The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi – Part 3
Gandhi in South Africa The story thus far: Gandhi, having studied well and completed his law degree in England, returns to India. He misses England but is happy to be reunited with his family. He begins practicing law in Rajkot. Upon return to India, Gandhi started to practice law in Rajkot, but he was soon […]
Foundation for India Studies Participates in 24th Annual MLK Grand Parade for Seventh Year in a Row
By Pranav Konduri & Shravya Aparasu HOUSTON: On an unexpectedly clear weather day of fifteenth of January 2018 thousands of Houstonians came together in Midtown Houston to celebrate a momentous occasion, Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday. FIS joined the parade to honor a great man who adopted Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of non-violence in his struggle […]
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi – Part 18
The story thus far…After the defeat of Japan in August 1945, Britain agreed to a planned withdrawal from India. All through his life Gandhi had worked for unity between Hindus and Muslims, without much success. There was a large section of nationalist Muslim in the Congress but leaders of the Muslim League were drifting further […]
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi – Part 17: Wheels of Independence are Set in Motion
The story thus far….The war in Europe was having an impact in India. The Congress Working Committee found itself unable to accept in its entirety Gandhi’s attitude to the war. In particular, they would not accept his view that the defense of India should not depend on the armed forces. Congress leaders met on several […]
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi – Part 16: Visit, Programs of Prince of Wales are Boycotted
The story thus far…During the latter part of 1920 Gandhi advocated a triple boycott. He wanted an absolute boycott of the Government and all government institutions, including schools, colleges, and courts. If the people were free of these they could easily have their own schools, colleges, and courts, and the power of the British would […]
THE STORY OF GANDHI
Gandhi’s Arrest Creates Sensation Worldwide – Part 14 The story thus far…Newspaper reporters from all over the world were there to report the progress of the Gandhi’s satyagraha. The march ended on April 5 at Dandi village. Gandhi and his selected followers went to the sea shore and broke the salt law by picking up […]
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi – Part 13
The story thus far…It was announced that a meeting was to be held in a garden called Jallianwala Bagh, to protest against the government’s actions. General Dyer took no measures to prevent the meeting. He reached the place soon after the meeting began and he took with him armored cars and troops. Without giving any […]
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi – Part 12
The Story thus far…A separate institution named Satyagraha Sabha was formed with headquarters in Bombay. There were agitations everywhere against the Rowlatt Committee’s report. But the government was determined to implement the Rowlatt recommendations and in 1919, the Rowlatt Bill was introduced. When the bill was debated in India’s Legislative Chamber, Gandhi attended as a […]
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi – Part 11
The story thus far…For two years Gandhi traveled extensively in India and had talked at different places. His interest first centered on the problem of indentured labor where poor, ignorant laborers were enticed away from India to work in the British colonies. He disapproved of this system in South Africa, fought it there, and he […]
700th Theatrical Presentation of Mahatma Gandhi’s Spiritual Inspiration
HOUSTON: Houston witnessed 700th theatrical presentation, a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and his Spiritual Guide Shrimad Rajchandra, Yugpurush. The Play brought with it a cause for much celebration as a “Certificate of Congressional Recognition” from US Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, 18th Congressional District of Texas was presented. Commemorating 150 years of Shrimad Rajchandra, Mayor of […]
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi – Part 9: Gandhi Invites Untouchable Family in Ashram
The story thus far….Gandhi permitted a lower caste family to reside at the ashram that he established at Ahmedabad. He met with much opposition. He also amazed and angered the British officers, upper-class Indians, and friends gathered at a foundation stone laying ceremony at Banaras University by speaking out against usage of the English language […]
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi – Part 9: Gandhi invites untouchable family to ashram
The story thus far….Gandhi went to Rajkot and Porbandar to meet his relatives and then went on to Shantiniketan. There Gandhi met poet laureate Rabindranath Tagore for the first time, as well as C. F. Andrews. Andrews, who came to India as an Anglican priest in 1904, was one of the very few people respected […]
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi – Part 8: First victory for the Satyagraha experiment
The story thus far… a recent court decision in South Africa held that the law did not recognize Indian marriages. The women were suitably offended by this and found it an attack on their basic family values. They openly broke the law and were imprisoned in large numbers. In the coal-mines at Newcastle, in Natal, […]
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi – Part 7
The story thus far… Gandhi realizes that he could be more effective at supporting the cause of the Indians in South Africa if he returned to India. Once in Calcutta, he drew attention to the plight of the South African Indians to the Indian government and media, where there was widespread support. But he was […]
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi – Part 6
The story thus far…Gandhi’s activism on behalf of the Indians in South Africa, brought him much strife. The local Afrikaners and the British considered him as a troublemaker. He was attacked by angry mobs. With his calm demeanor, he wins over the people, and even gets to help create an ambulance corps. The Durban police […]
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi – Part 5: Story of Mahatma Gandhi
The story thus far…In South Africa, Gandhi saw how the Indians were treated as inferiors, only allowed to work the soil but not permitted to own land. Under the law enacted in the Orange Free State in 1888, Indians had been deprived of their rights. In Transvaal, they had to pay a poll tax of […]
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi – Part 4 Gandhi’s Impact in South Africa
The story thus far… Gandhi arrives in South Africa and is rudely made aware of the rampant racism in that country when has to visit Pretoria on work. He is unceremoniously thrown off a 1st class compartment on a train to Johannesburg. He manages to board another train where his white fellow traveler is quite […]
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi – Part 3: Gandhi in South Africa
The story thus far: Gandhi, having studied well and completed his law degree in England, returns to India. He misses England but is happy to be reunited with his family. He begins practicing law in Rajkot. Upon return to India, Gandhi started to practice law in Rajkot, but he was soon deeply disgusted at the […]
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi – Part 2
Gandhiji’s Story Thus Far… Last week, we read about the birth and youth of the young boy Mohandas who would grow up to be universally revered as the Mahatma. He had an ordinary childhood, went to school, made friends, and got a rude awakening into the dreaded social specter of the caste system. This week, […]
The Extraordinary Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi
Born more than 130 years ago, the life and times of the man who would grow up to be universally known as The Mahatma, still resonates until today. Mohandas Gandhi had an ordinary childhood in Porbandar, on the coast of Kathiawad in the western state of Gujarat, a loved and pampered son of very […]
