Mahatma Gandhi 1

For the average Indian, it could be just another holiday. But the average Indian lives in a country where every town and city has at least one road, one market, one statue and one park named after Gandhi. The average Indian has written essays on the Mahatma in school, and pored over his contribution to India’s independence in History classes. While most historical personalities in India’s checkered history, no matter how dynamic, could inspire only a fraction of the population, Gandhi connected with Indians at their own level, their caste, creed, sex or status notwithstanding, and was aptly christened bapu or father. To strike a cord in the heart of an average Indian, when the average Indian is classified as a Brahmin, Kshatriya or Shudra, (levels of castes in Hinduism established as early as the pre-Vedic era), or is a Tamilian, Punjabi or Marathi, a speck in a nation that spouts at least 17 different languages, is no mean feat. Perhaps no other historical figure in India   has enjoyed such a rare distinction. This was Gandhi’s forte, alone.

This is not to say that hagiographers could be summoned, and Gandhi is above criticism. In fact, the man attracted criticism, and continues to do so, like a bee is drawn to honey. But few would have beheld the man and his philosophy, without yielding both a reaction.

Gandhi hardly needs an introduction. A voluminous literature has gone into studying the man who became the Mahatma or ‘great soul’. His personal writings add up to ninety large volumes.

¤ A Brief History

Born in 1869, in Porbandar in the state of Gujarat into a Vaishya (merchant class) family, Gandhi was married at the age of 13 to Kasturba. He was an average student who studied law in England from 1888 to 1891. Before leaving India, his mother made him promise that he would abstain from meat, alcohol and sex. The years passed soon and Gandhi was back in Mumbai. It was time for his first and only case as a lawyer in India, and the man stood ineptly...