A House of a Mahatma

A House of a Mahatma

The crowds that congregated in Gandhi Ashram on Ashram Road in
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on Oct. 2, had just left the ashram complex.
However, many people from different walks of life continued to
flock to the ashram. They paid a visit to Gandhi's museum and
house on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti -- Gandhi's birthday.

The enthusiastic visitors were not only from Ahmedabad, but
also from other Indian cities like Delhi, who came with families.
The passion of the visitors is no surprise considering the non-
violent struggle Gandhi had led to set India free from British
occupation.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on Oct. 2, 1869 in the
harbor town of Porbandar, Gujarat. He pursued studies in law at
University College in London, England, which brought him to
Durban, South Africa in 1893, where an Indian firm employed him
as a legal adviser.

The unjust and discriminatory treatment he experienced in
South Africa because of his skin color spurred him to fight
against injustice. His political ideology developed and he was
influenced by the writings of Thoreau, Tolstoy and Ruskin. Gandhi
launched the satyagraha movement (non-violent resistance) against
the discrimination of colored people. Because of his ceaseless
struggle, he spent much time in and out of prison.

Gandhi returned to India at age 45 after the South African
government granted his demands to recognize Indian marriages and
abolish the tax poll imposed on them.

In 1917, Gandhi established the ashram, meaning a place of
peace and knowledge in Sanskrit, by the Sabarmati River in
Ahmedabad. Today, Gandhi's house is much like it was then. But,
most of his belongings in the house were moved to Delhi.

Gandhi fought relentlessly against the British that occupied
India. He became a populist leader and satyagraha spread
throughout India. He organized a non-cooperation campaign, where
Indians in public office resigned, government agencies were
boycotted and people blocked the street by squatting even though
the police beat them.

In order to make Indians economically independent, he
completely boycotted British goods and began to use a spinning
wheel to make his own cloth. In the house, visitors can see the
room where Gandhi used to make hand-spun cotton cloth known as
khadi.

With his wife Kasturba, Gandhi led a spiritual and ascetic
life by praying, fasting, and meditating. He refused earthly
possessions, wearing only a dhoti and shawl of the lowliest
Indian, lived as vegetarian and drank only goat's milk. The
Maharaja of Gondal, one of kingdoms in Gujarat, revered him as a
saint or a mahatma (a great soul). People called him "Bapu"
(father).

At the age of 61, Gandhi called on the Indians to refuse to
pay taxes, particularly on salt, levied by the British colonial
government. He led a 165-mile march in 24 days from Ahmedabad to
Dandi, on the Gujarat Coast, and produced salt from seawater.

Gandhi earliest followers were India's lowest caste the
"untouchables" whom he called Harijans, meaning children of God.
When he was imprisoned in 1932, he began to fast unto death to
protest against the treatment of Harijans. After six days of
fasting, he obtained an accord that improved the status of the
"untouchables". Carrying on his struggle, he traveled across
India, teaching ahimsa (non-violence) -- a way of life implicit
in Hindu doctrine.

Gandhi was not only concerned about human rights issues in
British-ruled India. One of the museum's collections displays a
letter he wrote to Adolf Hitler requesting him to end the war.

When Britain finally granted India independence in 1947, India
was separated into two states, India and Pakistan. Unrest
followed the separation and Gandhi, who did not claim to adhere
to any religion, appealed to the Hindus and Muslims to live
together peacefully. He fasted until the conflict ceased.

Gandhi's life ended on Jan. 30, 1948 when Nathuram Godsen, a
fanatic Hindu, assassinated him when Gandhi was on his way to an
evening prayer meeting. India honors him as the Father of the
Nation and his birth anniversary is a national holiday. Gandhi's
teachings have been spread beyond India making him one of the
greatest leaders the world has ever had. -- Wahyuni Kamah