A.P. Jr. Res.

1 3 May 2012

From Childhood to Peace-hood: A Study of Gandhis Rise to Leadership High schools consist of various types of people such as the jocks, the cheerleaders, the nerds, and the bookworms. Other people are still attempting to change and find their identity. What they need to realize, is that their identity is all due to the influences in their lives, and that they change because they are influenced by other people. People do not appear with a certain characteristics like having the ability to play a sport or becoming a leader. One example of this is Gandhi, a well known peace leader of the twentieth century. He was shaped by the many experiences in his life to become the man he became. He made peace because that was one of his beliefs along with his actions of non violence. He was influenced, like the rest of the world, to become something in life. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi became a famous peace leader as a result of the influential people and events in his life such as his friends and family, and discrimination. Ever since Gandhi was born, his parents had high expectations of him. Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar India, and from that point on he has based all of his actions on the tolerance of people (Hunt 312; Jahanbegloo 1).
Gandhi at the age of seven in 1876 (Young fact. He believed that everyone had different views and he accepted this 1). Although Gandhi was of

the merchant caste, his father had expected something of him because he was the prime minister

2 of Porbandar (Hunt 312). His mother, Putlibai, had hoped that he would become a heroic figure, even though Gandhi was a small, weak, and timid child (Frost 1). Regardless, Gandhi was influenced to be something in life because of his father, and he was always delighted to take care of him. The fact that his father had great power satisfied him deeply, but his father did not live to see the famous Gandhi, dying on November 16, 1885, when Gandhi was only 16 years old (Green 41). Unlike the other kids in his neighborhood, Gandhi was unique with his behavior towards other students and people. Most children his own age would play with their friends, be rebellious and fight with them, but Gandhi was not this type of person. When the boys would get in a fight, Gandhi would stay to the side and say, carry on, but I cannot join you (Green 29). He would see the other kids being brave and holding snakes with their bare hand, defying thieves, and not believing in ghosts. In his book An Autobiography Gandhi said, I was dazzled, as one is always dazzled when he sees in others the qualities he lacks in himself (Green 23). Gandhi was amazed by the other kids, but he would never be like them because he was timid. In fact he was so shy that in order to avoid talking to anyone, he would run home from school (Frost 1). As a little kid, the audience can see that he would not grow up to be an immoral person. The audience can almost expect him to be unsocial when grown up, but all of the events in his life added up and called for change. Another factor that was significantly different from the other kids was Gandhis belief in being a good person. Instead of being rebellious like his brothers, Gandhi decided to serve his mother. Moreover, he made peace between his classmates when they fought rather than joining in the fight. When the other kids engaged in rough activities, Gandhi would get disgusted by them (Green 29). Though he was a good child, he did take part in some small rebellions like

3 secretly smoking and drinking an intoxicant drug called bhang (Green 23). Gandhi was no ordinary child because he always tried to do the right thing following his beliefs. An ordinary child would not think like he did and their views differ significantly because they wanted to get in trouble. The audience can see that later Gandhi was a non-violent activist. This comes from his childhood, and him making peace between his classmates. The beliefs of the Hindu culture also impacted Gandhis actions and ideology. He would not have grown up to be the same man if he was not born in India (Jahanbegloo 1). Peace and honesty were two important characteristics that were well defined in the Hindu culture, and these were the two things that Gandhi preferred over anything else. He also thought that serving ones elders, another key to the Hindu culture, was far better than playing with his brothers (Green 29). Gandhis belief in tolerance was rooted in the Hindu culture, but he also sought for the support of tolerance and non-violence in other cultures as well. According to him the golden rule is mutual tolerance, because we never all have the same ideas and we never see the truth except in fragments and from different points of view (Jahanbegloo 1-2). As a child, Gandhi was taught these Hindu moral lessons, which later became his values, following them every step of the way. His actions of non-violence and tolerance helped India win its independence from the British colony. Not only that but he helped others realize that liberty, justice, and democracy can be achieved without killing anyone, without making a child an orphan, and without making anyone homeless (Patel 2).

Honesty was another key concept to Gandhi that he took to the heart. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, truth is defined as the state of being a fact or the real thing, and event. Everything is based on the truth of something like relationships, trust, and leadership.

4 Everyone is guided by the truth, but Gandhi believed that no one had the right to coerce others to act upon his view of the truth. He believed that truth resides in every human heart, and one has to search for it there (Easwaran 47). Gandhi believed in truth so much that he developed his own belief, Satyagraha, which was Gandhis name to a new way of overcoming injustice by holding on to the truth. The idea behind satya is that truth alone exists; for truth is not what holds good just at a certain time and place or under certain conditions, but that which never changes, said Gandhi (Easwaran 48). He was swayed by the Hindu culture once again to come up with his own method. Satyagraha influenced him with his non-violent techniques such as hunger strikes, boycotts, civil disobedience and campaigns for social reforms. This later took him to great measures as far as leadership could go. Another influential factor in Gandhis life was vegetarianism. After his fathers death, Gandhi was sent to London where he learned about legal training, and became acquainted with Indian nationalist, English theosophists, and most importantly vegetarian reformers (Hunt 312). Hindus were strong vegetarians and vegetarianism changed Gandhi in many ways. Vegetarianism, not only opened him up spiritually, but it also allowed him to meet new people, and organize institutions when he was in the Vegetarian Society (Great 1). While in England, Gandhi had stopped eating sweets, condiments, chutneys, and chilies and being a vegetarian became Gandhis identity while he was there (Green 54). One of Gandhis forms of non-violent protest was fasting. Gandhi achieved numerous things by fasting because if he had died, a revolution would have started. He improved the status of the Harijans or the untouchables by fasting for six days, and he forced the ruler of Rajkot to change his autocratic rule. He also went on open ended fasts to put an end between the Hindu-Muslim conflicts. These were just a few of the things that Gandhi did by fasting, and it was all due to vegetarianism.

5 Vegetarianism was a great influence to Gandhi in every way, and he utilized it to the best of his ability to solve the conflicts regarding the people of India. The society in which Gandhi lived in was another feature that influenced him. Gandhi preferred to live among the citizens, and influence them as they influenced him. He gave up his law practice to live a simple life with the millions living in poverty during his fight for freedom (Patel 2). He wanted to strengthen the self-assurance and motivate the Indian people to fight for their independence. Gandhis non-violent methods required people to have strong physical and mental courage which many people did not have at the moment. (Subramanyan 6). He was influenced by them because he saw them being treated with injustice by the British. His secret recipe was inspiring people and gaining the trust of Moslems, Sikhs, and the Hindus. Gandhi led them with simplicity, vegetarianism, nonviolence and truth, and brought peace and unity through peaceful civil disobedience (Great 1-2). In most of India, Gandhi was a respected man, but in British dominated towns, he was treated differently. In a similar incident like Rosa Parks, Gandhi was ordered to leave the first class compartment of a train because he was not white enough. He refused to get off, but later he was kicked off the train, and this is the event that made Gandhi commit to politics (Frost 3). It influenced him enough to finally want change along with another event. When Gandhi failed to practice law in Mumbai, he became a part time teacher helping draft petitions. Later, when he got in trouble with a British officer, he was forced to shut down (Great 1). Both of these events tipped Gandhi to the edge and he now wanted change. He kept pushing the British until they finally agreed. In one event when the British colony had imposed high taxes on salt, Gandhi was there to change that even at age 61. In order to force the British to relax the taxes, he led the Great Salt March where he and his followers walked 240 miles along the ocean to boil sea water

6 and make their own salt. Thousands were arrested but they were later released when Gandhi made an agreement with the British to relax the restrictions on salt (Edidin 1). Many events influenced Gandhi for change, and change was exactly what he created. Gandhi today has made a difference in many lives because he was inspired to become someone. He proved to the world that a leader can fight with his thoughts and beliefs and not with weapons. He was so well known that he later became known as Mahatma meaning Great Soul (Editors 83). After
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, pictures in this undated file photo, who according to his great grandson Tushar Gandhi, would have despaired had he survived to see India today (Howard 1).

the tensions between India and Pakistan calmed down, Gandhis teachings inspired non-violent movements around the world with Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, If humanity is to progress, Gandhi is inescapable. He lived, thought, acted, and inspired by the vision of humanity evolving toward a world of peace and harmony (Patel 1). Gandhi was not born with his leadership, power, and intelligence, he was rather influenced and he built his way to leadership. Gandhi found his identity through his family, friends, culture and beliefs. One develops through his life span, and he is not given the talent when born. It has to be learned, practiced, and fought for to achieve want one wants in life. One ironic thing about Gandhi is that when independence was finally achieved from the British colony, he did not celebrate it (Parameswaran 1). After all of that hard work, he did not take pride in what he did because he believed it was the right thing to do. He was still concerned with being good within himself, and his values, beliefs, and influences remained till the end. He

7 believed that A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes and this was exactly what he was, his thoughts (Great 1).

Works Cited Easwaran, Eknath. Gandhi the Man. 2nd ed. Petaluma, CA: Nilgiri, 1978. Print. Edidin, Peter. 1947: The End of the Raj. New York Times Upfront. 30 Jan. 2006: 16. eLibrary. Web. 07 Apr. 2011.

8 Editors of Time-Life Books. India. Amsterdam: Time-Life, 1986. Print. Frost, Bob. Mahatma Gandhi: The Quiet Man Who Broke the British Empire. Biography. Apr. 2011: 82-87. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 01 Apr. 2011. Great Leaders-Mahatma Gandhi. Develop Leadership Team. Google. Web. 01 Apr. 2011. Green, Martin. Tolstoy and Gandhi, Men of Peace. New York: Basic, 1983. Print. Howard, Donald E. "The Power of Reading: Reading and Inspiration." World & I. April 2006. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 26 Apr 2011. Hunt, James D. Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand. Biographical Dictionary of Modern Peace Leaders. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1985. 312-15. Print. Jahanbegloo, Ramin. Mahatma Gandhi: The Prophet of Tolerance. London: Winter, 1996: 115-119. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 01 Apr. 2011. Parameswaran, Uma. An Eccentric Saint. World & I. Sept. 1998: 271-277. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. Patel, Shilpan. Mahatma Gandhis 5 Teachings to Bring About World Peace. Zen Habits. Google. Web. 01 Apr. 2011. Subramanyan, K. G. The Gandhi Connection. USA Today. May 2008: 31-35. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 01 Apr. 2011. Young Gandhi to Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948). Desi Colours. 9 July 2008. Google. Web. 27 Apr. 2011.