Gandhi in his childhood  | Gandhi in his teens  |
M.K.Gandhi as Lawyer  | Gandhi in South Africa in 1895  |
Today is 2nd October the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, father of the nation or Bapu as he was lovingly called in India. This day is the third and the last national holiday in India (the 26th January – the Republic day and 15th August- the Independence day are the other two).
A debate on the relevancy of Gandhi in today’s time has become a routine affair on every 2nd October. For some people Gandhi is still relevant today whereas some think that India (& the world at large) has changed so drastically that there is no role of Gandhi in it.
No matter what exactly the truth is, the biggest truth of all is that if you go to any corner of earth and ask any stranger to name two Indians he has heard of in his lifetime; the answer in all likelihood will be (1) Gautam Buddha and (2) Mahatma Gandhi.
Among all Indians born during the span of last 2600 years, these two mans are the most popular, most loved and worshiped by millions. There is some kind of charisma in them which simply fails to fade.
I reserve my thoughts on Buddha for one of my future posts. Today, on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, I would like to share some little known facts about him which most of us don’t know.
(1) He had a set of false teeth, which he carried in a fold of his loin cloth. He put them in his mouth only when he wanted to eat. After his meal, he took them out, washed them and put them back in his loin cloth again.
(2) Mahatma Gandhi spoke English with an Irish accent, for one of his first teachers was an Irishman.
(3) During the freedom struggle, he wore nothing but a loin cloth , but for years he lived in London and used to wear a silk hat and spats and carried a cane.
(4) He was educated at London University and became an attorney. But the first time he attempted to make a speech in court, his knees trembled, and he was so frightened that he had to sit down in confusion and defeat.
(5) As a lawyer in London, he got nowhere at all. He was practically a failure there. Years before, when he first came to England, his Irish teacher made him copy the Sermon on the Mount, over and over again, purely as an exercise in English. Hour after hour, Gandhi wrote “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. . . . Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God,” and these words made a profound impression on him.
(6) Later, he was sent to South Africa to collect some huge debts;and he tried to apply there the philosophy of the Sermon on the Mount. And it worked. Clients flocked to Gandhi because he settled their claims peacefully out of court and saved them time and expense.
(7) His income during those days in South Africa touched fifteen thousand dollars a year! Something still a dream for most Indians !
However, despite this worldly success he was not happy. On seeing the untold misery of millions of his fellow countrymen; on seeing thousand of them dying of starvation; the worldly success seemed cheap and unimportant to him. He gave up all his money and ‘took the vow of poverty, and since that time, he consecrated his life to helping the poor and the downtrodden. (9) On seeing the hopeless condition of one tenth of India which was living in a hungry and half-starved state, Mahatma Gandhi pleaded with them to cease bringing children into a world filled with so much misery and want.
(10) Mahatma Gandhi experimented with diets to see how cheaply he could live and remain healthy. He started living principally on fruit and goats’ milk and olive oil.
(11) Mahatma Gandhi never visited the US, but he had many American fans and followers. One of his more unusual admirers was Henry Ford. Gandhi sent him an autographed charkha (spinning wheel) through a journalist emissary. During the darkest days of the Second World War, Ford, who was struck by the charkha’s “mechanical simplicity and high moral purpose,” would often spin on “the symbol of economic independence that Gandhi had sent.
(12) Mahatma Gandhi inspired millions of people world over to take the path of non-violence and civil disobedience. 5 world leaders who got Noble Peace prize viz. Martin Luther King Jr. (USA), Dalai Lama (Tibet), Aung San Suu Kyi (Myanmar), Nelson Mandela (S. Africa) and Adolfo Perez Esquivel (Argentina) have acknowledged the fact that they were influenced by the philosophy of Gandhi. Yet, Mahatma Gandhi; the man who inspired these Nobel Peace Prize winners, never got a Noble Prize !
I think it is a loss for the Noble – the prize; not for Gandhi – the man who is above all prizes.
(13) The great Scientist Albert Einstein once said about Gandhi :
He also once said,
Winston Churchill addressing the Council of the West Essex Unionist
Association (23 February 1931); as quoted in "Mr Churchill on India" in The Times (24 February 1931) said –
Marian Wright Edelman, as quoted in The Art of Winning Commitment : 10 Ways Leaders Can Engage Minds, Hearts, And Spirits (2004) by Dick Richards, p. 11
Gandhi with colleagues in South Africa  | Gandhi with his wife Kasturba  |
The greatness of a nation and its progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.
Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
Hate the sin, love the sinner.
Honest differences are often a healthy sign of progress.
Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.
I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers.
I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life.
Gandhi with Mrs.Naidu on their way to Buckingham Palace to meet King George V
I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.
I want freedom for the full expression of my personality.
In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.
Gandhi with Subhas Chandra Bose ar the Haripura Congress, 1938
Indolence is a delightful but distressing state; we must be doing something to be happy.
It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.
It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.
One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds.
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.
It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.
Gandhi on Salt March
When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it–always.
You must be the change you want to see in the world.
You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
Mahatma Gandhi, "Non-Violence in Peace and War"
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
A young boy leads Gandhiji for a walk
Mahatma Gandhi, ‘Satyagraha Leaflet No. 13,’ May 3, 1919
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.
In the dictionary of Satyagraha, there is no enemy.
"Whenever you are confronted with an opponent. Conquer him with love."
"There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever"
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."
On Conversations
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
If i have rights to make law in india,then first law will be of anti-converstion.(Converting peoples to their own religion ju
st to achive their greedy needs)
"Nonviolence is a weapon of the strong"
Gandhiji with Jinnah in 1944
"We must become the change we want to see."
Seven social sins: politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice.
You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.
A man of truth must also be a man of care.
Truth alone will endure, all the rest will be swept away before the tide of time. I must continue to bear testimony to truth even if I am forsaken by all. Mine may today be a voice in the wilderness, but it will be heard when all other voices are silenced, if it is the voice of Truth.
Gandhi on Dandi March  | Gandhi on Dandi March  |
I regard myself as a soldier, though a soldier of peace.
I worship God as Truth only. I have not yet found Him, but I am seeking after Him.
Nothing is impossible for pure love.
It is beyond my power to induce in you a belief in God. There are certain things which are self proved and certain which are not proved at all. The existence of God is like a geometrical axiom. It may be beyond our heart grasp. I shall not talk of an intellectual grasp. Intellectual attempts are more or less failures, as a rational explanation cannot give you the faith in a living God. For it is a thing beyond the grasp of reason. It transcends reason. There are numerous phenomena from which you can reason out the existence of God, but I shall not insult your intelligence by offering you a rational explanation of that type. I would have you brush aside all rational explanations and begin with a simple childlike faith in God. If I exist, God exists. With me it is a necessity of my being as it is with millions. They may not be able to talk about it, but from their life you can see that it is a part of their life. I am only asking you to restore the belief that has been undermined. In order to do so, you have to unlearn a lot of literature that dazzles your intelligenqe and throws you off your feet. Start with the faith which is also a token of humility and an admission that we know nothing, that we are less than atoms in this universe. We are less than atoms, I say, because the atom obeys the law of its being, whereas we in the insolence of our ignorance deny the law of nature. But I have no argument to address to those who have no faith.
Gandhi in London, Seated on his right is Charlie Chaplin
To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her, man could not be. If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman. Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman?
The last Photo of M.K.Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi lying in State, 30 January 1948
No comments:
Post a Comment