Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, The Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born October 2, 1869, in the small seaside town of Porbandar, on the Kathiawar Peninsula in western India. His father Karamchand served in governmental positions and owned homes in several cities. As a young boy, Mohandas was shy but had a decided rebellious streak. At twelve, he would steal from his parents to buy cigarettes to smoke secretly with his friends. He early rejected the his family's Hindu religion and out of his father's sight ate beef, which was against Hindu laws. As the years passed, however, Gandhi returned to his Hindu religion and became a very spiritual man. His life was centered around God. He worked at becoming pure, giving up all desire for worldly goods or riches. He termed his approach to life as "desirelessness." When he died he had only a few pair of sandals, his glasses, loincloth...