Few people on this earth have left a mark on history as indelible, and influential, as India’s ‘Father of the Nation’ - Mahatma Gandhi.
From the US’ Martin Luther King Jr. to South Africa’s Nelson Mandela; from Tibet’s Dalai Lama to Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi, and even a little known rock ‘n’ roll legend, John Lennon - Gandhi's philosophies of ahimsa (non-violence), satyagraha (adhering to the path of truth), and more, greatly shaped not only India fight for independence from its English colonial masters but the nations across the big blue marble in space.
History tells us that it was India’s Rabindranath Tagore (fun fact - the Brits changed his actual name Robindronath Thakur because they couldn’t pronounce it) who gave Gandhi the title of Mahatma or great soul. But one question remains timeless: how did the diffident boy, born as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on Oct 2, 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat, grow up to be the Mahatma, the conscience of a nation?
Gandhi was the youngest child of his father, Karamchand - dewan of the princely state of Porbandar - & his fourth wife, Putlibai - a traditional housewife. The seeds of ahimsa (non-violence) were sowed in him as a child by his mother who ensured Gandhi grew up in a home steeped in Vaishnavism with a strong tinge of Jainism - a rigorous religion whose chief tenet is ahimsa. Furthermore, his ‘saint-like’ mother instilled in him tolerance of various creeds and sects.
After being educated in England, barrister Gandhi took up a job at an Indian firm in South Africa. It is here where he came face-to-face with racial discrimination. After incidents such as the train journey from Durban to Pretoria - where he was chucked out of the first class compartment despite having a valid ticket - a fire was lit in him, turning him from the shy and meek youth to one that would use satyagraha to tackle injustice.
After returning to India, Gandhi began his first satyagraha in 1917 in Bihar’s Champaran against the British’s oppressive indigo plantation diktats. Defying his colonial masters’ orders to cease and desist, the Mahatma’s non-violent civil disobedience movement led to the Brits’ exploitative Tinkathia system being repealed. This success was pivotal as it set the ball rolling for a larger agitation, one that would lead India to independence 30 years later.
Importantly, Gandhi believed an independent India would crumble if all Indians weren’t treated equally, regardless of caste, religion, or gender. So, in his fight against untouchability, he lived with harijans (children of god), invited them into temples and his own ashram - a radical move at the time.
Another reason Gandhi was called Mahatma was that he didn’t just talk about change - he lived it. He gave up Western clothes, wealth, basic comforts to be one with the masses, with his humility earning him deep respect.
Furthermore, following independence in 1947, India was being torn apart by the Partition’s horrific Hindu-Muslim communal violence. At age 78, Gandhi said he would fast unto death if the violence didn’t stop. It worked as the mobs were shamed into silence. So much so that Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of British India, referred to Gandhi as a “one-man boundary force”, highlighting his crucial role in attempting to control the violence.
Years after his death, his legacy as the Mahatma was further cemented by the United Nations. How? By establishing the International Day of Non-Violence on his birthday on Oct 2 through a General Assembly resolution in 2007.
Why? Because according to them, it’s the ideal day to “disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness” and to foster a “culture of peace, tolerance, understanding, and non-violence”.
