Gandhi Jayanti 2021: On Mahatma Gandhi’s 152nd Birth Anniversary, Here Are Some Lessons From His Life
Multiple accounts of his life have described Mahatma Gandhi as an average student who was excessively shy and timid during his school days.
Mahatma Gandhi launched his first civil disobedience movement in the Champaran district.
October 2, 2021, will mark the 152nd birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who taught Indians the values of truth and non-violence during the freedom movement. His ideas also made it possible for other countries in Asia and Africa, where Mahatma Gandhi spent a big part of his life, to free themselves from colonial rule without bloodshed. He inspired generations to think of “Swaraj” and struggle for it peacefully. To him, Swaraj did not only mean “self-rule” but it encompassed all spheres of life.
Born in a middle-class family in Porbandar, Gujarat, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi moved to Rajkot at the age of 7, when his father became the dewan of the area. He did his schooling in Rajkot. Multiple accounts of his life have described him as an average student who was shy and timid in those years. When he went to study in England, he adapted himself to the new lifestyle. But when it came to food, he preferred his Indian roots.
His struggle with the authorities in South Africa, where he had gone to help a client as a lawyer, and the racial biases he and other Indians were subjected to brought a considerable change in him. This paved the way for him to become a Satyagrahi. On his return to India, he had already left the suit he wore as a barrister for khadi and resorted to minimalism.
Mahatma Gandhi launched his first civil disobedience movement in the Champaran district of Bihar in 1917 to protest the injustice meted out to tenant farmers.
