Biography of Mohandas K. Gandhi

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Biography of Mohandas K. Gandhi

In a small, ivory-colored house in Porbandar, on the coast of Kathiawad in western India, Mohandas K. Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869. His parents were Karamchand and Putlibai Gandhi.1 He was small and dark, and looked no different from the millions of other children born in India. Yet this was no ordinary child. He was to fight and over-come a great empire and, without taking to violence, set his country free. He was to be called the "Mahatma", or the "Great Soul".2 Having led his people to freedom, he was to lay down his life for their sake.

At the age of seven he was sent to a primary school. He was shy and did not mix easily with the other children. His books were his only companions and he spent his free time alone reading. Mohandas was only thirteen when he was told that he was soon to be married. His parents had already chosen his bride. The bride-to-be lived in Porbandar and her name was Kasturba. After passing his high school examination, Mohandas was to go to England to study and become a lawyer.

On September 4, 1888, Mohandas left Bombay for England. In London, young Gandhi found everything around him strange. His attempt to be an Englishman lasted only about three months, then he gave up the idea.3 He soon became a serious student, and concentrated very hard on his studies. On June 10, 1891, he was called to the bar. Gandhi was admitted as a lawyer and the next day was formally enrolled in the High Court. The following day, June 12, he sailed for India.

Gandhi, after returning to India, set up his practice as a lawyer in Rajkot. Soon, however he was disgusted with the greed and the pettiness that he found among the lawyers. Gandhi realized that it was difficult for th...

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...mber of Muslims, fearing the Hindus, left their homes for Pakistan. The miseries on the mass migration, one of the greatest in history, were manifold. Fifteen-hundred thousand people on the move were exposed to starvation, disease, and massacre on the way.

Gandhi decided to do penance by fasting, which he thought would bring about change in the attitude of the Hindu fanatics. The fast began on January 13, 1948. There was gloom all over India at the news of Gandhi's fast. People thought that he would not be able to survive another fast. The whole world watched as Gandhi, seventy-eight years old, fasted to save his country from destruction. On January 18, a peace committee, representing all communities, met and signed a pact pledging unity and the protection of life, property, and faith to the Muslim minority. Gandhi was informed of the pledge and he broke his fast.

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