Mohandas Karma ch and Gandhi was an Indian lawyer and anti-colonial nationalist who employed non-violent resistance in the campaign for India's independence from British rule. Born in 1869 in Gujarat, India, Gandhi studied law at the Inner Temple in London
And then Gandhi came, He did not descend from the top: he seemed to emerge from the millions of India, speaking their language and incessantly drawing attention to them and their appalling condition. Get off the backs of these peasants and workers, he told us, all you who live by their exploitation; get rid of the system that produces this poverty and misery. Political freedom took new shape then, and that produces this poverty and misery. Political freedom took new shape then and acquired a new content. Much that he said we only partially accepted, or some times did not accept at all. But all this was secondary. The essence of his teaching was fearlessness and truth and action allied to 6these, always keeping the welfare of the masses in view. The greatest gift for an individual or a nation, so we had been told in our ancient books, fearlessness, not merely bodily courage, but the absence of fear from the mind. Yajnavalkya had said, at the dawn of our history, that it was the function of the leaders of a people to make them fearless. But the dominant impulse in India under British rule was that of fear, pervasive, oppressing, strangling fear; fear of the army, the police, the widespread Secret Service; fear of the official class; fear of the laws meant to suppress and of prison; fear of the landlord's agent; fear of the moneylender; fear of unemployment and starvation, which were always on the threshold. It was against this all-pervading fear that Gandhi's quiet and determined voice was raised; be not afraid. Was it so simple as all that? Not quite. And yet fear builds its phantoms which are more fearsome than reality itself, and reality, when calmly analyzed and its consequences willingly accepted, loses much of its terror
In a small, white-washed house in Porbandar, on the coast of Kathiawad in western India, Mohandas Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869. His parents were Karamchand Gandhi and Putlibai. He was small and dark, and looked no different from the millions of other children born in India. Yet this was no ordinary child. He was to fight and overcome a great empire and, without taking to arms, set his country free. He was to be called the Mahatma, the Great Soul. Having led his people to freedom, he was to lay down his life for their sake. Porbandar is an old sea-port, overlooked by the distant Barda Hills. Even in ancient days ships from far off lands went there to trade. It was the ancestral home of the Gandhi's. The grandfather and father of Mohandas were famous for their ability and for their upright character. Grandfather Uttamchand Gandhi, who belonged to a humble family of merchants, become the Dewan of Porbandar. He was succeeded by his son, Karamchand Gandhi popularly known as a Kaba Gandhi. Karamchand had very little formal education, but his knowledge and experience made him a good administrator. He was brave and generous. He had, however, one fault a bad temper. Putlibai, Karamchand Gandhi's wife, was deeply religious. Every day she worshipped at the temple. She was a lovable and strong willed woman, widely respected for her wisdom and good sense. People often sought her advice on various matters. Mohandas was the youngest of the six children of Kaba Gandhi. He was the favourite child of the family and was called 'Moniya' by his fond parents and their friends. Moniya adored his mother. He loved his father too, but he was a little afraid of him
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