October 2 - Happy Birthday, Mahatma Gandhi

Posted on October 2, 2021

Key points

This is an update of my post published on October 2, 2010:

Born on this day in 1869, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi became the political and spiritual leader of India during the India independence movement. He led his people to stand up to British rule—what might be called tyranny—through mass civil disobedience. But he made sure that the protests were also nonviolent.

Not only was Gandhi successful in helping India gain independence from Great Britain, he inspired other civil rights and freedom movements around the world. For example, Martin Luther King, Jr., was very influenced by Gandhi’s philosophy and tactics as he led the African American civil rights movement, and Nelson Mandela continued the tradition as he worked to end apartheid in South Africa.

Many people think that Gandhi’s first name was Mahatma, but Mahatma is a title that means “Great Soul.”

Gandhi was a Hindu and a vegetarian. For a while he was a fruitarian—which is someone who not only avoids meat, but also avoids dairy products, vegetables, and grains. That means that fruitarians only eat fruits and nuts! Gandhi famously used fasting—that is, not eating at all for hours or even days—to purify himself and to call attention to his political goals.

Nowadays, the memory and legacy of Mahatma Gandhi are facing fresh scrutiny for his attitudes about race and about women. When he was young, Gandhi was decisively racist. However, biographer Ramachandra Guha states that Gandhi learned and grew and became anti-racist. Some of the push-back on Gandhi as a great man has come from women who question some of his words and deeds – and such criticism is fair. However, Gandhi did work on ending discrimination based on sex and gender, and he also was a huge promoter of women in politics.

All in all, Gandhi was a hero for Hindus, and Indians, and he added some great ideas for making needed changes through ethical and non-violent resistance. And that benefitted the whole world! It was a tragic day in 1948 when a Hindu extremist assassinated him.

Find out more…

Here is a short biography on Gandhi.

Here is a bio that also has puzzles near the bottom of the page, including a jigsaw puzzle of Gandhi and his wife.

Powerful words…from Mohandas Gandhi

A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.
If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.
An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.