"Mahatma" Gandhi
Hi Everyone!
As you may know, January 30th was the anniversary of Gandhi's assassination. It just so happened that in History we finished studying the Indo-Pakistani Wars - something Gandhi has a major influence in. We started watching a very moving documentary on Gandhi's life, and how he became to be such an influential person. The film follows Gandhi throughout the years and recreates certain situations he was in and how he handled them. For example, Gandhi and a group of a thousand-or-so mine workers were confronted by a group of men on horses threatening to fight them because the mine workers were on strike. Instead of standing up to the men on horses and throwing a punch, Gandhi and the mine workers laid on the ground and waited for the men on horses to pass. This peaceful way of standing up to those men still landed the mine workers in jail, however Gandhi's negotiation skills helped the thousands of men be released. Although we have yet to finish the movie, I have recognized the power of Gandhi's approach to peace making and understand how he has influenced many other great activists, including Martin Luther King Jr.
Most people know what Gandhi looked like in the years leading up to his death, so I will include a picture of him in his youth:
One interesting fact I learned was that Gandhi's first name is not "Mahatma", it is actually "Mohandas"! People just nicknamed him "Mahatma" because the name means "great soul". Clever, huh? Let us use Gandhi's example as motivation for the way we treat people in our lives! :)
Most people know what Gandhi looked like in the years leading up to his death, so I will include a picture of him in his youth:
Gandhi circa. 1921
- Sophie F.
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