Mahatma Gandhi : Some Important Points
He was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India
His mother, Putlibai, came from the Pranami Vaishnava community and was Karamchand’s fourth wife.
The first three wives apparently died in childbirth.
Mahatma Gandhi’s nickname at school was Moniya.
When he was a child, he was afraid of the dark.
Mahatma Gandhi was only 13 years old when he married the 14 year old Kasturba Gandhi.
Between 1893 and 1914 Mahatma Gandhi lived in South Africa where he was practicing law.
He spent most of his time fighting for the independence of India.
He led the Salt March to protest against the British.
Gandhi was a vegetarian and undertook long fasts for self purification and social protests.
He went to Law School in London.
While in England in 1931, Gandhi made his first radio broadcast for the United States
He had a Law Office in South Africa.
The Indian company that hired him in 1893 for a year-long contract to work in South Africa was Dada Abdulla & Co., an Indian firm.
While at university in England, Gandhi was elected to the vegetarian society executive committee of which he founded a local chapter.
While studying in England, Gandhi tried learning dancing and playing the violin to try and live more like an Englishman, but later gave it up for a simple living.
Mahatma Gandhi spoke English with an Irish accent, for one of his first teachers was an Irishman.
Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 5 times between 1937 and 1948 but never won it.
M. K. Gandhi was responsible for the Civil Rights movement in 4 continents and 12 countries
He worked as an editor for several English, Hindi and Gujarati newspapers in India as well as South Africa, including the Harijan, Indian Opinion (South Africa) and the Young India.
Time Magazine, the famous U.S. publication, named Mahatma Gandhi the Man of the Year in 1930.
Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography titled An Autobiography of My Experiments with Truth, which gives a detailed account of his life till 1920, was published in 1927.
In 1999, HarperCollins publishers declared it one of the ‘100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century’.
Mahatma Gandhi never visited the US, but he had many American fans and followers. One of his more unusual admirers was Henry Ford.
Once during a train journey a British asked Gandhi to get out of the train as he was considered as a ‘black’. But Gandhi refused as he had the ticket with him.
The British and the Railway officer cruelly pushed Gandhi out of the train. This is a sample of Gandhi’s bitter experiences with British
Gandhi undertook a vow of celibacy in 1906.
Gandhiji loved his Mother tongue Gujarati very much.
He wrote his autobiography, in Gujarati. His personal assistant ShriMahadev Desai had translated it into English.
In 1915, Gandhiji went to Santiniketan and wished Rabindranath Tagore as, ‘NamestheGurudev’. Immediately Rabindranath replied, ‘If I am Gurudev you are Mahatma.’Hence, the prefix of ‘Mahatma’ used before his name.
In 1921 Gandhi discarded his clothes and shaved his head and wore only a loin cloth.
Gandhi had four sons; Harilal, Manilala, Ramdas and Devdas.
Gandhi was killed on January 30, 1948.
Just before he was assassinated, on January 30, 1948, Gandhi was upset because he was ten minutes late getting to a regular prayer meeting.
When Gandhiji was assassinated on January 30 1948, the Sri Lankan radio didn’t broadcast programme for 24 hrs.
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.
The funeral procession of Mahatma Gandhi was 8 kilometers long
He influenced Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and millions of other people.
The United Nations announced October 2 as the day of internati-onal day of Ahimsa.
Great Britain, the country against whom he fought for independence, released a stamp honouring him, 21 years after his death
Mahatma Gandhi walked/traveled almost 18 kilometers a day throughout his lifetime which is enough to walk around the world twice over
Mahatma Gandhi corresponded with a lot of people – Tolstoy, Einstein and Hitler were among the many
Most relics of Gandhiji including the clothes he wore when he was shot are still preserved in Gandhi Museum, Madurai
Steve Jobs was a fan of Mahatma Gandhi – his round glasses are not only similar but also a tribute
Gandhiji had a set of false teeth, which he carried in a fold of his loin cloth
The 10 Rupees Postage stamp depicting Mahatma Gandhi issued by India in 1948 is one of India’s most famous stamps.
There are 53 major roads (excluding the smaller ones) in India, and 48 roads outside India that are named after him
Gandhiji helped establish 3 football clubs in Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg all of which were given the same name: Passive Resisters Soccer Club
Gandhi and Lord Irwin of Britain created and signed the Gandhi-Irwin Pact 1931