Mahatma Gandhi 150th Birth Anniversary

#Gandhi_Jayanti

#International_Day_of_Non_Violence

#150^th_Birth_Anniversary_of_Mahatma_Gandhi

#Father_of_the_Nation

#About_Mahatma_Gandhi: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist, who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British Rule, and inspire movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. His Father name is Karamchand Gandhi and Mother name is Putlibai Gandhi. On 2 October 1869, Putlibai gave birth to her last child, Mohandas, in a dark, windowless ground-floor room of the Gandhi family residence in Porbandar city. As a child, Gandhi was deeply influenced by The Indian classics, especially the stories of Shravana and king Harishchandra, had a great impact on Gandhi in his childhood. In his autobiography, he admits that they left an indelible impression on his mind. He writes: "It haunted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without number." Gandhi's early self-identification with truth and love as supreme values is traceable to these epic characters.

In May 1883, the 13-year-old Mohandas was married to 14-year-old Kasturbai Makhanji Kapadia (her first name was usually shortened to "Kasturba") in an arranged marriage, according to the custom of the region at that time. He had 4 sons named as Harilal,  Manilal,  Ramdas and Devdas.

#Gandhi’s_Africa_visit: In April 1893, Gandhi aged 23, set sail for South Africa to be the lawyer for Abdullah's cousin. where he developed his political views, ethics and politics. Immediately upon arriving in South Africa, Gandhi faced discrimination because of his skin colour and heritage, like all people of colour. He was not allowed to sit with European passengers but when he choose to protest he was thrown out of train at Pietermaritzburg. He spent 21 years in South Africa, he founded Natal Indian Congress.  In 1910, Gandhi established, with the help of his friend Hermann Kallenbach, an idealistic community they named “Tolstoy Farm” near Johannesburg. There he nurtured his policy of peaceful resistance. In the years after black South Africans gained the right to vote in South Africa (1994), Gandhi was proclaimed a national hero with numerous monuments.

#Contribution_in_Indian_Independence: When Gandhi returned to India in 1915, he brought an international reputation as a leading Indian nationalist, theorist and community organizer. After visiting India, Gandhi joined the Indian National Congress and was introduced to Indian issues, politics and the Indian people primarily by Gokhale. Gandhi's first major achievement came in 1917 with the Champaran agitation in Bihar, where he first introduced the concept of Non-Violence.

#His_achievements: Time magazine named Gandhi the Man of the Year in 1930. The University of Nagpur awarded him an LL.D. in 1937. Gandhi was also the runner-up to Albert Einstein as "Person of the Century" at the end of 1999. The Government of India awarded the annual Gandhi Peace Prize to distinguished social workers, world leaders and citizens. In 2011, Time magazine named Gandhi as one of the top 25 political icons of all time. In 2007, the United Nations General Assembly declared Gandhi's birthday 2 October as "the International Day of Nonviolence." First proposed by UNESCO in 1948, as the School Day of Nonviolence and Peace (DENIP in Spanish), 30 January is observed as the School Day of Nonviolence and Peace in schools of many countries^. In countries with a Southern Hemisphere school calendar, it is observed on 30 March. Time Magazine named The 14th Dalai Lama, Lech Wałęsa, Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez, Aung San Suu Kyi, Benigno Aquino, Jr., Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela as Children of Gandhi and his spiritual heirs to nonviolence.The Mahatma Gandhi District in Houston, Texas, United States, an ethnic Indian enclave, is officially named after Gandhi.