Man Without Sword

An eassy on the life and death of Gandhi

Destiny
Mr. St. John
World Lit 5th Period
16 May 2007

Man Without Sword
“You must be the change you want to see in the world” (Gandhi). Born as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He knew what he was talking about when he spoke those words. Overcoming discrimination, imprisonment and his untimely death, Mohandas is known nationwide as just simply Gandhi. He has influenced many public figures of our time such as, Martin Luther King Jr. and Romain Rolland. Gandhi is known for his bald head, non-violent beliefs, as well as his glasses and stick-figure form. He was a man of principals but later fell victim to criticism and controversy which questioned everything from his personal habits and political actions to implications of his philosophy. Despite all these things Gandhi is still known today as a major political and spiritual leader of India, who with strong beliefs fought without violence and won the Indian Independence movement.
Gandhi was born on October 30, 1869 in Porbander, India the fourth and last child of his father’s fourth marriage. His father Karamchand later held the position of Prime Minster in Rajkat, India. Growing up the Gandhi’s household by Indian standards were considered ‘well to do.’ As a child he loved to play with rubber balloons and revolving tops. He also enjoyed sports such as tennis and cricket. Gandhi first attended school in Porbandar but after a year the family moved to Rajkot. As a student he faced great difficulty being labeled as a ’mediocre’ student. His first experience of respectfulness and rebellion at just the age of twelve came when Gandhi had misspelled the word kettle. The teacher had saw the mistake and forced Gandhi to copy off another student’s slate. Later the teacher scolded him for what the teacher calls his ‘stupidity’ after Gandhi had refused to cheat off his classmate’s slate. Gandhi later had taken up a habit of smoking and was often accompanied by a young relative while doing this.
Gandhi would outgrow things such as rubber balloons and smoking because at just the tender age of thirteen he was married. His marriage to this wife Kasturbai the daughter of a Porbandor merchant named Gokuldas Nakanji lasted sixty-two years. The newlyweds both at the age of thirteen would soon have problems. Gandhi had a extremely jealous streak and often did not allow his wife out without his permission. Soon he would figure out that Kasturbai was a person of independence. She simply went out whenever and wherever she pleased. The couple both hot-headed often were not on speaking terms for days on end.
At sixteen Gandhi’s father was bedridden with a fistula. He often bandaged the wound and mixed, as well as administered the medicine. One evening between the hours of ten and eleven his father was found dead in his bedroom. Gandhi later reflected that he blamed himself for not being there in his father’s last moments. Soon he would continue to lose the people he loved and would be consumed by his guilt. After three days after giving birth Gandhi and Kasturbai’s first child died. Gandhi blamed the death on intercourse later in the pregnancy. His guilt does not stop there, Kasturbi did not know how to read or write. He had every intention of teaching her how but he was blinded by his lust for his wife. Kasturbi hated learning and he simply preferred lovemaking. As he later reflects he said he “Had been absolutely untamed by lust; she would be a learned lady today” (Gandhi). Sadly enough she never learned how to read or write.
In 1885 Gandhi had become influenced by Jainism and Buddhism. Often Jain monks visited the house and accepted food from the family. Maybe his newfound religion helped because Kasturbi birthed another child, the baby lived. Kasturbi and Gandhi named their son Harilal. Several months later he sailed for Bombay before he reached his eighteenth birthday. In 1888 he arrived in London where he studied law and struggled to become accustomed to English life. Gandhi had conformed to the English style of dress but, however, did not compromise his vegetarianism. Even though he was persuaded by friends to eat meat Gandhi continued to follow a strict diet by omitting starches for periods of time. He lived on bread and fruit, cheese, milk and eggs for weeks at a time. Gandhi had taken an active role in the organization of vegetarian society as well as becoming an executive committee member of the Vegetarian Society of England. His purpose of coming to England was much more important than his dietetic adventures.
On November 6,1888 he was admitted to the Inner Temple and was matriculated at London University in 1890. He learned French, Latin, Physics, Common as well as Roman Law. On June 11th he enrolled in the High Court and the next day he sailed back to India after spending two years and eight months in England. Soon after returning to India, Gandhi and Katurbi welcomed their second child named Manilal born on October 28, 1892. Things were looking up for Gandhi who with the help of his older brother’s business friend offered him a job as a legal advisor to his company in South Africa. Gandhi accepts the offer immediately and travels to South Africa in 1893. But, little does he know this will be his first experience with discrimination.
Landing in Durban, Natal in May of the same year he had three goals: win a lawsuit, earn money and get his career started. For the first time Gandhi experienced discrimination. To whites all Indian’s were ’Sammies’ and ‘Kulies,’ they were simply not equal. South African society was divided by color, class, religion and profession. Days after arriving Gandhi was forced to take off his turban in the courthouse. In reaction Gandhi demurred and left. Then to avoid anymore trouble he decided to wear an English hat but was told that a hat on a colored man symbolizes a waiter. Gandhi once more suffered discrimination when a lawsuit required him to travel from Durban to Pretoria. A white man entered the first class accommodations and left but soon reappeared with two railway officials who ordered him to move although he had a valid first class ticket. He refused and was thrown off the train only to suffer a night of shivering in the bitter cold night at the train station. A week later he called a meeting of all Pretoria’s Indians where at the age of twenty-four he made his first public speech. He urged four things: tell the truth even in business, adopt more sanitary habits, forget caste and religious divisions and learn English.
Other meetings followed and Gandhi continued to work hard to make conditions on trains better for Indians. Gandhi had established himself in business and also maintained his position amongst his people. In 1896 he returned to India where he wrote reports about the situation of the Indians in South Africa. After a year Gandhi returned
back to South Africa, this time with his family.
Trouble soon found Gandhi once more, upon his return he was denied entry into Durban. An alleged outbreak of the plague had left him and several other Indians under quarantine for 23 days. When Gandhi finally entered he was nearly lynched by a mob of white men over with the intervention of a chief constable that Gandhi was still alive. Gandhi continued to practice law fighting for the rights of Indians. He soon established a magazine “Indian Option” in 1904, which gave Indians in Africa a voice.
The next few years of Gandhi’s life included protesting a registration bill which forced Indians to register with their fingerprints while receiving a number and a registration form they had to carry with them. Another was in 1913 when Africa decided not to honor non-Christian marriages which left wives with only the status of mistresses and children no longer could inherit.
But despite all of the opposition and events that followed the Indians were now independent in 1947 but only as independent states. Gandhi tried to move the Hindus and Muslims but failed to do so. As a reaction to this Gandhi had gone on a hunger strike till the Muslims and Hindus resolved their differences. Not wanting to be responsible for his death they both made peace but only for a short time.
Gandhi was murdered on January 30th, 1948 at the age of 78 by a fanatical Hindu. People have said that the last word that Gandhi spoke was “oh god.” Even after his death 59 years ago Gandhi’s beliefs have continued to spread . Although, many generations don’t remember his strong belief in which he was willing to die for.