Wednesday 2 October 2013

Gandhiji

My school exams were over and  I had drawn up an elaborate plan to enjoy my holidays. My father , a strict disciplinarian , told me to spare one hour daily from my playtime .
I was a bit puzzled. He opened an old iron trunk and removed an old book which had a tattered cover and the pages were fading yellow in colour. But I liked the smell of the book. This was the beginning of my journey with books and the book was 'My experiment with Truth' by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhiji  known to us as Bapuji. I would have been more happy with  a Amar Chitra Katha or Chandamama . We opened the book and my father asked me to read it aloud. I started to enjoy the book and completed reading it.





A particular incident read by me at the tender age of six remains firmly etched in my memory.

Mohandas was studying in the Kattyawar High School at Rajkot. He was not a very bright student. Mr. Giles , the British Educational Inspector paid a visit to the school to check the progress of the students. Mr. Giles asked the students to spell five words  on slate.
One of the word was kettle and young Mohandas had wrongly written it as 'ketle'. The teacher on seeing his mistake, asked discreetly to copy the correct spelling from the boy sitting next to him. Mohandas refused to copy and kept quiet. All the students , except Mohandas , had spelt all the words correctly. Mohandas felt a bit embarrassed but stuck to his conscience . Mohandas displayed rare maturity of truthfulness at a young age.

There are many incidents of his truthfulness but this incident made me respect our Father of Nation as I , being a student could identify with his dilemma.

The name of this school was later changed to Mohandas Gandhi Vidyalaya , after independence.

Today India celebrates Gandhiji's birthday. Let us not pay lip service to this great human being but try to follow his teachings of non-violence , peace and truthfulness.

Readers , have you read ,'My experiments with Truth'? Which other books written by M.K.Gandhi have you read?

for : Ultimate blog challenge day 2


12 comments:

  1. I have this book in my to read list for a long time but haven't gotten around to read it yet. Your post reminded me to read it. :)

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  2. Nicely written.Have you read Louis Fischer's book on Mahatma Gandhi?A small book,it is good.

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  3. Hi Kalpana, a nice article about a nice man :-)
    Yes, the book is really good. Memorable stuff :-)
    All the best for UBC...

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  4. I haven't read any yet. Must look for them. I wonder if they are available to download. Your post makes me want to read more. :)

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  5. Nice one Kalpana.. and yea, I've read "My experiments with Truth"...

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  6. Lovely article about a truly honorable man.

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  7. I have read this book Kalpana...actually we got to read it as part of summer holiday homework back in school. Guess reading once again now will make me see it with a different perspective.

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  8. hey, its my first visit to your blog.
    It was an interesting post. Good luck with your 3 year old and your blog.

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  9. Haven't read any of his books but must read this one sometimes!

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  10. I love that part where he wrote a confession letter to his father....and there he learnt the meaning of 'Ahimsa'....Happy Gandhi Jayanti

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  11. Fabulous write up. I have read this book umpteen times. Whenever I read this I get more motivated. The Inspector incident reminded of my teaching days...long,long ago.

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  12. Nope...not read it yet..guesd I'd better..great post

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