“Live as if you were to die tomorrow; learn as if you were to live forever.” – Mahatma Gandhi
There is not even a single country where the name of Mahatma Gandhi is not known or even not quoted for selfless acts. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi dedicated his whole life to the selfless service to India and its freedom from the command of the British. Bapu’s service to nation and his contribution to the Indian freedom struggle cannot be measured in words.
Today, on Mahatma Gandhi’s 69th death anniversary, we have gathered some amazing facts on the Father of Nation, Mahatma Gandhi that you shouldn’t miss:
  1. Gandhi was described as ‘restless like mercury’ by his sister. As per Raliatbehn Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi either used to play or roam around in the streets when he was a child.
  2. The tales of Harishchandra and Shravana had a great impact on Mahatma Gandhi when he was a child.
  3. Although Gandhi was an average student, but in high school, he extensively studied English, arithmetic, history, geography and Gujarati. As per one of his report cards, Gandhi was “good at English, fair in Arithmetic and weak in Geography; conduct very good, bad handwriting”.
  4. His father’s illness had an impact on his education and attendance in high school as he had to stay at home to take care of his father.
  5. It was in high school when Gandhi met people from other castes and faiths. It was his elder brother Karsandas’ Muslim friend Mehtab who persuaded Mahatma Gandhi to try meat to improve his stamina. In fact, it was him who took Mohandas to a brothel. Apparently, Mohandas abandoned both and the company of Mehtab from then on.
  6. Gandhi lost a year of high school when he (13-year-old) was married to 14-year-old Kasturbai Makhanji Kapadia. On his marriage, he said, “As we didn’t know much about marriage, for us it meant only wearing new clothes, eating sweets and playing with relatives.”
  7. Before leaving for London, Mahatma Gandhi made a vow to his mother that he would “observe the precepts of sexual abstinence as well as abstinence from meat and alcohol.” It was only after the vow that Putlibai gave him her permission to go to Londomn.
  8. In London, Gandhi tried to adopt English culture. He even took dancing lessons to blend with the foreign society.
  9. Gandhi failed in establishing a law practice in Mumbai as he was “psychologically unable to cross-examine witnesses.” As a result of the failure, Gandhi returned to Rajkot to make a humble living.
  10. Gandhi was 24-year-old when he arrived in South Africa. He spent 21 years in South Africa where he developed his political views, ethics and political leadership skills.
  11. Gandhi returned to India in 1915. From then on, he started his service to the nation till the year 1947.
  12. Mahatma Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize 5 times. As reported, the Nobel Prize committee regrets not awarding him a Nobel Peace prize when he was around. The prize is never given posthumously.
  13. The memorial service march of Gandhi was eight kilometers long.
  14. 21 years after his death, Great Britain issued a stamp honouring him.
  15. The father of our nation, Mohandas Gandhi, was taken under arrest for writing three ‘politically sensitive’ articles in his weekly journal Young India under the charges of sedition. He was sentenced to 6 years in jail.
  16. It was in jail when he wrote his autobiography — The Story of My Experiments with Truth
  17. K. Gandhi was responsible for the Civil Rights movement in 4 continents and 12 countries.
  18. The Champaran demonstration was Gandhi’s first active involvement into Indian freedom movement.