Birthday special: A look at Mahatma Gandhi's life and journey

"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them"... William Shakespeare

How would one describe Gandhi? Was he a born great or did he achieve greatness on his own or greatness was thrust upon him?

These are the questions that cross our minds every time India gets ready to celebrate the birth anniversary of a man who is revered in this country as 'father of nation'.

Here was a man who got so engrossed with his unique ideas, objectives and beliefs that he looked contemptuous so far as prevalent moral values were concerned, defied logic so far as generosity was concerned and crossed all social and religious barricades so far as human parity was concerned.

Gandhi, like any other living mortal, had grey shades in his character but it never came in way of his incessant love for his motherland and compatriots.

A lot has been written about Gandhi's role in India's struggle for independence. Undoubtedly, Gandhi was the pioneer of peaceful, non-violent agitation in India.

He was the pivot around which the entire independence movement revolved. And he can be, very rightfully, given the credit for enabling India to break free from the shackles of British slavery.

Early life

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2 October, 1869 in Porbandar. His father was a diwan of Porbandar state.

Like his mother Putlibai, Mohandas was deeply religious since his childhood days.

At the age of 13, Mohandas got married to 14 year old Kasturba Makhanji.

Gandhi became father at the age of 15 but the child survived only a few days.

Mohandas's father died same year and  Gandhi has confessed in his autobiography that he was busy making love with his wife when his father breathed his last.

Mohandas and Kasturba had four more children-Harilal,Manilal, Ramdas and Devdas.

Gandhi was a mediocre student but his family wanted him to be a barrister so that he could succeed his father.

London and Africa Visit

In 1888, Gandhi went to London to study law and train as a barrister. Gandhi returned to India in 1891 and tried to establish himself as a lawyer in Bombay but failed miserably as he could not speak forcefully in the court.

In 1893, Gandhi accepted a yearlong contract from Dada Abdullah & co., an Indian firm, to a post in the Colony of Natal, South Africa, then part of the British Empire.

At that time Indians in South Africa were led by wealthy Indians who employed Gandhi as a lawyer. Gandhi's services were also hired by indentured Indian laborers.

Gandhi spent nearly 21 years in South Africa and fought against rampant racism prevalent in that part of the world at that time. In South Africa, Gandhi faced the discrimination directed at all coloured people.

He was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to move from the first-class. These and many other incidents of blatant racism convinced Gandhi that he needs to stand up for equal rights of people under British system .

Gandhi Returns to India

In 1915, Gandhi returned to India. At that time India was undergoing political churning. Gandhi joined Indian National Congress and started participating in the political process which was mainly aimed at seeking concession through constitutional means.

Gopal Krishna Gokhale was a big name in Indian national Congress and Gandhi made him his political guru.

Gandhi made 'Satyagrah' his main weapon that put emphasis on non-violent agitation.

1918 proved to be an important year for Gandhi as he successfully extracted concessions from British during Champaran satyagrah in Bihar and Kheda satyagrah in Gujarat.

It was Kheda Satyagrah which brought Gandhi and sardar Vallabh Bhai together for the first time.

Khilafat movement: Introduction of communal politics in india

It'll not be wrong to say that Gandhi's biggest mistake of his life was to support Khilafat movement in India in 1919 as it proved to be the first attempt to communalize Indian polity.

Gandhi, in an attempt to make inroads to Muslim community, supported the 'khilafat movement' which was basically manifestation of Muslim anger worldwide against the British engineered downfall of the ottoman caliphate.

The Ottoman Empire had lost the World War and was dismembered, as Muslims feared for the safety of the holy places and the prestige of their religion.

The British had promised to safeguard the status of the Caliph but they went back on their words.

The movement had nothing to do with Indian Muslims and was termed unnecessary by none other than M.A. Jinnah.

But Gandhi considered it an opportunity to bring the Muslim community into the mainstream of Indian polity but unfortunately this movement sowed the seeds of communalism in Indian polity.

Gandhi was also tempted by the possibility of his emergence as a leader who has acceptability across communities but he failed miserably in his endeavour.

Tilak's death and Gandhi's rise

Gandhi's hold over Congress increased in 1920 after the death of Bal Gangadhar Tilak who was the most popular Congress leader at that time.

Had Tilak not met his untimely death, Gandhi would not have succeeded in overshadowing all others in Indian national Congress.

Once Gandhi took the centre stage, he never looked back. From 1920 onwards, Mahatma Gandhi launched a number of movements that included Non cooperation, Salt Satyagrah , Quit India movement etc.

Gandhi became the voice of a common Indian aspiring to breathe fresh air of independence. He taught the nation the power of truth and non-violence. He mesmerized the majority of Indians.

Under his leadership, the nation attained independence on August 15, 1947.

Gandhi's assassination

Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948 by Nathuram Godse. He was attacked at least 5 times before Nathuram actually killed him. Gandhi was shot at by Nathuram when he going to attend a prayer at Birla House.

Nathuram Godse and was a Hindu nationalist with links to the extremist Hindu Mahasabha, who held Gandhi responsible for weakening India by insisting upon a payment Rs 55 Crore to Pakistan.

Godse and his co-conspirator Narayan Apte were later tried and convicted; they were executed on 15 November 1949.

Gandhi in controversies

Certain acts of Gandhi raised many eyebrows and in some cases looked like a clear cut mistakes. Are those decisions hurting India even today? Why Gandhi did not ponder over the repercussions of those steps that he moved forward so convincingly?

A closer analysis of the events beginning 1915- the time when he returned to India after his long stay in London and South Africa, to 1947 - when India achieved independence, will portray him as a person who was patriotic to the bone but was too ambitious and independent minded to pay any attention  to dissenting viewpoints.

Ambitious? Independent minded? These words may sound unconvincing in the context of Gandhi's gigantic persona but a closer scrutiny will prove them beyond doubts. And yes, Gandhi committed some serious mistakes both on political and personal fronts that deserve closer scrutiny. Let's discuss them one by one.

The biggest controversial decision of Gandhi was to support the 'Khilafat movement' that was opposed by non-other than M.A. Jinnah. 'Khilafat' had nothing to do with India or Indian Muslims. It was a manifestation of muslim anger worldwide  in protest to the collapse of Ottoman Caliphate against which the Arabs had risen in revolt and which the Turks were dissolving, a process completed with the final abolition of the institution of the Caliphate in 1924.

In his eagerness to establish himself as someone who had acceptability amongst the two big communities - Hindu and Muslims - Gandhi, according to his critics, sowed the seeds of communalism in India. And we are feeling the repercussions even today.

The other controversial acts of Gandhi included sidelining of Subhash Chandra Bose when he defeated his nominee for Congress president's election. Isolating Subhash took the momentum away from the independence movement. Gandhi went to the extent of saying that his nominee's defeat at the hands of Subhash was his personal defeat. This was a clear setback to the inner party democracy of the Congress and Subhash had to resign.

Selection of Jawahar Lal Nehru over sardar Vallabh Bhai patel was one decision which defied all logic. Out of 15 Pradesh Congress Committies, 12 nominated sardar Vallabh Bhai patel and not a single nomination came for Jawahar lal Nehru but Gandhi asked Patel to withdraw his nomination. Gandhi's inexplicable fondness for Jawaharlal deprived India of having Sardar Patel as the first Prime Minister of India who was the choice of the majority.

Undoubtedly, Gandhi was a great man. And he earned greatness through his innovative ideas and principles.