Summary:
A biography of Mahandas Gandhi, the famous leader of the nonviolent movement to uproot British control of India.
A heroic person can be considered as one who is willing to stand by his principles regardless of the consequence, is a leader or a pioneer in his field, and is looked upto by people and sets an example for others to follow. One great man who possessed all these great qualities was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. At, an outer appearance, he was a man of simple means, but later turned out to be an individual with great principles. This great man took his first breath in this world in the year of 1869, in a wealthy business class family. The roots of Gandhi principles can be found in his early life, when Gandhi learned and adhered the consepts of non-injury to living beings, vegetarianism, fasting for self-purification, and mutual tolerance between members of various creeds and sects.
Gandhi believed that everyone should have equal treatment, and this can be seen in one incident that occurred when he was in England to pursue his education. In those times non-white men were not allowed the same priveleges as them. Gandhi believing that all men are equal, got on a train from which he was promptly told to depart, he even tried to reason with the gentleman and almost got arrested for sticking to his beliefs. Gandhi founded a political party in South Africa, that tried to get Indian people their rights in South Africa. Later, after seeing the oppresion of Indians by the British in India, he decided to fight for their cause. He was a wealthy man in his own way, so he did not really need to worry about the poor people, but he stuck to his beliefs. When the country was immersed in bloodshed and turmoil Gandhi stepped in and guided them to the path of non-violence. Like a true hero he led the people onto the right track for achieving their goals.
There were many other freedom fighters in Indi at that time, but they all took the route of non-violence. But in the end, it was Gandhi's method of non-violence that succeeded in establishing India's freedom. He visited villages, that were deterioraing in condition, he talked to the villagers, listening to their grievance and helping in any ways possible, he built schools and hospitals. He championed the cause of poor and exploited people. But most inportantly he empowered the, he made them realize that the power of getting freedom and independance was in their hands. Gandhi believed that India, should not be exploited for their rich resources, and the profits that came from the hard work of Indian workers belonged to the indians, and to deal with this issue Gandhi told the indians to boycott British goods that were made on their hard work. Gandhi himself followed this principle, by spinning his own clothes and giving up clothes sold by the British. This method of non co-operation was a success.
Gandhi's methods helped many violent individuals in finding the right path to freedom. Whatever principles he preached, he made sure he himself and his whole family followed them too. Gandhi also believed that women too should join in this endeavour of acquiring freedom. Gandhi was a man of peace and many times he had to go even go to jail, for supporting his cause, but he did not give up. It was Gandhi's movement, "Quit India," that was finally successful in uprooting the British control from India. Before Gandhi entering the scene, there were many freedom fighters fighting for the cause individually, but these minor outbursts were overlooked by the British. But it was Gandhi that united all these freedom fighters together and showed them the way to success.
Gandhi's life was filled with ups and downs and many crisis like the death of his wife in the year 1940, but like a great man that he was, he still continued on for the sake of others. This great phenomena, took his last breath in the year 1948, but not before he achieved what he had set out to do. Gandhi left behind a legacy or an example for others to follow in the form of their freedom. Gandhi will be remembered by all the Indians for his great contribution to their society and their country.
This is the complete article, containing 705 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
