Once expressing his views on the assassination of Gandhiji, Albert Einstein said, Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this (Gandhi) ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth’. Einstein was very apt in his assessment of this great soul inbibed with all the finest humane qualities.
Mahatma Gandhi, whose full name was Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi, was born in the middle class family on October 2,1869. His father was the Dewan of Rajkot. He was an average student at school but he had signs of future greatness. He refused to copy the spelling of a word from a fellow student at the will of his teacher.
As a boy he was greatly impressed by the drama of Harish Chandra. Later in his life he followed truth like Harish Chandra. Once, during childhood, his mother told him, “Whenever you are frightened, remembers the God Ram” Gandhiji, throughout, his life, kept singing -‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, Patit Pawan Sita Ram’. Even at the time of his assassination, he ultered ‘Hey Ram’. Thus he had great faith in God.
He was married to Kastruba at an early age. After completing his school education, he left for England for his Degree in Law. He returned home as a barrister. He started his practice at Bombay and then he went to Rajkot, but he was not proved a successful lawyer. In one case he had to go to South Africa. There he saw the pathetic condition of Indians. He fought bravely for Indians’ right there.
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He came back to India in 1915 and impressed the Indians with his policy of non-violence. He launched himself against the great British Empire in India using his weapons of nonviolence and Satya graha. He had in him all the makings of an ideal leader and hence, he led the Indian freedom struggle heart and soul finally resulting in India’s freedom from the demeaning slavery.
Gandhji, however, never claimed to be any other than an ordinary man. He criss-crossed his country on foot and in third class carriages to stress his identity with the impoverished masses he had tea at Buckingham Palace with the King- Emperor, dressed in the homespeen cotton chaddar and loincloth that were his trademarks. He practised a life of spartan simplicity.
The symbol of his challenge to the age of imperialism was the primitive wooden spinning wheel on which he laboured everyday. He was the universal brother, lover and friend of the poor, weak, suffering humanity. He had a dream of India where everyone was equal, employed and happy. He wanted to wipe tears from every eye.
Amidst all the violence, hatred, pettiness, life in modern society, Gandhiji was a person who believed in the degnity of man and left us all a legacy of Ahimsa, love and tolerance. He was the ‘Father of the Nation'(BAPU), a great soul (MAHATMA) and the gentle prophet of non-violent revolution-all rolled into one. He dedicated himself to the pursuit of truth of our fellowmen and the heading of wounds of nations.
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Hence he was a leader of the world at large. He was shot on the evening of January 30, 1948 by Nathu Ram Godse. The whole of the world was stunned at the news of his ‘shahadat’.
We can’t all be Gandhis but we can in a lesser or greater degree imbibes the essence of his teachings, the deeper truth for which he lived and died. It would be our best homage to that great soul whose need becomes more relevant today and for tomorrow.