The Bapu You Never Knew

On the eve of M.K.Gandhis birthday, we would like to let you know some facts about the birthday boy!

• Yes it’s a truth that Mahatma Gandhi did wrong things like eating meat and lying to his mother about it. He used to smoke and he himself admitted that he was a jealous husband. But he stopped them as soon as he realized it was wrong. When he lied to his mother about eating meat he felt guilty and promised to himself that he will never take meat again. Before going to London he took a vow that he will never touch wine, women and meat.  He lived up to his promises though many of his friends encouraged him to eat meat as they were concerned about his health. He may did wrong things in the beginning of his life as we all do but he stopped his mistakes and thus became a great soul.

• Gandhi was afraid of public speaking. He was very shy. He gave up a case because he did not have the courage to speak. Because of his shyness it was becoming hard for him to continue his practice as a barrister. Later on, in South Africa Mahatma Gandhi was able to overcome his shyness.

• Gandhi did great experiments with his diets. When he went to London initially he was a vegetarian because of the vow he had taken. But later on he seriously believed in being a vegetarian.  He had a strong power to eat simple food. According to Gandhi, food should be eaten for the sake of survival and not for enjoyment.

• Later on in life Gandhi decided to pursue brahmacharya (self restraint) . Initially, it was difficult for him and he failed to achieve it. But with continuous effort he got power over this lust. He written in his book “that after some period he founded joy in pursuing brahmacharya.”

• He had a passion to serve others. Though he was a lawyer but he gave his heart to public service.

• Gandhi was highly religious. He gave a lot of time studying religion. Besides India’s freedom his aim was self purification.

• Gandhi believed in living a simple life. At his farewell he was given expensive gifts including gold watch and necklace but Gandhi returned all those gifts because he believed in living life simply. His concept was to supersede these temptations.

Definitely he was a great soul (Mahatma) because he got above his inner weaknesses and did what he believed in.