Mohandas Gandhi

1
Mohandas Gandhi

Mahatma
The Great Soul By Carolyn Constantakis
2
INTRODUCTION
This presentation will review the life events of
Mohandas Gandhi, the Mahatma. After reading this
you will be familiar with his background
information and his struggle to obtain equality
for Indians.
TOPICS INCLUDE
3
Childhood

• Mohandas Gandhi was born on October 2, 1864. He
  was born in Porbandar, on the western coast of
  India.
• Gandhiís grandfather and father occupied the
  office of the Chief Minister of Porbandar.
• His mother, Putlibai, was the most influential
  person throughout his life. She committed
  herself to a chain of fasts and vows to show her
  strength in her faith. She was an inspiration
  for his techniques of self-suffering.
• Gandhi did not shine in the classroom, rather he
  was quiet, shy, and retiring.
• In his adolescence, Gandhi was adventurous as he
  stepped into the land of the forbidden. He ate
  meat and smoked among other things. In every
  case that he had gone astray he made a promise to
  himself that, ìnever againî would he engage in
  such behavior, and he kept his promise.

4
Move to England

• In September 1888, at age 18, Gandhi sailed to
  England. His
• mother was reluctant to let her son go to unknown
  land with
• many temptations and dangers.
• Before leaving India, Gandhi promised his mother
  he would not ìtouch wine, woman, or meat..î
• Gandhi had much difficulty adjusting to the new
  atmosphere, including the food, dress, and
  etiquette of England.
• In the beginning he decided to become an
  ìEnglish Gentlemanî which required spending
  unlimited money and time. This behavior did not
  last long.
• Vegetarianism became a mission to Gandhi, a point
  to begin the transformation of his life. He
  desired discipline of body and mind.
• He concluded that, ìthe seat of taste is not in
  the tongue but in the mind.î Controlling the
  palate (taste buds) was step one in disciplining
  himself.

5
Introduction to the Bible

• The New Testament, particularly the Sermon on the
  Mount stirred something in Gandhi.
• Gandhiís favorite verses included, ìBut I say
  unto you that ye resist not evil but whosoever
  shall thee at the law and take away thy coat, let
  him have thy cloak also.î
• Gandhiís favorite poet was Shamal Bhatt. He
  wrote
• For a bowl of water give a goodly meal
• For a kindly greeting bow thou down with zeal
• For a single penny pay thou back with gold
• If the life be rescued, life do not withhold.
• Thus the words and actions of the wise regard
• Every little service tenfold they reward.
• But the truly noble know all men as one,
• And return with gladness good for evil done.
• The teachings of the Bible, the Buddha, and Bhatt
  (Gandhiís favorite poet)captured his mind.
  Gandhi embraced the idea of returning love for
  hatred, and good for evil.

6
First Encounter with Racism

• Gandhi completed school in England and attempted
  to work. He was unsuccessful and decided to sail
  for India.
• On his return he discovered his mother had died.
  His family expected him to be wealthy and famous
  because he had a foreign education. He tried to
  work several jobs in India before receiving an
  offer from South Africa. He left India and
  arrived in South Africa in May 1893.
• During the course of one of his train journeyís
  in South Africa Gandhi encountered a problem. It
  was late in the evening and he was ordered to
  leave the first class compartment and shift to a
  lower class, the van compartment. At first he
  refused but eventually he moved.
• He had not been warned of the humiliating
  conditions under which Indians lived in South
  Africa.

7
Gandhi Becomes Assertive

• Gandhi had always been quiet and shy, especially
  when it was in front of other people. He was
  filled with feelings of how he should deal with
  this situation while he sat in the train station.
  He was insulted by the way he was treated by the
  people in South Africa.
• ìIron entered his soul.î He made a decision
  right there not to accept this injustice. He did
  not believe that human beings should be treated
  in such an unnatural way.
• Gandhi decided to reason and to plead.
• He would never be a victim of racial arrogance.
• He was not out to challenge South Africa for his
  own self-respect, rather he wanted to fight for
  his community, his country, and even for
  humanity.

8
First Line of Action

• Gandhi had been used to stepping down when faced
  with a challenge but this time it was different.
• Gandhi was aware of how the majority of Indian
  settlers resigned to the racism of others. They
  were inferior because most of them could not
  read, they had few rights, and did not know how
  to apply the rights they did have.
• This did not deter Gandhi from his main goal
  which was to bring an end to this racism.
• When he arrived in Pretoria (the place in South
  Africa where he was going to work) his first line
  of action was to gather a group of Indian
  residents for a meeting. He presented them with
  the information on how they were being treated
  unfairly.

9
Bill to Disfranchise Indian Settlers

• Gandhi was busy with work and decided to sail for
  India in June 1894.
• A client of his threw him a farewell party that
  ended with many Indians pleading with Gandhi to
  stay.
• At the party, Gandhi was looking through the
  newspaper, the Natal Mercury and discovered that
  a bill was introduced to the Natal Legislature.
  This bill aimed to disfranchise Indian Settlers.
  (Disfranchise means that the government would
  take away special rights or privileges such as
  the right to vote, for equality, or to sell a
  product or service.)
• Gandhiís friends (who were merchants - one whose
  business is buying and selling goods) knew they
  would be unable to fight this battle on their
  own. They could converse with their white
  customers but could not read the newspaper or
  follow the proceedings of the bill.
• Gandhi commented, ìthis is the first nail into
  our coffin.î
• They pleaded with Gandhi to stay and he did,
  postponing his departure for a month.

10
Indian Opposition Bill

• Gandhiís farewell party soon turned into a
  political committee meeting aimed to plan an
  Indian opposition bill.
• He was determined to win the battle for his first
  political campaign. Gandhi worked hard to build
  solidarity within the Indian community. He
  spread the news of the disfranchise to the
  European public as well as his own people.
• Gandhi stressed the injustice that was being
  placed on the Indians. All this caused a great
  stir but the bill was eventually passed by the
  Natal Legislature, limiting the rights of
  Indians.
• Friends asked Gandhi to stay longer and he
  agreed. He enrolled as an advocate to the
  Supreme Court to continue his fight for equality.

11
Natal Indian Congress

• Gandhi realized that the Indians were in need of
  a permanent organization to protect them from
  such extreme oppression.
• The Natal Indian Congress was formed in 1893 by
  Gandhi. The goal of this Congress was to not
  only to deal with politics but to also give itís
  members a moral and social uplift.
• He went to such extremes as not eating to make a
  point. Gandhi once sat in a small village
  throughout the night and would not eat his dinner
  until an Indian merchant agreed to raise his pay
  to the Natal Indian Congress from three to six
  pounds.

12
Voluntary Poverty

• Not only did Gandhi display his focus on politics
  but also his personality, which became very
  influential in South Africa.
• He became very interested in an author, Tolstoy,
  who wrote religious books. One particular book
  struck Gandhi and changed his life, ìRuskinís
  Unto The Last.î This inspired Gandhi to move to
  the wilderness and practice a life of voluntary
  poverty.
• Tolstoy gave Gandhi a sense of support when he
  thought about the right of civil disobedience.
• Gandhi came to the conclusion that true religion
  is more a part of the heart rather than
  intellect. Genuine belief is through living what
  you believe.
• Gandhi embraced the idea of ìnonpossession.î He
  was beginning his life of voluntary poverty and
  of ìselfless action.î

13
Movement of Peace
Gandhi was loved and respected as the Mahatma,
the great soul. His followers admired him for
his many qualities including courage and
sacrifice. He was simple, humble, and saintly in
many peopleís eyes. September 1921 Gandhi and
many of his followers were accused of disloyalty
to the army. Many were arrested but the
government was careful not to touch Gandhi until
a favorable opportunity came December 1921
Gandhi launched a mass movement but proceeded
cautiously. His plan was to begin civil
disobedience in one district to see what
happened. If it was successful he would extend
it until the whole of India was
liberated. Gandhi was careful to warn people
that this was NOT to involve violence. It would
lose itís character if violence occurred because
it was aimed to be a MOVEMENT OF PEACE. This
movement did not take place until later because
of various issues occurring at this time. Gandhi
did not think it was safe for such a mass
movement to occur.
14
Arrest, Imprisonment, and Fasting.
March 10, 1922 Gandhi was arrested. He pleaded
guilty and was sentenced to six yearsí
imprisonment. September 1932 Gandhi, who was
in jail, went on a fast as a protest against the
segregation occurring. He hoped that
self-crucifixion could demonstrate his sincerity
to his followers. The day the fast began, Sept.
20, 1932 was recognized as a day of fasting and
prayer. On November 7, 1933, Gandhi went on a
country-wide tour, covering 12,500 miles. This
lasted nine months. May 1933 he suspended civil
disobedience because the country was fatigued.
Gandhi would not alter his views that ìonly
non-violence and love could end this spiral of
hate and violence.î On Jan. 13, 1948, Gandhi
began his greatest fast. This was his last fast
which did not end until representatives signed a
pledge that guaranteed peace in Delhi.
15
Non -violence

• According to Gandhi, the movement for Indian
  freedom was significant because it did not
  involve violence.
• Gandhiís main objection to violence was that he
  considered it, ìa clumsy weapon which created
  more problems than it solved, and left a trail of
  hatred and bitterness in which genuine
  reconciliation was almost impossible.î
• Gandhi had total allegiance to non-violence.

16
Conclusion
Gandhi forgot about his own limitations and
fought for what he thought were the Indianís
rights. He was in a struggle for equality for
the Indian Immigrants. He wanted them to have at
least elementary civic rights, which they were
being denied. Gandhi practiced what he preached
which made his followers believe in him and
follow his lead. Gandhi believed that
non-violence was the only way to fight for what
you believe.
17
References

• Mohandas Gandhi - Man of the Millenium
• http//www.mkgandhi.org/index.html
• GANDHI a pictorial biography byB. R. Nanda
• http//www.mkgandhi.org/biography/index.htm
• Student's Section
• http//www.mkgandhi.org/students/index.htm
• Mohandas Gandhi - ìLive Simply That Others May
• Simply Liveî
• http//www.engagedpage.com/gandhi.html