MEN OF MARK IN THE WORLD TO-DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 208, 3 September 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

MEN OF MARK IN THE WORLD TO-DAY

Mohandas Raramehand Gandhi was horn ai Porbandar, India, in October, 1569, so that he will soon enter hk seventieth year. His parents belonged to the "bania,** or trading and moneylending class, and it is a belief of these folk that to use force is wrong. Th» is a belief that has influenced Gandhi throughout hie life. Gandhi's father was the prime minister of a native ruler, so that the Dot grew up in comfortable surroundinss, living in a larse-four-storeyed house situated between two famous Indian temples. When he had reached the age of seven his father quarrelled with the prince and left the court to retire with his family to the town of Rajkot. There the young Gandhi went to a native school, passing on to high school when ae was 10. He was not brilliant at -chool, bat was remembered for his

peaceful ways and his great love of truth. At 17 Gandhi matriculated, and it was decided that he should go to Ensland to study law. By this time he was married. In accordance with the strange custom of his country, he had married when 12 years old a girl of 11. This marriage was not a success. Both children—for thev were nothing more—had wills of their own and quarrels were frequent. It was a very different Gandhi who arrived in London in ISST from the one the world knows so well to-day. He spoke English with an Irish accent, for his teacher had been an Irishman. He wore spats and a silk hat, and he carried a cane. The young Hindu was anxious to take his place in the social world, so he began to take lessons in French, elocution, dancing and the violin It was not long before Gandhi save <ir> his intention of becoming a social light and turned to study. Giving up all other interests for his books, he soon qualified as a barrister, and he was enrolled in the High Court in 1991. Two incidents during his life in England were to have a profound effect on the life of the young Hindu. The first was a distaste for the lighter things of life, and the second was a moral lesson learnt when his English teacher made him copv the Sermon on the Mount over and over again as a lesson in English. Hour after hour Gandhi wrote "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. ... Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the eHildren of God." These words Gandhi never forgot and they became bis inspiration when he attained a position of power in India many years afterwards. It must be confessed that Gandhi was a failure as a lawyer in England. The first time he rose to speak in Court he trembled and was so overcome by the occasion that he became confused and had to sit down without saying anything.

IX.. MAHATMA GANDHI, A Small, Brown Man Who Has Been a God to Countless Millions

One of the most interesting men of his generation is Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian Nationalist JeaJer. His emaciated figure, clad in a simple while loin cloth, has become one of the best known in the world. Millions of his worship him as a god. Though he owns nothing, he is one of the world's most powerful men. He gave up an income of £3000 a pear to live in poverty and work for what he believes to be the best interests of India and the Indian people.

! So Gandhi went back to India and practised law in Rajkot and Bombav. He did not make much money, which « hardly to be wondered at when one considers that he was often paid as little as a shilling for taking a case, and of that shilling was required to give fourpenee back to the man who had introduced the client. Things went from bad to worse and Gandhi decided to leave India. 1 This time he went to South Africa, where there was a large number of Hindu people. He set up as a lawyer and was soon making £3000 a year. Gandhi was very much upset by the way his countrymen were treated in South Africa. They were denied the rights of other people of the British Empire. Laws were made to restrict them in business and they were regarded with scorn by the white people. The well-to-do young lawyer himself knew the bitterness of being scorned by the Europeans. One day in Pretoria a soldier pushed him off the footpath and kicked him. Then he was told to leave a church, being told that he could not worship in the same building as white men. He was not even allowed to travel first class on the trains. All this weighed heavilv on Gandhi's mind and he decided to give up his work and devote all his time to improving the lot of the Hindus in South Africa. He vowed that he would be always poor, and he set to work to try to persuade the British to give the Hindus better treatment. In the middle of his campaign the Boer War broke out and Gandhi helped Great Britain by leading a Red Cros® unit which helped to look after the wounded at some of the fiercest battles of the war. This, of course, gained him more respect and he was able to do a great deal for his people. Gandhi went back to India. He had two big jobs to do. He wanted to make India independent and see the people return to the ways of living of their ancestors. He aleo wanted to do something for the Untouchables. These poor people, ntnnbering 60.000.000. are the most wretched in the world. They are shunned by all others. They are not

allowed to enter public buildings or walk on the roads. They must suffer for sins committed in come former life, and if their shadow chances to fall on food it is immediately thrown away as polluted. Gandhi wanted to change all this. In later years he even adopted a little Untouchable girl as his daughter in the hope that such a lesson would have some effect. At this time Gandhi came under the influence of the works of Thoreau, an American who had written a book in which he said that nobody should pay any taxes. This gave Gandhi the idea for what the world came to know as the civil disobedience campaign. The leader did not believe in foree but believed that if people refused to pay taxes or do what the Government wanted in any way, the Viceroy of India would have to take notice. This wag sound reasoning, but Gandhi forgot that hie followers were not all of his way of thinking. When he stirred them up to a passive resistance many wanted to fight and the result was riots in which manv hundreds were killed. Gandhi himself wa® in and out of prison for many years, but that was no great hardship, for he was given special quarters and very kindly treated by the British. Another means that Gandhi took to impress his view was to go without food. Once he refused to eat for three weeks and narrowly escaped death. To-day he is not the worldfamous figure of a few years ago. He is old and tired and it is possible that his strength has been sapped by his Spartan diet of goat's milk and fruit. During the Great War Gandhi again organised an ambulance division and gained volunteer® to fight for England. He has said that if he had to be governed he would rather be governed by the British than any other nation. His reason for giving help to Britain during the war was a hope that the Government might feel afterwards that India should be jrranted much of what Gandhi wanted for her. In recent years more attention has been given to the question of reforms in Indian government than ever before. Xobody knows what the future may hold for this country, which harbours a sixth of the world's population, but the sacrifices and teachings of Ghandi will not readily be forgotten by hi* people.