146. Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi or more respectfully known as the Mahatma, the father of the Indian nation was born in the town of Porbander in Gujarat on 2 October 1869. He had his schooling in nearby Rajkot, where his father served as the adviser to the local ruler. At thirteen he was married to Kasturba [or Kasturbai], who was even younger. His father died before Gandhi could finish his schooling. In 1888, Gandhi set sail for England, where he had decided to pursue a degree in law. Gandhi left behind his son and wife.


In London, Gandhi encountered theosophists, vegetarians, and others who were disenchanted not only with industrialism, but also with the legacy of Enlightenment thought. They themselves represented the fringe elements of English society. Gandhi was powerfully attracted to them, as he was to the texts of the major religious traditions. It is in London that he was introduced to the Bhagavad Gita. He was called to the bar in 1891, and even enrolled in the High Court of London; but later that year he left for India. After one year of law practice, Gandhi decided to accept an offer as a legal adviser from an Indian businessman in South Africa, Dada Abdulla.


His stay in South Africa lasted for over twenty years. The Indians who had been living in South Africa were without political rights, and were generally known by the derogatory name of 'coolies'. It is in South Africa that he first coined the term satyagraha when he emerged as a leader of the Indian community in South Africa. Satyagraha signifies his theory and practice of non-violent resistance. Gandhi was to describe himself preeminently as a votary or seeker of satya (truth), which could not be attained other than through ahimsa (non-violence, love) and brahmacharya (celibacy, striving towards God).


Gandhi felt that satyagraha could be used to make the oppressor and the oppressed recognize their common bonding and humanity. In South Africa he used satyagraha in the struggles of the Indians to claim their rights, and their resistance to oppressive legislation and executive measures, such as the imposition of a poll tax on them, or the declaration by the government that all non-Christian marriages were to be construed as invalid.