BootsnAll Travel Network



Ghandi-India To So Africa

In my last story, I mistakenly said that Gandi was born in South Africa. He was not. He was born in 1869 in Porbander in the Indian state of Gujarat where his father was chief minister.

He attended law school in London and since there were no opportunities at the time in India, he went to South Africa. The pictures on the wall of the museum in South Africa illustrate his experiences there including one when he was on his way to Maritzburg on the train where because of his color and race he was thrown out of his first class seat. This incident changed him for the course of his life.

He remained in South Africa for 10 years helping lay the foundation for the freedom struggle in the transvaal while at the same time developing his own framework for satyagraha (passive resistance). Ghandi returned to India from South Africa and lived at Mani Bhavan-the name of his home where he developed his ideals of Truth and Non-violence-and inspired his followers and devotees with a sense of service and sacrifice.

As Bob and I retrieved our shoes and walked down the hall to the door leading out into the street, I sense him following us, through the heat and dust. I turn around and ask “why are you trailing us from South Africa to India?” He is small, stooped over, tired but with sharp black all-seeing eyes. Then I hear Ghandi’s soft even voice: “I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.”



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