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Childhood and youth of Mahatma Gandhi

                 

 Born on 2^nd October,1869, in Sudampur, commonly known as Porebandor, Gandhi was the child of  Karam Chand Gandhi and Putlibai Gandhi He had a sister and three brothers. Mohandas  Gandhi  whom the world knows as Mahatma, was the youngest child of his parents.

From his grand father, for three generations, his ancestors were Prime Ministers in Western India’s   Kathiawad States. Uttam Chand, his grandfather was known for being a principled and noble officer. He earlier was the prime minister of Porebandor. But due to certain reason, he had to take refuge in Junagarh. When he met for the first time the Nawab of Junagarh, he saluted him with his left hand. When this was pointed out, he replied that his right hand was pledged to Porebandor.

Uttamchand had two wives. Second time married after the demise of his first wife.    

Hw had four  sons by his first wife and two by his second wife. The fifth brother was Mahatma Gandhi’s father, Karamchand Gandhi or Aka Kaba Gandhi. The youngest one was Tulsidas Gandhi. Both the brothers were Prime Ministers in Pore Bandor ,one after the other.

Kaba Gandhi had to marry four times after losing each wife. 

His last wife, Putli Bai bore him a daughter and three sons. The youngest son was Mohandas Gandhi. Karamchand Gandhi was known for his impartiality and loyalty. But he was not a rich person.

Mohandas’ mother was a religious lady who every day visited Vaishnava Temple. She never took meals without offering worships. During the fasting period of Chaturmas, she observed the difficult vows and never excused them even on heath grounds. Keeping two to three day’s fasts in a row was not new for her. As if it was not enough, once in the Chaturmas, she decided not to have meals without seeing the son.  

Chaturmas falls normally during the peak of rainy season. And the Sun rarely comes out of the clouds. For Mohandas and other children it was of  great concern to stand looking at the sky and wait for the Sun to come out of the clouds. Some times the Son appeared momentarily, but by the time, the children, called their mother out, to see it, it disappeared. So the play of hide and seek between the Sun and clouds deprived  Putli  Bai of her meals.

But that was no deterrent for  Putlibai.  

She would simply say, “God wishes that I do not take meals today.”

(Mohandas’ character) Porbandar saw the early years of Mohandas’ childhood.

He was not far behind the few other naughty children of his age, who called names to his teachers. He enjoyed school but would not get through the multiplication table easily.

When Mohandas or Moniya as his mother called him, was seven years of age, his father became a member of the Rajkote Court.  So his parents shifted to Rajkote from Porebandar. Here, Mohandas was admitted to Primary school.

As a child, Mohandas had few good qualities. He never lied to anyone

As he was a shy child, he also kept away form fights but never even spoke to anyone.

He was very punctual. He did not like to be late to school and preferred to go back home soon after the school closed. It was only later when he was little grown up that he started playing on the streets and by the seaside.

 

As a child he was very innocent and  honest.  One incident took place in Mohandas’ school. Once, British education inspector, Mr. Giles  visited Mohandas’ school for inspection. And as an ecercise, he asked the students to write the correct spelling of five words he had given them. One of the words was Kettle. Mohandas could not write it correctly. The teacher standing close to him, stuck Mohandas with the point of shoe, to copy it from his neighbour’s notebook, but the child could not get the hint. Instead he felt that the teacher was hinting against copying. The result was that, Mohandas was the only student who wrote the spelling incorrectly. Even later when the teacher tried to drive this point to home, but Mohandas could not follow it. Neither his respect for the teacher suffered. At that age he did not have the mentality to scrutinize the actions of elders.

  Once Mohandas and one of his relatives took to smoking. It was a fanciful idea for both the children and they did not mind stealing money from the servant’s pocket to fund the new hobby. They were so obsessed with the idea of freedom from elders’ supervision, that one day both of them ate the Dhatura seeds to commit suicide.     

But the quantity of the Dhatura seeds was not enough to kill them. And they survived. Later Mohandas realised the mistake. He though, what would have happened if they were not dead immediately after consuming the poison? And this realization ultimately put off the habit of smoking and stealing money from the servant’s pocket.

At the age of thirteen, Mohandas’ parents fixed his marriage. The bride was Kasturba, the daughter of a Porbandar merchant named Gokuldas  Makani. At that time, marriage to Mohandas did not mean anything beyond celebration for days together, new cloths, ornaments and an unknown girl to play with. So happily they both completed all the ceremonies of marriage. The two poor children were sent to the bedroom at night to sleep. Both were very nervous, despite the coaching from elders. Gradually they began to speak with each other. As a child he was, Mohandas took no time in taking the authority of husband.    

 

He began to keep watch on her movements. Kastur bai  did like to take her husband’s permission for going out. So Mohandas became more jealous and put more restrictions on her. That sparked bitterness between them. Kasturbai was 11 years old at the time of marriage and was quite straightforward in following her own ideas.

Mohandas’ love for his young wife knew no bounds. Eeven in school her thought did not leave him. At home, he kept talking to her till late in the night. And like this, he lost one year of school after marriage.

Till Mohandas turned 18, they stayed hardly for thee years together. Since Kasturbai was still a small girl, after every six months, her parents took her home. That made Mohandas very nervous. 

*Mohandas at school did not have regards for his own abilities. He was surprised whenever he won a prize. But he was strictly guarding his character.

 

Mohandas was very serious about his character. He guarded against spoiling it. And little blame too brought tears from his eyes. Mohandas could not easily bear a scolding from his teacher. And once after receiving corporal punishment he actually wept. 

But Mohandas was a very industrious boy.

Keeping that in view, his teacher promoted him.

By now the medium of instruction was English for all subjects. Mohandas was bewildered. He was weak at geometry and the medium of instruction made it all the more complex. On many occasions he thought of giving up. But he retreated  thinking , that could be a shame for himself and the teacher who promoted him. Slowly with lot of hard work, the simplicity of the  subject became known to him.

Mohandas never found easy the Sanskrit language. Later once his teacher Krishnashanker told him that it was the language of Vedas, he got interested and succeeded in it.

Due to his shy nature, he never took part in cricket and football. He thought gymnastics and education had no relation. Mohandas as a boy did not have a bigger, stronger frame. He felt bad and shy about it. He was aloof.

He was thinner than his siblings. Especially frailer than his Muslim friend, Sheikh Mehtab, who showed great physical strengths by  running long distances speedily.

His skill at long and high jump attracted Mohandas. He was not able to run so fast and jumping was a far cry. Not only that, Mohandas was weak at heart. Fear of thieves, ghosts and serpents haunted him. He never dared to go out at night. The idea of sleeping in darkness terrified him. At  that time, married Mohandas was neither a boy nor a man. How could he disclose these fears to his wife who was not so afraid of   anything. He was ashamed of himself. Sheikh Mehtab  knew Mohndas’ weaknesses. He was taken by the desire to be like Mehtab who held live snakes and lizards in hand, had no fear of thieves and did not believe in ghosts. Who also firmly believed that to be like him one should eat meat.

 The age of Mohandas brought him under strange influences quickly. Those were the days when India was under British rule. According to Sheikh Mehtab, English ruled India because they ate meat. The boys at school often sung a song. It meant, the British eat meat hence they are strong and tall. And that is why they rule the small Indians who do not eat meat.

Sheikh Mehtab insisted that Mohandas

Sheikh Mehtab persuaded his friend Mohandas to eat meat. And one day he took Mohandas to a lonely place close to the river. The programme of meat eating had to be conducted with complete secrecy. Mohandas was in two minds. He did not want to cheat his parents. He knew that they would die of heart attack to know about their son’s  breach of vegetarianism. He was extremely fond of his parents and did not want to hide anything from them. His love for truth even at that age was intense. So when he saw meat for the first time he had to fight a fierce battle with hifself.  He was obsessed with the idea of growing strong and convinced himself that mere hiding this fact from his parents would not be a great sin. Mehtab had brought Goat’s meat and bread. It did not taste great and was tough like leather. Mohandas could not like it. 

He could not digest the fact. Throughout the night, he felt thinking that a live goat were   bleating  inside his stomach. He consoled and controlled himself by saying that meat eating was not fun and was his duty. 

Mehtab was a strong willed boy who was not ready to discontinue Mohandas’ training of meat eating. He began to cook innovative meat dishes for his friend.

As a result, Mohandas’ stopped disliking meat.

His experiment at gaining strength by eating meat continued for a year.

But the fact that his parents would never approve of his behaviour, kept pricking his heart. He was filled with the guilty feeling of cheating his parents.And one day, he decided to give up the habit till his parents were alive.

By now Mohandas’ mind was after reforming Sheikh Mehtab. That kept the two together for some more time.

But later he realised that his ambition could not be fulfilled. Sheikh was very shrewd and Mohandas was yet very pure at heart. This desire prolonged their friendship, and once proved very harmful for Mohandas. Mehtab took Mohandas to a  brothel. 

Mohandas was completely ignorant of the flesh trade. But his friend had already planned the whole programme and paid for Mohandas. Mohandas went inside. The lady lost patience with him since he was too nervous.

She abused, insulted him and he was sent out. His manhood was deeply hurt. Later he realised that god had helped him to remain faithful to his wife.

At this time Mohandas was just fifteen years old.

At that time he stole some gold from his brother’s armlet. He was afraid of his father. Not because of any punishment from him, but because of causing great pain to his father. He confessed with his father in writing and tried to get out of the mess.

He was ashamed of himself and with trembling hands he gave the note to his father. Father was sick at that time. He sat up and read what his son had written. His eyes filled with tears and he simply tore the note up. This was not expected of his father. But the clear confession and the promise to never commit such sin again, made father forgive his son. Mohandas cried too. At the same time he felt his sins had been washed away in the tears of his father. His first lesson in Ahimsa began here. He realised its unlimited power of transforming everything.  

 

At that time he stole some gold from his brother’s armlet. He was afraid of his father. Not because of any punishment from him, but because of causing great pain to his father. He confessed with his father in writing and tried to get out of the mess.

He was ashamed of himself and with trembling hands he gave the note to his father. Father was sick at that time. He sat up and read what his son had written. His eyes filled with tears and he simply tore the note up. This was not expected of his father. But the clear confession and the promise to never commit such sin again, made father forgive his son. Mohandas cried too. At the same time he felt his sins had been washed away in the tears of his father. His first lesson in Ahimsa began here. He realised its unlimited power of transforming everything.  

Mohandas had turned sixteen then. His inner anti religious feelings awakened a new interest in him. He began to listen carefully to the discussions on different religions between his father and the Moslems and Parsi friends coming to their house.

His father was bed ridden due to a fistula. Mohandas along with his mother and a servant   attended to all his needs. Mainly he had to dress the wound of his father and give him proper medicines when they were to be prepared at home. He loved to be by his father all the time after school and gave massage to his father’s legs every night till he fell asleep.  

At this time Mohandas was also deeply in love with his wife who was expecting her first child. He was ashamed of himself for this since he was yet a student. He longed to meet his wife even when he attended his father at night.

The condition of his father was worsening day by day. He had grown very weak

And though being restricted to bed he never overlooked the physical cleanliness and bore with the exercise of leaving his bed whenever it was necessary.

And that wicked night came. Mohandas was at his father’s bed as usual. It was around eleven pm. One of his uncles relieved Mohandas. When he went inside, his wife was fast asleep. Mohandas woke her up. Soon after that a servant came  knocking at his door to tell that his father’s condition was very serious. Mohandas quickly understood what it meant by very serious. When he rushed out, his father had already expired. Mohandas was miserably shocked. He felt, it was his animal instinct that made him leave his father when he needed him most. 

Soon after this, Kasturbai gave birth to a child who survived only for three days.

Mohandas took the blame on himself.

The year was 1889.

His family wanted him to pursue higher studies.

He decided to go to a college in Bhavnagar. He returned after the first term as he found everything difficult there.At this time, Mavji Dave, an old family friend and a learned Brahmin advised him to go to England for further studies.  

Mohandas was very happy about the proposal. But his mother was convinced about the idea. She feared that like other young men she had heard about, Monia too would take   liquor, meat and forget her.

It took time for Mohandas to convince her that all that she knew about men going abroad was not true. She then consulted Bechrji Maharaj, a Jain Monk who had been giving advice on family matters since Mohandas’ father had expired.   

He told her that Mohandas would vow  in front of him that he would never eat meat, touch liquor and women. When Mohandas vowed that he would remain away from these vices he was relaxed and allowed her son to go to England. With the blessings from his mother, Mohandas left for Mumbai. Kasturbai,now a mother of an infant, stayed with her in-laws while Mohandas went to England.

Mohandas had lot of time before he sailed for England. All this while he chased the dreams of England. But difficulties had not stopped following him. His caste people 

Were annoyed about his plan and so they called a general meeting in which Mohandas was summoned to attend it.

This was his first encounter with a perplexing situation in life where he had to face opposition his own without any support. Their cast headman, Seth, said, Mohandas’ plan of going abroad did not appeal to the caste people as it was against religion. Those going abroad cannot survive without consuming meat and liquor    

Mohandas was very assertive about his stand and said he did not agree that his voyage to England was against religion. Seth did not like it and ordered to ostracize Mohandas. That did not have any effect on him. He said the caste should not interfere in this matter. He had the support of his brother.

  

In the year 1888,almost nineteen-year-old Mohandas  sailed for Southampton

with  his western clothes like a steamer jacket, a neck tie, and food that comprised mainly fruits.

He was admitted at the Inner Temple as a student on 6^th November 1888.

In England, he was not happy. He was haunted by his mother’ memories. The thoughts about his people and country never left his mind. Homesick as he was, he cried at night and could not sleep. There was none with whom he could share his feelings. The English culture and etiquettes were new, people were strange. His vow of vegetarianism made all the eating a fuss and the food he could eat was tasteless.

 

 

He struggled to mix into the English society and learn its polite ways. He thought he was clumsy and should polish his manner and appearance. 

The clothes which he bought while coming to England he thought were not suitable for the image of an English gentleman. He bought very expensive, fashionable new ones.

He wrote to his noble brother to send him a double watch gold chain.

He learnt to tie the necktie and part his hair neatly.

But soon he learnt to minimize his expenses.  Around him were the poor Indian students. His plight was no different from them. He was filled with guiltiness since his stay in England depended on his brother’s money. The great fervor with which he tried to match with the English culture vanished soon. He realized that there was a great gap between the two cultures and chose to remain Indian. And later tried to be more and more an Indian.

He left his suite and moved to one room. Cooked his  own breakfast of oatmeal porridge and cocoa. He took lunch at his favorite vegetarian restaurant, and for dinner he ate bread and cocoa made at home. His expenditure for food at that time per day was one and three pence.

He stopped the sweets and spices coming from India by sea to him. Learnt to eat boiled spinach without condiments. Learnt to make English dishes like carrot soup. He became a member of the Vegetarian Society of England. He gave up eating all that contained eggs. He felt great satisfaction and inner strength by doing so, as he was keeping the promise he had given his mother.

He reduced his budget to fifteen shillings a week.

In 1890,he went to Paris to see the great Paris exhibition.

He descended the Eiffel Tower thrice There he stayed for seven days at a vegetarian restaurant. He did not remember what he saw of the exhibition except for its opulence and variety. Back in England his circle of friends comprised old vegetarian Englishmen who discussed only food and diseases. His life in England was ordinary. He was not even able to speak a few words in front of three to two people. He   some how Matriculated from London University, in June 1890.Learnt French, Latin and improved English. Easily he passed the final examination. He enrolled in the High Court on June 11,and started for India on June 12.And all this time, Barrister M.K. Gandhi was so unimpressive and insignificant, there was no trace of the existence of the future mahatma of India in him who moved millions of people. His will power, the patience, endurance, energy never surfaced. The leader of India and father of nation remained dormant till he went to South Africa. His stay in England and his efforts at keeping away from wine woman and meat were a great exercise  which went in to the making of a great personality later. The personality evolved out of his  own experiences.

In India, a grieving news awaited him. His loving mother in whose memory he cried often in England had passed away. His brother did not want to spoil his studies and did not tell him about it. No wonder Mohandas was terribly shocked. But he could control all his feelings.      

He had no money. And so he could not support his wife and children.

Lakshmidas Gandhi, his elder brother practiced law in Rajkot. His hopes for Mohandas were very high. But he was disappointed to see that the efforts of education in England did not bear fruits. Mohandas completely failed as a lawyer in Rajkot. He found it very difficult to utter even a word in-front of people in the court.

Lakshmidas was then the secretary and adviser to the throne of Porebandar. But for some reason, the British political agent was not happy with Lakshmidas. He thought,  Mohandas, who was foreign returned, well educated, would easily iron out the differences. Mohandas did not approve of the idea yet went to see the agent who gave a cold shoulder. When Mohandas did not give up, he was asked to leave. That did not stop him and he tried to argue with the agent. Ultimately the angry agent told his clerk to hold Gandhi by hand and put him out. This bitter experience shook Gandhi. He and his brother were hoping that Gandhi would finally get the post of a judge or minister in the government and bring further honor to the family. This experience filled him with dislike for palaces. His singular wish was to run away from the pomp and snobbery of Porebandar for which it was known at that time.        

    Luck came knocking at his door soon after this, as a business firm of  Porebandar Moslems offered him a job as their lawyer in South Africa. Gandhi happily took the job. He left in India ,his wife Kasturbai, first son  Hiralal and second son Maninal  who was born on  28 October, 1892. He boarded a ship for Zanzibar ,Mozambique and Natal.