Born in the small town of Porbandar in present day Gujarat, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi or Mahatma Gandhi was hands down the most influential personality in Indian history and politics. His works, writings, and ideals have been some of the most important teachings, and have shaped the world in so many ways. A beacon of truth and nonviolence, he’s remembered fondly, and thoughtfully, each year on his birthday, the 2nd of October, which is celebrated as Gandhi Jayanti.
In 2007, the UN also announced it as the International Day of Non-Violence, marking Gandhi’s contribution to world politics and peacemaking. On Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti, prayer services are held at his memorial in New Delhi, Raj Ghat. Leaders from all around the world pay their tributes, and all across the country, his statues are garlanded, and the celebrations in schools and colleges generally take place a day prior.
The interesting thing about Gandhi Jayanti is that it is observed not only in India but many other parts of the world too, especially South Africa, and if you know about his history, you’d know why.
Mahatma Gandhi’s early life
Born to the dewan of Porbandar, Karamchand Gandhi and his wife Putlibai, MK Gandhi was a passive child. He was also a quite mediocre student, who was neither seen active in the playground nor much interested in the class. What did get him going was long solitary walks. His father had been ailing, and his mother was a devout housewife who only focused on her family, and following her religion, and Gandhi in his own words, for the early part of his life was a child who had learnt to “to carry out the orders of the elders, not to scan them”.
This eventually went for a toss as soon as he entered the rebellious teenage period. He not only smoked but also ate meat which was quite an abomination in the Vaishnava community he was born in. By the time he was 13, MK Gandhi had gotten married to Kasturba Ben who eventually became one of the strongest pillars of his journey as a national leader.
Post his matriculation, MK Gandhi needed to figure out what was next for him, and while he’d have ideally wanted to be a doctor, he ended up heading to London to learn law because it better paved the way for him to get work, and Vaishnava sect happened to have a prejudice against vivisection, which would have been an important part of his learning as a doctor.
Mahatma Gandhi in London and South Africa
His days in London were tough, not because he couldn’t manage the academics, but simply because MK Gandhi was a vegetarian, and that was quite amusing to his classmates. Mocked often, he became a member of the executive committee of the London Vegetarian Society, and started writing for them, while he was studying at Inner Temple, which was one of the 4 London law colleges. He also worked hard to get proficient in English and Latin and took exams at the University of London.
After this, he decided to come back home and practice law in Porbandar. This is where he learnt that his mother had passed away in the meantime, and also that even in Mahatma Gandhi’s birthplace, Porbandar and Rajkot, the legal profession already had a lot of practitioners and with his meek attitude, it was nearly impossible to make his way in.
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This was also when he got an offer at an Indian firm in South Africa. This is where he first experienced racial discrimination. This became a turning point in his life. While in Pretoria, Gandhi studied the conditions in which his fellow South Asians in South Africa lived and tried to educate them on their rights and duties, but that wasn’t enough, and he was anyway leaving for India.
Gandhi joins the Independence struggle
Once back in India, MK Gandhi tried balancing his Indian roots, and English education. He raised his voice against the wrongs, but also for a long time believed that since the British ruled India, it was our ethical duty to keep the country running, even if that meant that Indian soldiers were a large part of the British military in World War 1.
By 1919, the Rowlatt Act had come into existence, and this is when MK Gandhi realised that the only way to counter the British suppression was peaceful non-cooperation. By late 1920, he had become quite a prominent figure in Indian politics and had revamped the Indian National Congress. What happened thereafter, is a long struggle of civil disobedience, non-cooperation, and years of persistence, for India to gain independence. This involved Mahatma Gandhi living in different parts of the country, gathering support, strategizing better, sometimes even imprisoned, as he was at the Aga Khan Palace in Pune, with his right hand Mahadev Desai, and wife Kasturba Gandhi.
The 2nd of October is not only the birth of date Mahatma Gandhi had, but Lal Bahadur Shastri did too. Both the leaders were the epitome of soft-spoken, courageous leaders, and some of the best that India has seen. Each Gandhi Jayanti, they’re both remembered and cherished for all that they did.