Mahatma Ghandi

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¡¨Generations to come will scarcely believe that such
as one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood¡¨
Albert Einstein

Who was he?
Gandhi was born the 2 of October , 1869 in Porbandar, in western India. His full name was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. His father, Karamchand Gandhi and his mother Putlibai Gandhi was a member of the Bania Caste, they were trading merchants. But his father was a Dewan, prime minister.
The Indian people called him Mahatma, that means Great Soul. He is considered to be the father of his country. Gandhi was a shy and nervous boy that often ran home after school to avoid speaking to other children, he thought they would make fun of him. He was a skinny and tiny boy.
Young Gandhi grew up in a home of religious tolerance and acceptance of the teachings of various Hindu sects. Gandhi¡¦s family lived as vegetarians.
He was a serious boy. Even as a child he resisted the temptation to lie or cheat. Even at this young age he showed great moral and physical strength.
His early life.
Mahatma was betrothed with Kastubai Makanji when he was only seven years old.
They married when he was only 13- 14 years old, they were the same age. Their parents had arranged the married according to Indian custom. 1888 was their first, of four, sons born, Harilal.
When Mahatma was 19 he went alone to London to study law. In London he began to develop his philosophy of life. He studied the New Testament of the Bible and to the teachings of Buddha.



Young Gandhi

His Travels
In London he was at first lonely and unhappy. He tried to come to terms with his new surroundings by living the life of an English Gentleman. He bought an evening suit and a top hat and he took dancing lessons and spent 3 dollars on a violin. The expense became to much and he settled for a simpler lifestyle. He still remained a vegetarian though.

In 1890 he returned to India, here he struggled hard to make a living as a lawyer. It did not work out.
In October 1892 his second son, Manilal, was born.

In 1893 he went to South Africa as a lawyer for an Indian firm there and was persuaded by the Indian community to remain and help them overcome discrimination.
The first thing he encountered in South Africa was to be thrown out of a first class railway carriage because the colour of his skin. South Africa was under British control. Gandhi was abused because he was an Indian claiming his rights for the British subject. He saw that all the Indians suffered from discrimination. The Indians was working on plantations or in mines. Gandhi represented them and became quite wealthy, but Gandhi decided to live simply and gave up his wealth.
His law assignment was for one year but Gandhi stayed for 21 years to work for Indian rights.
Gandhi soon became successful as both a lawyer and politician.
Here he established several Ashrams (spiritual communities). There he practised voluntary simplicity, a way of life designed to offer an alternative to the increasingly competitive, stressful and violent atmosphere of the Western civilisation Voluntary simplicity means reducing material wants to a minimum and reaping spiritual rewards instead. Gandhi himself worked as a teacher, cook and a nurse.
In 1894 he organised the Natal Indian Congress, and in 1904 he founded the weekly newspaper Indian Opinion.
In 1896 Gandhi returned to India for six months to bring back his wife and two children to Natal. In December 1896 he sailed for South Africa with family.

In 1906 Gandhi organised his first non-violent resistance, or civil disobedience, campaign.
This technique that came from Gandhi¡¦s own beliefs and his influences was called Satyagraha, it means truth- or soul- force. Gandhi were imprisoned for several of these campaigns.
In November 1913 he was imprisoned
When he...