“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.” Remembered as an ol’ man in white loin cloth with a walking stick, a man who ignited a revolution in a billion hearts and bought an Empire to its knees.
“A man on a mission”, no one would better personify it than Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Born in a small town of Western India, he went on to study law from the University College London. Fought against racial discrimination in South Africa, and by practicing his belief of complete non-violence, brought a billion people together to overthrow an Empire.
Attributed as the noblest man who lived by The Time magazine, influenced the world incuding, Martin Luther King Jr. (USA), Dalai Lama (Tibet), Aung San Suu Kyi (Myanmar), Nelson Mandela (S. Africa) and Adolfo Perez Esquivel (Argentina). Quoted by Albert Einstein as,
“Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this (Gandhi) walked the earth in flesh and blood.”
Yet, he never received a Noble Prize Award.
He was afraid of the dark as a child. Ironical how he went on to become the source of enlightenment for billions…
At less than a month shy of his nineteenth birthday, Gandhi traveled to London, England, to study law at University College London and to train as a barrister. He moved to South Africa to continue his practice of advocacy.
It was through witnessing firsthand the racism, prejudice and injustice against Indians in South Africa that Gandhi started to question his people’s status within the British Empire.
Gandhi extended his original period of stay in South Africa to assist Indians in opposing a bill to deny them the right to vote. Though unable to halt the bill’s passage, his campaign was successful in drawing attention to the grievances of Indians in South Africa.
His income during those days in South Africa touched fifteen thousand dollars a year, which is still a dream for most Indians!
On his return from South Africa in 1915, he triggered the Indian Independence Movement which went on from 1916-1945.
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