In 2007, the United Nations declared October 2 as ‘The International Day of Non-violence’. It commemorates the birthday of a man from India—Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, whom Indians fondly call ‘Bapuji’, meaning ‘respected father’. The life story of the ‘Father of our Nation’ is taught in Indian schools, but here are a few facts from his life which rarely come to the picture when describing Gandhi. Though they are lesser known, they all shaped Gandhi into who he was.
Despite being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1937, 1938, 1939 and 1947, Gandhi never received the award. He was also nominated in the year 1948, but the Nobel Committee didn’t confer the award on him posthumously, as they believed that it was against the spirit of Alfred Nobel, after whom the award is given. That year, the committee found no apt candidate for the award and forwent it in that category.
In 2006, Geir Lundestad, the permanent secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, acknowledged Gandhi’s omission as the greatest omission in their 106-year history.
The man who stood up for the whole nation was a shy kid who ran from school to home to avoid talking to others. When Gandhi tried his first public speaking while debating in the London Vegetarian Society, he became so anxious that others had to read out his argument for him.
When he started his career as a barrister, he became so nervous while cross-examining a client that he dropped back into his chair and gave up the case altogether. It was said that Gandhi returned his fee to the client, too.
Gandhi shared a profound intellectual friendship with the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, the fuel being the common ‘law of love’. They were pen pals from 1909, when Gandhi wrote a letter to him seeking advice on non-violence. Both of them communicated frequently until Tolstoy passed away in 1910. It is Tolstoy’s writings on non-violent resistance that heavily influenced Gandhi. They discussed morality, passive resistance and ways of resisting state violence.
Gandhi arrived in London in the year 1888, the time of the Jack the Ripper killings, eventually some creating memes relating to both. While in London, Gandhi took dance lessons, rooted in his concerns regarding ‘how to fit into Western society’. During his teen years, he tried transforming himself into a ‘proper English man’. As part of this attempt, he enrolled in ballroom dancing but struggled way too much, which he described in his autobiography as ‘feet could not follow the beat’. Failing to keep up with dancing, he enrolled in violin, French and elocution lessons too.
Gandhi left for London to study law in 1888 and returned to India in 1891, hoping to pursue a career as a lawyer. Upon facing difficulties in finding a career, Gandhi went to South Africa, where he got a temporary job offer to work as a legal representative for an Indian merchant. South Africa was then under the control of the British and Boers (Dutch-descended settlers). Upon arriving in South Africa, he began facing discrimination based on his skin colour, like other Indians there.
This bigotry instilled in Gandhi the need to fight; thus, he began organising Indians to fight for their civil rights in South Africa. This set the stage for Gandhi to develop ‘Satyagraha’, a non-violent resistance based on truth. Gandhi was in South Africa till 1914, despite being arrested and detained multiple times.
During his time in South Africa in 1900, Gandhi also volunteered with a group of stretcher-bearers in the Natal Indian Ambulance Corps for the Boer War happening there. He also organised more than 1000 Indian volunteers to support British combat troops there.
(This is complied by Shyama)