Mahatma Gandhi By Ananya Hari

Imagine, that you went to jail 13 times to help your county. Imagine that you fasted for 21 days to help your country. You did not help your country prepare for a fatal war. You helped your country in the most peaceful war. This was reality. This was exactly what Mahatma Gandhi faced to help his country in the need of peace. Gandhi helped India be the country it is today.

Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869. He went to London to go to law school, and went back to India to be a lawyer. Soon after he returned to India, he went to South Africa for a law firm. Instead of returning to India, he stayed in South Africa for 20 more years. At that time, Great Britain was in control of South Africa too. This is when Gandhi made peaceful protests. When he returned to India, he helped as to fight for freedom from the British again. Unlike other countries that the British took over, Gandhi did not try to wage a war. He drove away the British with words. Not guns.

The British Empire took over India in 1858. The British made the Indians pay tax to them for everyday items, like clothing and salt. When they realized that the Indians found a way around this, they decided to play rough. They killed about 35 million Indians and arrested Gandhi as well as many other Indians countless times. Gandhi said “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight, then you win” This is exactly what the British did to Gandhi. They ignored him until they figured how much trouble he was causing. They still thought that Gandhi couldn’t do anything major. Apparently Gandhi did. They arrested Gandhi, but it didn’t work. So, India got freedom. They went from ignoring Gandhi to granting his country freedom.

The British put taxes on items that the they thought that every Indian would need buy, like clothes. Luckily, Gandhi found a way not to pay tax but still buy clothes. He convinced everyone to not buy, but spin their own clothes. So, all Indians including Gandhi himself, spun their own clothes. The Indian flag has a spinning wheel in the middle to represent how Indians spun their own clothes. Because Indians needed salt to cook, the British also put heavy taxes on salt. Gandhi as well as many other Indians did not care about the law. They ignored the law and went to the ocean and got their own salt instead of buying salt. Even though Gandhi got arrested for this act, it was for a good cause.

Because the Indians were killing British soldiers, Gandhi refused to eat anything until everyone protested peacefully again. Gandhi was so weak that he could barely stand. When the Indians heard that Gandhi was fasting because of them, everyone went back to peaceful protest. Unfortunately, by the time the news spread that Gandhi was fasting because of the Indians, it was 21 days and the only thing Gandhi had was water! Gandhi lived, but he was extremely weak. Everyone in India was delighted that Gandhi was still living. No matter how old or weak Gandhi was, Gandhi did not stop helping India.

Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse in 1948. It was a horrible moment in India when Gandhi got killed. Nathuram Godse was sentenced to death for his horrible acts. Gandhi said “ Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from indomitable will.” This means, to be strong you don’t need muscles. You need to have great interest in what you do. If Mahatma Gandhi didn’t stand up for India, the British and Indians probably would have fought a destructive war just as many countries have and if India lost that war, then India would still be a part of the British Empire today. Luckily, Gandhi rescued India from that terrible plight.