Bapu

Do you remember Mahatma Gandhi? Have you  ever heard of Mahatma Gandhi? I am talking about the real Gandhi, not the ones who adopted his name for Political advantage.

Well, If You're someone who hasn't heard of him, then may be this is the best time to brush up your knowledge about Indian History. 

On October 2nd 1869, a kid by the name Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born to Karamchand Gandhi and Putli bai Gandhi when India was ruled by The British. This boy grew up, got married to Kasturba Gandhi when he was 13 years old. 

He forayed into Indian independence movement after becoming a lawyer. He introduced a new form of protest - Non Violence Protest where people protested against the evil rules of the British without indulging in any violence. He became the face of the Indian Independence movement. Millions of people followed his path and emerged victorious in winning Independence from the British. 

He was known for his Unassailable belief in Honesty. People saw divinity in him and started calling him as Mahatma meaning The Great Soul. 

But, just like anyone, he too had his Ups and Downs in his life. Some of those incidents were mentioned on his autobiography THE STORY OF MY EXPERIMENTS WITH TRUTH. A few of his ideologies didn't go well with some communities or rather with some people. They decided to retort by taking the very life of the man who stood and lead us to free ourselves from the evil hands of the then British. 

Well, There are a few names that have to be read whenever we read anything about Gandhi ji. Jawaharlal Nehru is the first one on the list for being an ardent follower of Gandhi ji. It is even said that Nehru became Independent India's First Prime Minister because of Gandhi Ji who overlooked the other leaders' decision to select Sardar Vallabhai Patel. 

The list complements with Nathuram Godse, an RSS activist, who wasn't in favour of some of the decisions made by Gandhi pertaining to India Pakistan division made on religious basis. He along with a few others decided to retaliate by getting rid off him. 

On January 30, 1948 whilst attending the evening prayers was shot three times by Nathuram Godse. He was penalised and hanged to death wherein RSS was banned temporarily. 

Bapu, as Gandhi ji was fondly called, is rightly called as Father of the Nation. He along with all Leaders including Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bhagat Singh, Chandrasekhar Azad, Jhansi Rani and other innumerable unsung heroes fought for Indian Independence. It was Gandhi ji who united the whole nation and his horrifying death commemorate us the sacrifice one does for serving the nation and sacredly we observe January 30 as Martyr's Day. 

 This is what Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists of all time said about Gandhi ji ‘Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.’ and unfortunately the thought is coming true as the same people who disowned Nathuram during the investigation of Gandhi ji's assassination have now been busy glorifying him. 

Not everyone can be non violent. Bhagat Singh and Subhash Chandra Bose had been an example for it and they weren't in congruent with Gandhi ji, but they all fought for nation and mutually respected each other as their need was one that is to free the nation. They didn't fight for any religion despite having their own views about religions. But, when it came to nation, they saw everyone as Indians. 

Now, Let's take this opportunity to remind ourselves on the way how we treat our fellow beings. Should we look at each other as Indians or Should we treat each one as Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs etc? Should we identify ourselves as Indians or should we be identified based on some religions? Should it be done violently or non violently? Let's think about it...

Jai Hind