People like Mahatma Gandhi are born once in thousand years.
They do not come to the world everyday. They are apostles of peace and
non-violence. They are incarnations who descend for the welfare of the
downtrodden and the poor. They walk shoulder to shoulder with the common folk.
They do not like to be a class apart. This world is their true Karambhoomi (work-place)
where they live and die for the upliftment of the masses. They toil, they
struggle for a selfless cause. Their personal motive is at the lowest ebb. What
is dearest to them is the service of mankind. They are the true servants of
humanity. They do not amass pleasure and pelf (money). They come empty-handed
and when they exit (leave) the world, they leave behind them a brilliance equal
to thousands of suns. What an immortal achievement indeed it is.!
The Father of Indian Nation, Mahatma Gandhi was a great man
in his own right. He was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, Kathiawar. His
father was a Diwan at Rajkot. Young Mohan Das, as it was his childhood name,
got his early education at the village pathshalla (school). From there he went
to Samaldas College at Rajkot. Then for his higher education he went to
England. There he was called to the Bar. He came back to his native country and
started his practice as a Barrister. He had to go to South Africa to fight a
law suit. There he delved deep in the cause of the Indians who were brutally
treated. The heart of young Gandhi bled to see this cruelty. He could not brook
it. He fought it tooth and nail. He was beaten and humiliated but he remained
firm as a rock to his cause. At last truth triumphed and Gandhi became a leader
of the Indian-Africans. He took them from success to success. He began a
journey from which there was no return. He was married to Kasturba at an early
age. In 1915, he came to the Indian scene. He travelled the length and breadth
of the country. He acquainted himself to the miserable condition of the
Indians. He determined to fight the English against their exploitations. He
jumped into the struggle for Indian Freedom head-long. His weapons were truth
and non-violence. He went on fast for a number of times against the injustice
and the inhuman treatment meted out to his countrymen.
Non-cooperation Movement, Dandi March and Quit India
Movement are his major contributions. These measures adopted by Gandhi ji shook
the very foundation of the British Empire in India. His way of persuation,
fasting unto death, remaining cool and serene even in the face of grave
situations are now part of Indian History.
He brought freedom to one-fifth of humanity. It is a rare
and unparallel example in the World History. And that, too, without the help of
a bare straw even in the face of bullets. The whole world was wonder-struck. Is
there any example in the whole universe parallel to it. No, none, except
Gandhi’s.
India became free on August 15, 1947. The great Mahatma was
assassinated on January 30th, 1948 by a maniac Nathu Ram Godse.
Gandhi ji is a world leader. He belongs to the ages. That is why the great
scientist Einstein truly said: ‘Coming generations will scarce believe that
such a person (Gandhi ji) in flesh and blood ever walked on the earth’. He has
achieved universal approval, admiration and approbation (praise) which befits
only to the angels. He worked for the Hindu-Muslim unity. He lived for India’s
unity and died for it. It is a great shame for us that we are undoing what he
built be shedding his blood.
