Mahatma Gandhi

The world considers Mahatma Gandhi as one of the most inspirational people who ever lived. Gandhi was the key leader in the Indian Independence Movement, which was instrumental in helping India achieve independence. Gandhi is famous for using the civil disobedience in achieving peace and unity. Mahatma trained as a barrister in London and worked in an Indian law firm in South Africa. His experiences in South Africa triggered the consciousness that shaped his revolutionary endeavors. Gandhi tirelessly fought for the proper treatment of Indians in South Africa thereby relocating to India. Mahatma Gandhi is a great person because his personal life demonstrated his attachment with his ideals.

Gandhi’s recipe for leadership entailed inspiring individuals. This form of leadership surpassed his central pursuit for peace, truth, and self-reliance. Gandhi aimed at gaining people’s trust. For instance, he interacted with the Sikh, Hindus, and Moslems thereby understanding their plight. Gandhi’s principles were for the betterment of humanity rather than merely fighting for the welfare of Indians. Gandhi denounced a life of material possessions and fame. Instead, he adopted a simple country life that entailed wearing simple clothes and being a vegetarian. Gandhi also reinstated that the human soul is a pure entity (Dalton, 2012). In this perspective, individuals realized that they could improve their morality and enhance their spirituality by learning the intricacies of the human soul. Mahatma Gandhi usually empowered the less privileged members of the society such as peasant farmers in fighting for their rights.

Gandhi’s life experiences in South Africa attested to the difficulties of becoming a revolutionary. Gandhi might have led a materially prospective life of a being a barrister in South Africa had he not chosen to fight for the right of Indians in South Africa. Gandhi faced the horrid experiences of discrimination, as he could not access certain places such as hotels. Gandhi encouraged Indians to take control of their situation by fighting for their entitlements. He indentified opportunities, which Indians could exploit in freeing themselves.

Gandhi’s attachment to the intellectual life propelled his leadership endeavors. Gandhi believed that an individual is a product of one’s thoughts. In this sense, his revolutionary activities based on educating individuals about understanding the human soul and working towards freedom. Mahatma was an inexhaustible writer who penned his thoughts in various publications. For instance, in South Africa, he educated the Indian community through a newspaper, which was known as Indian Opinion (Lelyveld, 2012). Gandhi wrote numerous publications on health, religion, vegetarianism, and social reforms. The Indian leader professed that Leo Tolstoy and William Thoreau were great influences on his intellectual attitudes. He also drew inspiration from Hinduism, Christianity, and Jainism.

Gandhi became famous because his personal life was a testimony to his ideals. Gandhi became influential through leading a simple life thereby interacting with the common people. Gandhi denounced a life of material fortunes and fame for a vegetarian lifestyle that entailed living in the countryside. In this sense, the less privileged individuals realized they could change their fate by being proactive towards their rights. Gandhi’s life experiences in South Africa shaped him in becoming a great leader. In South Africa, he learned the power of peaceful negotiations and self-reliance as means of achieving freedom. Gandhi’s attachment to an intellectual life was instrumental in influencing the thoughts of other people. He attained his intellectual influences from writers, such as Tolstoy, and religion.

References

Dalton, D. (2012). Mahatma Gandhi: nonviolent power in action. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

Lelyveld, J. (2012). Great soul: Mahatma Gandhi and his struggle with India. New York, NY: Vintage Books.