Can anyone give the biography of Gandhi?

Answer 1

On January 29th 1948, Nathuram Godse reached Birla Bhawan at about 5.00pm. Ghandi was sitting in the warm sunshine preparing for his evening prayer meeting. He was as usual resting his head on the shoulders of two grand nieces. Nathuram who was wearing a khaki bush jacket and blue trousers climbed the steps and approached Gandhi. He greeted him with the traditional Indian salutation 'namasteh'. Gandhi smiled at him and greeted him with the same gesture, furthermore according to one version spoke to him. As quick as a wink, Nathuram whipped out a revolver and shot him 3 times in the chest. The bullets lodged into his chest, there was a weak feeble sound and Gandhi dropped down dead. Nathuram fired a fourth shot, apparently in an attempt to kill himself but was stopped by a seargant standing alongside who yanked his arm and wrenched the revolver away. The enraged crowd, who had gathered for the evening prayer, fell upon Nathuram and beat him with sticks. However he was seized by the police and taken to the police station.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869, in Porbander- a small coastal town in Gujarat, Western India, which was then one of the many tiny states in Kathiawar. His father Karamchand Gandhi was a Prime Minister (Dewan) of Porbandar and his mother, Putlibai, was a very religious lady and left a deep impression on Gandhi's mind. Gandhi was a mediocre student and was excessively shy and timid. The people of Porbander used to call Gandhi 'Mahatma', meaning Great Soul and at the early age of 13 Gandhi married Kasturba, a girl the same age. This was because child marriages, arranged by the parents in those days, were then common in India, and since Hindu weddings were elegant, expensive affairs, the Gandhi family decided to marry off Gandhi, his older brother, and a cousin all at one time to spare the cost of three separate celebrations. In 1885, when Gandhi was 15, the couple's first child was born, but survived only a few days; Gandhi's father, Karamchand Gandhi, had died earlier that year. Mohandas and Kasturbai had four more children, all sons: Harilal, born in 1888; Manilal, born in 1892; Ramdas, born in 1897; and Devdas, born in 1900. At his middle school in Porbandar and high school in Rajkot, Gandhi remained an average student academically. He passed the matriculation exam for Samaldas College at Bhavnagar, Gujarat with some difficulty. Whilst he was there, he was unhappy and uncomfortable, partly because his family wanted him to become a barrister. So on 4 September 1888, less than a month short of his nineteenth birthday, Gandhi travelled to London, England, to study law at UCL (University College London) and to train as a barrister. In 1891, after having been admitted to the British bar, Gandhi returned to India and attempted to establish a law practice in Bombay, without much success.

Two years later an Indian firm with interests in South Africa retained him as legal adviser in its office in Durban. It was in South Africa that Gandhi's life changed. Gandhi landed at Durban and soon he realized the oppressive atmosphere of racial snobbishness against Indians who were settled in South Africa in large numbers. After about a week's stay in Durban Gandhi left for Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal, in connection with a court case. When the train reached Pietermaritzburg, the capital of Natal, a white passenger who boarded the train objected to the presence of a "coloured" man in the compartment and Gandhi was ordered by a railway official to shift to a third class. When he refused to do so because he had a valid first class ticket, a constable pushed him out and his luggage was taken away by the railway authorities. It was winter and bitterly cold, but Gandhi's overcoat was in his luggage and his luggage was in the hands of the railroad authorities. Gandhi dared not request it for fear of being insulted again. Instead, he sat shivering through the endless night, asking himself one question: Shall I fight for my rights or go back to India? By dawn he had made his decision. He would fight for his rights and the rights of all people. In the course of his struggle in South Africa, Gandhi, developed the concepts of Ahimsa (non-violence) and Satyagraha (holding fast to truth or firmness in a righteous cause). Gandhi's struggle bore fruit and in 1914 in an agreement between Gandhi and South African Government, the main Indian demands were conceded.

Gandhi then returned to India and then using the principles of Satyagraha he led the campaign for Indian independence from Britain. Gandhi was arrested many times by the British for his activities in South Africa and India. He believed it was honourable to go to jail for a just cause. Altogether he spent seven years in prison for his political activities. More than once Gandhi used fasting to impress upon others the need to be nonviolent. India was granted independence in 1947, and partitioned into India and Pakistan. Rioting between Hindus and Muslims followed. Gandhi had been an advocate for a united India where Hindus and Muslims lived together in peace.

Answer 2

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also known as Mahatma Gandhi, was a prominent leader in India's independence movement against British rule. He employed nonviolent civil disobedience as a strategy to achieve independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom worldwide. His philosophy and principles of truth, nonviolence, and peaceful resistance continue to influence movements for justice and equality. Gandhi was assassinated in 1948, but his legacy lives on as a symbol of peace and social change.