Gandhi Jayanti is celebrated on 2 October in India and the annual celebration stands out as an international symbol of peace.
Gandhi’s life is revered in India and around the world as an example of how to live simply and faithfully. On his birthday, October 2nd, people across India gather together to observe Gandhi Jayanti. They offer Garland of flowers on pictures and statues of his likeness, sing songs, pray, and light candles. All government banks, post offices, offices, and schools are closed for this holiday.
Mahatma Gandhi was born in Porbandar in Gujarat to a senior government official. He married at 13, and then went to England at 18 to study law. He travelled to South Africa to fight for the human rights of Indians who were living there, then return to India around the start of WWI (World War I). Consider the “Father of the Nation” Gandhi became a leader of Indian nationalism during an era when India was still ruled by the British Empire.
While in India, Gandhi would motivate the people of India to rally together for independence by his use of non-violent civil defiance. His techniques quickly became an inspiration around the world for movements of a similar nature. He continuous his determinate strategy of freeing India quietly from British rule as the leader of the Indian National Congress.
In 1946, he meets with the Cabinet Mission, responsible for recommend a new constitutional structure, and negotiates with them. Independence soon followed and after, in 1947, Gandhi was in Delhi attempt to stop the Hindu-Muslim clash in Bengal when he was assassinated.
Gandhi was a vital figure both in India and around the world. His life and theory have inspired people of all ages. He is quoted most notably on life and on forgiveness, saying “My life is my message” and “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the quality of the strong.”
For India, he showed resilience and as an individual was influential in quietly protest for India’s liberty from Britain. He is celebrated for his methods, his strength of mind, and his good motive for peace and all people.
In many ways, Gandhi ji is remembered as an against-war activist. His organized boycotts would become a significant example for protest around the world for generations to come. Specifically in a world so newly engulf by World War I and World War II, his demonstrations had a moving result on the spirits of all kinds of people. He has become an international symbol of peace in many different regards.
