Facts about Mahatma Gandhi

Facts about Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
  



2nd October is the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. This day is the third and the last national holiday in India. The 26th January – the Republic day and 15th August- the Independence day are the other two.

Mahatma Gandhi is known as the “Father of the Nation”. In India, he was generally known as “Bapu”, which also translates to father in English.

Noted poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore bestowed the title of 'Mahatma' on Gandhi.

No matter what exactly the truth is, the biggest truth of all is that if you go to any corner of earth and ask any stranger to name two Indians he has heard of in his lifetime; the answer in all likelihood will be Gautam Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi.

Mahatma Gandhi's birthday is served as the International Day of Non-Violence authorized by the United Nations General Assembly.

When Mahatma Gandhi was 13 years old, he got married to Kasturbai Makanji and was later, blessed with four children.

Mahatma Gandhi spent a year touring India on the advice of his political guru, Gopal Krishna Gokhale with the idea of knowing the ‘real India'.

A 1982 film "Gandhi" won an Oscar for the best movie of the year.

Mahatma Gandhi first employed non-violent method in South Africa not India.

When Mahatma Gandhi was in London, he used to wear a silk hat, which he later despised after he came to India.

Mahatma Gandhi had a set of false teeth, which he carried in a fold of his loin cloth. He put them in his mouth only when he wanted to eat.

Mahatma Gandhi spoke English with an Irish accent, for one of his first teachers was an Irishman.

During the freedom struggle, Mahatma Gandhi wore nothing but a loin cloth.

The first time Mahatma Gandhi attempted to make a speech in court, his knees trembled, and he was so frightened that he had to sit down in confusion and defeat.

Mahatma Gandhi's income during those days in South Africa touched fifteen thousand dollars a year.

Mahatma Gandhi experimented with diets to see how cheaply he could live and remain healthy. He started living principally on fruit and goats’ milk and olive oil.

Mahatma Gandhi got inspiration of Civil Disobedience by reading a book of an American. He had been greatly influenced by the teachings of an American by the name of David Thoreau.

Mahatma Gandhi never visited the US, but he had many American fans and followers. One of his more unusual admirers was Henry Ford. Gandhi sent him an autographed charkha, spinning wheel, through a journalist emissary.

Five world leaders who got Noble Peace prize viz. Martin Luther King Jr., Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela and Adolfo Perez Esquivel have acknowledged the fact that they were influenced by the philosophy of Gandhi. Yet, Mahatma Gandhi; the man who inspired these Nobel Peace Prize winners, never got a Noble Prize !

The great Scientist Albert Einstein once said about Gandhi : “Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this (Gandhi) walked the earth in flesh and blood.”






The downtown of Pietermaritzburg city of South Africa hosts a commemorative statue of Mahatma Gandhi, due to his non-violent methods. It is the same place where Mahatma Gandhi was shoved out of a train despite holding a first class ticket.

The Times Magazine, the famous U.S. publication, named Mahatma Gandhi the Man of the Year in 1930.

Gandhi was influenced by the Advaita Vedanta philosophy of India, the understanding that all life comes from One Thing.

The 6 principles Mahatma Gandhi followed were truth, nonviolence, vegetarianism, brahmacharya, simplicity and faith.

The Salt March led by Mahatma Gandhi for 241 miles in 24 days, continues to inspire people and movements around the world.

Mahatma Gandhi was elected the leader of Indian National Congress in 1921.

Mahatma Gandhi has worked as an editor for several newspapers.

Mahatma Gandhi indirectly asked Indians to not to have children on seeing the hopeless condition of one tenth of India which was living in a hungry and half-starved state.

Mahatma Gandhi was a walking enthusiast.

The year that Mahatma Gandhi arrived in London to study law was 1888, the same year that Jack the Ripper and his horrific murders dominated the British headlines.

Mahatma Gandhi gave a funny answer when asked by a reporter what he thought of Western civilization, Gandhi replied, “I think it would be a very good idea.”

Mahatma Gandhi was in touch with Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy regularly.

While in England in 1931, Gandhi made his first radio broadcast for the United States. The first thing the people of the United States heard the Mahatma say was, “Do I have to speak into this thing?”

Mahatma Gandhi was extremely punctual. One of his very few possessions was a dollar watch. Just before his assassination, Gandhi was upset because he was ten minutes late getting to a regular prayer meeting.

The same caisson, or gun carriage, that bore Gandhi’s body during his funeral in 1948 was used in 1997 for Mother Teresa’s funeral.

On 30 January 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was shot and killed on the grounds of the Birla Bhavan in New Delhi. He was assassinated by Nathu Ram Godse, a Hindu extremist.

The last words on Mahatma Gandhi's lips were 'Hey Ram'.

- By Sunil R Yadav

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