... government in shame. One year later, Gandhi accepted a truce with the British, called off civil disobedience, and agreed to attend a Round Table Conference in London as the only representative of the Indian National Congress. Soon after his return to India he was again arrested and started a fast in September of 1932. Resigning as leader and member of the Congress Party in 1934, Gandhi focused his efforts on building India “from the bottom up” by educating rural India, fighting against “untouchability” and promoting self-reliance among the poor. He returned to politics with the advent of World War II, and remained peacefully in politics until India received freedom in 1947. He was killed by a Hindu fanatic while on his way to his evening prayer meeting only a few days after shaming the entire city of Delhi into calling a truce between the Hindus and Muslims.