 The country that lies north of the ocean, and south of the snowy mountains, is called Bharat Varsha. Traversed by green and fertile hills, blossoming trees bright with orchard gleams, and fields of waving corn touched by the golden rays in the east, India is bounded on three sides by the palm-clad sea shores, chanting to the tune of the ocean waves. On the west coast, the sea of Oman splashes against the solid rocks of the city of Porbandar in Saurashtra. The town was the ancestral home of the Gandhis who belonged to the Vaishnav Kalt. It was here that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on the morning of October 2, 1869. Uttamchand Gandhi, Mohand's grandfather, was the divan of Porbandar. Karamchand Gandhi, Mohand's father, succeeded Uttamchand as divan. Karamchand, like his father, was a man of principle, and loved virtue more than wealth. Mohand's mother, Putlibai, was deeply religious and had a strong personality. She would take the hardest vows without flinching. Her influence more than any other molded the character of Mohand. At the age of six, Mohand was sent to school close to his house. Mohand was only seven when his father left the service of the Porbandar state and moved with his family to Rajkot. At the early age of 13, Mohand was married to Kusturbhai of the same age at Porbandar. Soon he assumed the authority of a husband. In 1887, Mohandas Gandhi passed the matriculation examination from the Amdabad centre and joined the Samaldas College at Bhavnagar. But at the end of the first term, he left the college to proceed to England to study law. At the age of 18, he sailed from Bombay on September 4th, 1888. Mohandas Gandhi joined the Inner Temple to qualify as a barrister on November 6th, 1888. Towards the end of 1889, Mohandas read the Bhagavad Gita for the first time in Arnold's translation, the song Celestial, along with the original. At the instance of a friend, Mohandas read the Bible. He liked the New Testament and the sermon on the Mount went straight to his heart. M.K. Gandhi passed his examination with credit and was called to the bar on June 10th, 1891. The sea was stormy on July 5th when barrister Mohandas Gandhi landed at Bombay. The joy of homecoming was turned into boundless grief for him. She whom he was so eager to meet, his beloved mother had passed away. To establish legal practice, gain experience of courts and study Indian law. Barrister Gandhi applied for admission as an advocate to the Bombay High Court. In April 1893, Gandhi set forth for South Africa to appear in a lawsuit on behalf of an Indian firm on a year's contract. After a month's journey, he landed at Durban. The racial discrimination in the society startled him and cut him to the quick. When the Kully Barrister, as he was called, appeared in the Durban Court, he was ordered to remove his Durban. Gandhi felt insulted, demurred and left. The press described him as an unwelcome visitor. After a year's stay while about to leave for India at a farewell party, he learned that the South African government was to introduce a bill to disfranchise Indians. He said, the bill is the first nail into our coffin. He took up the cause of his disinherited country. Thus began the long battle against race prejudice. South Africa became the land of his adoption. Along with his colleagues, Gandhi founded the Natal Indian Congress to remove the hardships of the Indians and to promote harmony between them and the Europeans. The Indians commissioned Gandhi to lay their grievances before public men and public bodies in India. On June 5th, 1896, he sailed home, carrying great responsibilities at the young age of 26. Gandhi visited the principal centres of political life in India. His impassioned speeches stirred the Indian mind. In response to an urgent cable from Natal, Gandhi left India with Kasturbhai on November 28th, 1896. On reaching the port of Durban, the ship was put in quarantine because of the white residence agitation for the repatriation of the Indians. After 23 days of quarantine, when Gandhi landed, some European youngsters pelted him with stones, snatched away his turban and kicked him. Even then, his heart did not arraign his assailants. On the outbreak of the Boer War between the Dutch settlers and the British in 1899, he organised an Indian ambulance corps and left for the front. They worked under the fire of enemy guns and carried wounded soldiers to hospitals through heat and dust. The humble work of the sons of the empire was applauded and they were awarded the War Medal. On his return to India in 1901, Gandhi reached Calcutta to pay his first visit to the Indian National Congress, moved a resolution on the conditions of the Indians in South Africa and pleaded for India's active sympathy. Before settling down, Gandhi made an extensive tour of India. To acquaint himself with the hardships of the passengers, he travelled third class. Just when he seemed to be settling down, he received an unexpected cable from South Africa and returned to Natal at the call of his countrymen. Realising that he must remain in Transvaal and fight the battle through, he set up his office in Johannesburg. He was enrolled as an attorney of the Supreme Court. Convinced that the life of labour is a life worth living, Gandhi bought a fruit orchard at Phoenix. He formed a nucleus of a settlement which led a Spartan life. The colony was self-supporting and the material requirements of life were reduced to a minimum. Gandhi was dismayed to find that the Transvaal government had introduced an ordinance compelling all Asians to take out a certificate of registration. Condemning this black act, Gandhi observed that it was not merely abominable, but a crime against humanity. The Indian community was fiercely indignant. On September 11th, 1906, Gandhi took the pledge at a mass meeting with God as witness. I shall die but not submit to the anti-asiatic law. Since that day, Gandhi's life story has mainly been the history of Satyagraha. On January 10th, 1908, Gandhi entered the prison gate for the first time for civil disobedience. After about a fortnight, the prison gates were opened for Gandhi and his colleagues, consequent upon the Smuts-Gandhi settlement. General Smuts played foul and did not repeal the black act. The Indian community was thrown into a turmoil. The struggle was resumed with a bonfire of certificates. Gandhi's dream of developing a community of Satyagrahas, living a new and simple life in rural surroundings, took final shape on a farm near Johannesburg, named after Tolstoy. On the passing of the immigration bill, a fresh grievance arose, and Gandhi said, once more into the breach, my friends. In October, 1913, hundreds of Indians, men and women with children in their arms, thronged Newcastle to march to Transvaal as a protest against the three-pound tax levied on their freedom. The soldiers of Satyagraha offered prayers and began the epic march in the name of God. Gandhi was arrested three times in four days, but the march continued proclaiming the grim tenacity and the stern determination of the marchers. On the triumphant end of the Satyagraha struggle, Gandhi observed, Satyagraha is a priceless weapon, and those who wield it are strangers to disappointment or defeat. Gandhi felt that his mission in South Africa was over. He had spent 21 years there, sharing to the full the joys and sorrows of human experience, and had realized his vocation in life. He sailed for England on July 18, 1914, along with Kasturbhai, on his way back to India. Seeking his own hermitage in an atmosphere of renunciation and service, Gandhi founded the Satyagraha ashram at Kochrab, near Ahmedabad, on May 25th, with 25 inmates bound by vows of truth and celibacy, non-violence and non-position, swadeshi, khadi, and the removal of untouchability. In 1917, Gandhi found a congenial task in the service of the oppressed peasants on the indigo plantation of Champaran in North Bihar. His arrival for investigation into their grievances roused new hopes in the peasants, and they thronged to him to tell their woes. The compulsory growing of indigo was abolished on the recommendation of the inquiry committee. The century-old stain of indigo was washed away, and the country had its first object lesson in individual civil disobedience. In the middle of 1917, on the outbreak of the plague in Kochrab village, Gandhi shifted his ashram to the bank of the river Sabarmati. Amidst the neem and tamarin trees was situated Gandhi's bear hut, Hrdayakunj, along with the simple dwellings of the inmates. Life at the ashram gave full play to the emotion and intellect of the residents. Gandhi arrived in Bombay for medical treatment, as hard work coupled with uncooked food had ruined his health. His refusal to take medicine and the vow not to take milk came in the way of his recovery. He yielded to Kasturbhai's suggestion that he should take goat's milk. During the convalescent period at Manibhawan, he learned and practiced spinning, and the wheel hummed merrily in his room, spinning peace, goodwill and love in every revolution. On his sick bed, Gandhi was roused by the publication of the notorious Rowlat bills in February 1919, which sought to crush the civic rights of Indians and to gag the voice of revolt. A wave of anger greeted the bills all over India. In spite of the united opposition of all elected Indian members, on March 18, the black bills were pushed through and became law. On Sunday, April 13, Brigadier General Dyer marched with his armed force through the tortuous, torrid streets and mazy lanes of Amritsar. He ordered the troops to fire upon the sealing mass of humanity gathered for a peaceful meeting. The firing continued till the ammunition was exhausted, killing 375 and injuring over a thousand helpless men and women. Gandhi identified himself with the Muslims when they launched the Khilafat agitation against the unjust peace terms imposed on Turkey by Britain. The Khilafat movement adopted Gandhi's doctrine of non-violent, non-cooperation as an infallible remedy. On July 31, he inaugurated the campaign for the boycott of foreign cloth by kindling an immense bonfire in Bombay, not out of racial hatred, but as a sign of India's determination to break with the past. Here, in Madurai, he decided to discard his cap and vest, realizing that the millions were too poor to replace the discarded foreign clothes. On the morning of September 21st, his head was shaved and he wrapped a piece of khadar around his loins. Thus, he resolutely took to the loincloth. The Congress again proclaimed its faith in civil disobedience as a weapon equally effective and more human than armed rebellion and delegated its powers to Gandhi as its sole executive authority. Gandhi informed the Viceroy that Bardoli Taluka in Gujarat was to be the first unit of non-violent mass revolt, but on February 5, 1922, on the outbreak of violence at Chauri Choura in the district of Gorakhpur, taking the sins of the people upon himself, Gandhi made a confession. God spoke clearly through Chauri Choura. Mob violence, even in answer to grave provocation, is a bad augury. He suspended the intended mass civil disobedience in Bardoli and imposed on himself a five-day fast as a penance. On March 10th, when Gandhi was about to retire, the police party arrived in the ashram to arrest him. At noon, March 18th, the great trial began at Circuit House, Ahmedabad. Gandhi was indicted on three seditious articles published in young India. Accused Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, aged 53, describing himself as a farmer and weaver by profession, spoke in his own defense and pleaded guilty to the charge. The most epic event of modern times ended quickly. Gandhi was sentenced to six years' simple imprisonment. On February 4th, the government remitted the unexpired portion of Gandhi's sentence and released him unconditionally. The 39th session of the Indian National Congress was held at Balgam on December 26, 1924 with Gandhi as the president. He induced the Congress to accept the spinning franchise, making labour in the form of a contribution of self-spanian as an alternative to foreign membership. Gandhi regarded untouchability as a fiendish sin. Anything that is prejudicial to the welfare of the nation is untouchable, but no human being can be so. Political tension was mounting. A rude awakening came on April 8th when Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt dropped two bombs in the Central Assembly as a protest on behalf of those who had no other means left to give expression to their heart-rending agony. The 45th session of the Indian National Congress met on the banks of the Ravi on the outskirts of Lahore. At the stroke of midnight on December 31st, 1929, Gandhi's historic resolution on independence and the action to be taken was passed. He published an 11-point manifesto stressing the total prohibition, reduction of the land revenue and the military expenditure and the abolition of the salt tax were the vital needs of the people. In a letter to the viceroy, he announced his intention. If my letter makes no appeal to your heart, on the 11th day of this month I shall proceed to disregard the provisions of the salt law. On March 12th, with the coming of daylight, India's soul was awake. The Great March for Liberty began. Gandhi started on his 241-mile-long trek from the ashram to Dandi, a village on the sea coast along with his chosen band of 78 ashram inmates. Daily, Gandhi tramped about 10 miles. After a 241-mile-long trek lasting for 24 days, the pilgrims reached the promised land on the morning of April 5th. On April 6th, after the dip into the sea, walking at a slow pace in solemnity, Gandhi picked up a lump of natural salt on the seashore and the nefarious monopoly was broken. This was the signal for which the nation had been long waiting. There were numerous prosecutions, more numerous arrests, far more numerous detentions, forcible seizures of salt and brutal and savage assaults on the people. India was in full revolt. Scores of members resigned from the legislature. The Congress committees were declared illegal. The police began mass arrests. India became a vast prison house and yet the government failed to bend the people. On February 17th, the half-naked Fakir, as Winston Churchill called Gandhi, went to the viceroy's house to parlay with the representative of the king-emperor. After eight meetings, spread over three weeks, the Gandhi-Urban pact was signed on March 5th, 1931. The settlement was provisional and conditional. The vital question of the objective of independence remained. It is not wise to say which is the victorious party remarked Gandhi. The prison gates opened. Thousands of civil disobedience prisoners were discharged and welcomed by the people. Despite Gandhi's desperate pleading, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were executed on the eve of the Karachi Congress. The Karachi Congress, convened under the shadow of Bhagat Singh's execution, truly represented the temper of the country at the moment. As Gandhi arrived, the demonstrators greeted him with black flags and shouts of down with Gandhism and long-lived Bhagat Singh. Gandhi received them sweetly and smilingly accepted the black flowers and their indignation completely subsided. The Congress ratified the Gandhi-Urban Agreement and appointed Gandhi as the sole Congress representative at the Round Table Conference. Gandhi reached Bombay on August 29th to catch the boat in time. SS Rajputana was ready to sail. Accompanying Gandhi were two fellow delegates, Sarojani Naidu and Madan Mohan Malaviya. At noon on August 29th, the Rajputana steamed out. Jawaharlal Nehru watched the ship that carried the sole representative of one-fifth of the human race to the Arabian Sea and the far west. Quaint Traveller carried the scantiers of luggage and scrupulously observed his daily routine on board the ship. On the misty cold morning of September 11th, SS Rajputana anchored at Marseille. When the spiritual ambassador of India alighted on the soil of war-weary Europe, he was hailed with shouts of Vive la Gandhi. At Folkstone on September 12th, Britons gathered to greet the guests of the nation. Gandhi landed on British soil with thoughts of the hard task ahead. I am here to vindicate the honour of India and to uphold truth as I see it, for I believe it is the keystone of life. At the Federal Structure Committee of the Round Table Conference held at St. James' Palace, the voice of resurgent India spoke through Gandhi. The goal of absolute independence remains intact. Gandhi stressed the need of adult suffrage and racial equality and advocated an honourable partnership between India and Britain. The nation that does not control its defence forces and external policy, asserted Gandhi, is hardly a responsible nation. He struck a note of warning. A nation of 350 million people needs simply a will of its own to say no, and that nation is today learning to say no. In this centre of the British textile industry, the Mayor of Darwin welcomed the most uncompromising advocate of the boycott of foreign cloth. He pointedly asked the operatives, do you want Lancashire's prosperity to be built upon the ruin of the Indian artisan? Their spontaneous reaction was, we know each other now. The Round Table Conference was completely abortive. Every divisive tendency in India was encouraged. The conference concluded on December 1. The mission that brought me to London, I know that I shall carry with me the presentest memories of my stay in the midst of the poor people of East London. On December 5, 1931, Gandhi left Britain without any disappointment. Gandhi boarded the channel boat to the French coast on the way home, leaving behind seeds of goodwill and mutual understanding. At a meeting in Geneva, he pointed out... The conference has all officially reported. Meanwhile, I must ask you to believe me when I say that I have never made a statement of this description. That the masses of India, if it became necessary, would resort to violence. All that as you like, it is complete independence that we want. On December 14, Gandhi boarded SS Pilsner at Brindisi, en route to India. On December 28, two days after the arrest of Jawaharlal Nehru, Gandhi reached the shores of India. Bombay staged a magnificent welcome to Gandhi. Thousands turned out or mass to greet him. Gandhi encamped on the terrace of Manibhavan and acquainted himself with the situation. Gandhi gave detailed account of his work in Britain to the members of the Congress Working Committee. He discussed the grim situation in the country with his colleagues and sought an interview with Lord Willingdon to find a way out. On receiving a stiff reply from the viceroy, Gandhi had no choice left but to resort to civil disobedience. He prepared to go to jail. The government instantly struck back. And when the whole nation was asleep, Gandhi was put under arrest at 3 a.m. on Monday, January 4, his weekly day of silence in the tent on the terrace of Manibhavan. On August 17, 1932, the British Premier's communal award confirmed Gandhi's fear of a perpetual bar sinister, which separated the untouchables from the Hindu fold. He informed Ramsey McDonald that he would fast unto death from the noon of September 20th if the decision was not abandoned. In a yard of the gaunt grey prison at Yeravada, Gandhi commenced his vow of extreme self-sacrifice. On the fifth day of the fast, the caste Hindus and the depressed class leaders in consultation with Gandhi signed the pact accepting joint electorates. The Yeravada pact nullified the British Premier's decision. Gandhi broke his fast of six days and five hours. Assuming the untouchables as Harijans, God's own people, Gandhi began conducting the weekly Harijan from the prison, which brought about a renaissance of faith and hope for millions. On July 31st, Gandhi disbanded the 18-year-old Sabarmati Ashram as a gesture of sympathy with those who had lost property in the freedom struggle. He made it over to the Harijan cause and shifted his headquarters to Vardha, the geographical centre of India. Gandhi tramped to Sagan, later called Sivagram. Sivagram Ashram was but an experiment in truth and non-violence. Gandhi lived here with Kusturbhai as a villager of his dream. In September 1938 came the moral catastrophe of Munich. Compelled to heed the rumbling of the coming storm, Gandhi observed, the peace Europe gained at Munich is a triumph of violence. It is also its defeat. The science of non-violence can alone lead to pure democracy. Anticipating the devastating consequences of war, Gandhi wrote to Herr Hitler, the one person who could prevent a war that would reduce humanity to a savage state. Must you pay this price for an object, however worthy it may appear to you? Will you listen to the appeal of one who has deliberately shunned the method of war? He asked. For a while, to pass beyond the darkness that enveloped the destiny of the world, Gandhi and Kusturbhai visited Shanti Niketan at Poet Tagore's invitation in February 1940. Poet welcomed Gandhi as one of their own and as one belonging to all humanity. The nearness of war became a challenge to Gandhi and a test of faith. He resumed the weeklies to disseminate his view that all war is immoral. Just then, Sir Stafford Cripps came to India with the proposals of the British War Cabinet on self-government for discussion with representative Indians. On March 27, Gandhi arrived in New Delhi as Cripps was anxious to meet him. Trongly disapproving the indefinite and innumerable partitions involved in the proposals, Gandhi asked, why did you come if this is what you have to offer? The Quit India campaign began to take shape in Gandhi's mind. Accepting Gandhi's view that India's bondage enfeebled her for her own defense, the Congress Working Committee proclaimed to the country that British rule in India must end. Only the glow of freedom would enable the people's united will to resist aggression. The leaders assembled in Bombay on the eve of the All India Congress Committee meeting which had been summoned to endorse the Quit India resolution. On August 7, 1942, they assembled at the Gawalia Tank Maidan and awaited the final call for India's deliverance. Outlining his plan of action, Gandhi spoke for two hours. He declared that he would try for an honorable settlement before commencing the actual struggle. Concluding, Gandhi said, here is a dictum for the non-violent soldier of freedom, do or die. A few hours later, in the early morning of August 9th, Gandhi was removed from the scene of action and immured along with his party behind the barbed wire isolation of the Arakhan Palace detention camp at Pune. In detention, Kasturbhai's health deteriorated fast. She died as a prisoner on February 22, 1944. On May 6, 1944, India heaved a sigh of relief on Gandhi's sudden and unconditional release on medical grounds. He went to Jinnah's house on September 9, 1944 as a seeker of light for establishing living peace. The 18-day talks never converged but ran a parallel course and broke down. The cleavage was on the cardinal issue of the two-nation theory. Gandhi had no sense of disappointment or despondency, though the talks did not prove fruitful. In August 1945, the horror of the atom bomb was loosed on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Second World War was over. Drawing a moral from the supreme tragedy of the atom bomb, Gandhi reiterated his faith in non-violence. The atom bomb has deadened the finest feeling that has sustained mankind for ages. It will not be destroyed by counter-bombs, even as violence cannot be by counter-violence. The British Labour Government's delegation arrived in India in March 1946 to discuss terms for the transfer of power. Gandhi came to Delhi to meet the British delegation at the request of Lord Pethik Lawrence and lived at the Sweeper's Slum. Simla was fixed as the venue for further talks. Abul Kalam Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, and Sardar Vallabhai Patel arrived in the first week of May to represent the Congress viewpoint in the conference. Gandhi accepted the delicate role of advisor to the cabinet mission and came to Simla having full faith in the mission's intention. But the conference could not achieve an agreement between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League and broke up on May 12. A call by the Muslim League to observe August 16, 1946 as direct action day to protest against the proposed formation of the interim government let loose an orgy of violence at Calcutta. Madness seized a section of humanity which killed, maimed, and burnt. The fury spread, burning its way into Naukali and Tripura, the rural areas of East Bengal. The cry of outraged womanhood called him to Bengal and he came to wipe their tears and put heart into them. The pilgrim of peace arrived in Naukali to venture in faith. His technique of non-violence was on trial, emphasizing the need for complete religious toleration. He maintained, in every province everyone is an Indian, be he a Hindu, a Muslim or of any other faith. He expected the majority to constitute itself into the guardian of the minority. In Gandhi's presence fear fled and the hold of fanatical terror loosened. While Gandhi's mind was full of the dark implications of the madness, he received an invitation from Lord Mountbatten, the new vice-roy of India, to meet him. In the vice regal gardens he met Lord and Lady Mountbatten. The vice-roy declared that his mission was to transfer power to Indian hands. Gandhi made it clear that he was opposed to any division of India. On June 3rd, Mountbatten secured the consent of the Congress and the League leaders to the British government plan of setting up two independent dominions on August 15th, 1947. The Congress working committee disliked the partition of India, but it could not let India bleed continuously and accepted the plan. Gandhi was steadfastly opposed to the division of India and yet he urged the members to support the decision with full faith in their leaders. While the work of partition was proceeding at breakneck speed, Gandhi was in Calcutta, dispelling hate with love. The midnight of August 14th, 1947 symbolized the rebirth of a nation after the slumber of centuries and a long struggle for self-determination. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister, said with moving eloquence, Long years ago, we made a trist with destiny and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. On August 15th, the appointed day, people gathered to welcome the dawn of a new age and witnessed the peaceful transfer of power. Time of rejoicing was brief. The rumblings of communal frenzy could be heard in the distance. A vast region was churning with hate. Minorities were tyrannized and persecuted. Millions of men, women and children uprooted from their settled homes and cut off from their old moorings, migrated on a dimension unprecedented in recorded history and trekked their way to safety. Communal harmony and the secular state were in great jeopardy. In Delhi, Gandhi saw ruptured human relationships. Out of the depths of anguish came the decision to fast unto death to purge the city of Delhi of the communal virus and lay his head on God's lap. He gave vent to his feeling, death for me would be a glorious deliverance rather than that I should be a helpless witness to the destruction of India as the leaden hours crept by and drop by drop strength ebbed out of the frail body on the fasting bed. A deep heart searching set in amongst all concerned. The fast terminated with the reunion of hearts of all communities brought about by an awakened sense of duty on January 18th. On Friday, January 30th, Gandhi asked for pending letters. I must reply to them today for tomorrow I may never be. It was getting near prayer time. I hate being late Gandhi a bird and rose to go to the prayer ground. Nathuram Godse lodged a hot lead in the soft flesh of the man who had known no enemy. The United Nations organization lured its flag. Peoples of all races felt as one human family in mourning. This man of divine mission laid down his life for the reconciliation of all men in brotherhood and love became enshrined in millions and millions of hearts and shone like a beacon for the whole world. The best prayer that can be offered is to obey the mandates of the master and to follow the path for which he lived and died. On January 31st, as the setting sun looked on with a red glance Gandhi's body was laid on a sandalwood pyre at Rajghat.