THE STORY OF LIFE ....??

Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help you figure out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be (possibly your roommate, neighbor, coworker, long lost friend, lover, or even a complete stranger) but when you lock eyes with them, you know at that very moment that they will affect your life in some profound way.

And sometimes things happen to you that may seem horrible, painful, and unfair at first, but in reflection you find that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower, or heart.

Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness, and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, whatever they may be, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere. It would be safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless.

The people you meet who affect your life, and the success and downfalls you experience help to create who you become.

Even the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones.

If someone hurts you, betrays you, or breaks your heart, forgive them, for they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious when you open your heart. If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they love you, but because in a way, they are teaching you to love and how to open your heart and eyes to things.

Make every day count! Appreciate every moment and take from those moments everything that you possibly can for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people that you have never talked to before,and actually listen. Let yourself fall in love,break free, and set your sights high. Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don’t believe in yourself, it will be hard for others to believe in you.

You can make of your life anything you wish. Create your own life then go out and live it with absolutely no regrets

*MOST IMPORTANTLY!*

If you LOVE someone tell him or her, for you never know what tomorrow may have in store!

Emotions Are A Part Of Life

Emotions Are A Part Of Life

Life is like an unsolved puzzle.

No one can define what life is because it is a very complex thing.

Life is something that makes you happy and proud at times and

makes you feel so low at times that you say to yourself,

"Why was I born?"

But whatever it is, it is real fun.

In Life, in every moment, something new happens; something that

you never expected, something that you were waiting from a long while

to happen and something you were expecting to happen.

It is a combination of happiness, sorrow, joy, love, anger, enjoyment,

loneliness, fear, excitement and many other emotions.

The definition of the word life can't be completed

without using the word emotions.

Some people work in emotions whereas others work with emotions.

So it's very important to understand how people are using their emotions.

If they are letting emotions get control over them,

then they'll be dragged by others and situations all the time.

But, if he is controlling his emotions in a proper way,

then no one will ever have control over him.

The way a person uses his emotions is what we call attitude.

Someone has correctly said, "Your attitude determines your altitude in life".

Attitude, as I already defined, is the way an individual uses

his emotions and directly related to the psyche of a person.

Some people use their emotions in a positive way

and some people do it in a negative sense.

When people use emotions in a positive way we call it positive attitude

and when they use it in a negative way we call it negative attitude.

It's up to an individual to decide how he uses his emotions.

Which way will you decide ?

~!~~!~आँखों से गीरे कितने मोती ~!~~!~~!~

आँखों से गीरे कितने मोती

~!~~!~~!~~!~~!~

आँखों से गीरे कितने मोती,

ये कोई नहीं जानता |

इन मोतियों की कीमत क्या,

ये कोई नहीं पहचानता |

इन मोतियों को आंसू ,

समझने की भूल न करना |

इनका आँखों से रिश्ता हें,

ये रिश्ता जरुर समझना |

ये सुख के भी साथी,

ये दुख के भी साथी |

इनसे रिश्ता हें जनम से ,

और ये न टूटेगा अंतिम समय तक |

~!~~!~~!~~!~~!~

Disclaimer: Above thoughts are purely mine and have not been taken from a site or any other source.

वर्षा --- "बूंदों मैं जीवन " - A Poem

~~ वर्षा ~~

ये कविता मैं वर्षा ऋतू के शुरुआत पर लिख रहा हूँ|  वर्षा के आगमन पर क्या समा होता हैं, मैंने इस कविता मैं यही दर्शाने की कोशिश की हैं |

आज फिर वो समय आया हैं,

बादलों  पर काला रंग छाया हैं |

धरती की यही पुकार हैं,

हें मेघ आज तुम बरसों,

बस यही एक आस हैं|

वर्षा की बूंदों से भारी ये बादल,

अभी बरस जायेंगे,

और साथ ही पूरी धरती,

को हरी भरी कर जायेंगे |

सुखी नदियों मैं पानी फिर बहेगा,

प्यासे जानवरों मैं एक नया जोश जागेगा |

गर्मी से सबको मिलेगी राहत,

पक्षी, फूलों मैं फिर होगी खिलखिलाहट |

छोटे, बड़े सभी इस 

मौके का आनंद उठाएंगे,

वर्षा के बरसने की मस्ती 

मैं सब खो जायेंगे |

रिमझिम रिमझिम वर्षा आई,

अपने संग उमीदें लायी,

वर्षा की इन बूंदों मैं,

बस्ता हैं जीवन सारा,

इन्ही बूंदों से हो जाता हैं,

सबका जीवन प्यारा |

~~~~~~

<< A Call To NGOs For Cause Of Humanity >>

<<<< A Call To NGOs for Cause Of Humanity >>>>

Disclaimer: Below thoughts are purely mine and have not been taken from a site or any other source. I am not writing this article to criticize anyone or any organization but to bring the common problems, existing in our day to day life in front.

11th May, 2010

Around 8:45 PM our cab was passing through the route that connects Raj Ghat to Kashmere Gate. As soon as we touched the area around ISBT, I could see a number of homeless people on the divider of the road. At the first instance, it seemed that they were sleeping, but as we move forward; the entire scene got cleared. My eyes caught a person, who was injecting drug into another person, with a syringe. Drugs are taken by these people generally to kill their hunger and to get rid of all the day to day basic problems. Once the drug goes inside, they are not aware what is happening around them and they live in their own addiction world.

By taking drugs, they are facing problems such as:

1. They are getting drug addicted day by day.
2. The use of disinfected and unhygiene syringes increases the risk of blood transmission diseases such as  HIV.

I would like to appeal NGOs in New Delhi, who are involved in taking care of such people to help them. These people need shelter, food and a proper drug rehabilitation program to help them live a normal life again. These people are a part of our society and we cannot neglect them.

As I am not in contact with any such NGO directly, so making a public appeal. If you have queries, please leave a message on my blog.

~!~ 

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody,

I think that is a much greater hunger,

a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat. 

Mother Teresa 

~!~

~!~ बचपन ~!~

Disclaimer: Below thoughts are purely mine and have not been taken from a site or any other source.

~~ बचपन~~

एक सुन्दर सा सपना था,

बचपन तो बस अपना था |

आँखों से मोती बहते थे,

होठों पर फूल खिलते थे |

बचपन के दिन भी कितने अच्छे थे 

आधे से ज्यादा छुट्टियों मैं कटते थे |

एक सुन्दर सा सपना था,

बचपन तो बस अपना था |

दादी से परियों की कहानियां सुनते थे,

उनके देश मैं ही रहने की सोचते थे |

पंचतंत्र की कहानियां कुछ सिखाती थी,

और तेनाली रामन की हंसाती थी |

एक सुन्दर सा सपना था,

बचपन तो बस अपना था |

जब भी नींद आती थी ,

माँ के आँचल मैं सो जाते थे |

नहीं तो पापा की ऊँगली पकड़ कर,

बाज़ार मैं घुमने चले जाते | 

एक सुन्दर सा सपना था,

बचपन तो बस अपना था |

~!~ यादें ~!~

Disclaimer: Below thoughts are purely mine and have not been taken from a site or any other source.

A Poem written by me:: An ATTEMPT :)

~!~ यादें ~!~



यादें  अक्सर  आती  हैं ,

बातें  कह  कर  चली  जाती  हैं |

 यादें  एक  दिन  कहती  हैं ;

 तुम  भी  कभी  बच्चे   थे ,

बातों  के  बड़े  सच्चे   थे |

   अक्कल  के  बड़े  कच्चे  थे ,

   पर  दिल  के  बड़े  अच्छे  थे |

यादें  अक्सर आती  हैं ,  

बातें  कह  कर  चली  जाती  हैं | 

     यादें  एक  दिन  कहती  हैं ;

      तुम  भी  कभी  नादान  थे ,

       इस  दुनिया  से  अनजान  थे |

         तुम्हें  न  कुछ  लेना -देना  था ,

         बस  अपने  ही  बचपन  मैं  जीना  था  |

यादें  अक्सर  आती  हैं ,

बातें  कह  कर  चली  जाती  हैं  |  

    यादें  एक  दिन  कहती  हैं ;

      तुम्हारे  भी  कुछ  सपने  थे .

     उड़ना  तुम  भी  चाहते  थे ,

     पर  पंख  नहीं  मिल  पाते  थे |

      अगर  पंख  मिल  जाते ,

      तो  तुम  भी  चिड़िया  बन  पाते |

यादें  अक्सर  आती  हैं ,

बातें  कह  कर  चली  जाती  हैं  |

    यादें  एक  दिन  कहती  हैं ; 

 शुन्य  से  तुम  डरते  थे ,

     लेकिन  लड्डू  बड़े  अच्छे   लगते  थे |

    गोल  गोल  तुम  घूमते  थे ,

     जब  दोस्तों  के  साथ  खेलते  थे  |

यादें  अक्सर  आती  हैं ,

बातें  कह  कर  चली  जाती  हैं  |         

     यादें  एक  दिन  कहती  हैं ;  

      खेल  को  ही  जीवन  समझते  थे ,

      दोस्तों  के  साथ  तुम  जब  खेलते  थे |

   समय  को  ही  भूल  जाते ,

         जब  अपने  आप  को  खेल  की  दुनिया  मैं  पाते |

     यादें  एक  दिन  कहती  हैं ;  

    ABCD मैं तुम अच्छे थे ,

    लेकिन अ, आ, ई से डरते थे |

        Grammar के तुम चेम्पियन थे ,
      पर व्याकरण से दूर भगते थे |

यादें अक्सर आती हैं,
बातें कह कर चली जाती हैं |

~!!~ RARE INDIAN PICTURES ~!!~

~~Below are some of the rare photographs from the time of India and Pakistan partition.~~

1).  Nehru and Gandhi at AICC meeting, July 1946

2). Direct Action Day: Calcutta, Aug.16, 1946.

3). Mountbatten arrives at Delhi airport; received by Nehru and Liaquat Ali. March 25, 1947

4). Aug. 15, 1947: Mountbatten swears Nehru in as Prime Minister of India

5). TRAIN TO PAKISTAN; India 1947. Trains packed with refugees - Hindus and Sikhs headed for India, and Muslims headed for Pakistan - were convenient targets for gangs of killers on both sides of the border. Inadequately protected 'Refugee Specials' were typically stopped, and the occupants butchered, several times in the course of the journey.

6). The dead - Punjab, 1947

7). Ghandhiji Addressing people

8). 1948: The news of Gandhi's assassination hits the streets. A stunned crowd gathers in Calcutta.

9). 1948: Crowds in New Delhi wait for a glimpse of Gandhi's funeral procession.

10). 1971: Indira Gandhi reviews the troops, in the context of militaryand diplomatic preparations for the Bangladesh War.

11). A Library being divided at the time of partition. My heart trembles to see this sight and it is tough to imagine the state of the nation at the moment when people needed to hold hands.

~!!!!~ LET ME SURVIVE......... PLEASE ~!!!!~

Disclaimer: Below thoughts are purely mine and have not been taken from a site or any other source. I am not writing this article to criticize anyone or any organization but to bring the common problems, existing in our day to day life in front.

On the long stretch of ITO Flyover, that leads Delhi people towards Rajghat; a bike stops and a poor boy approaches towards the bike. The man on the bike asks the boy to take the packet from him and drop the contents in the YAMUNA. Normally, the contents are the Pooja samagri, flowers that have been already offered to god contained in polythene bags, generally. The poor, deprived of knowledge also drops the polythene bags in river. Sometimes in fun also, people drop things in river.

Hi, I am YAMUNA, yes delhi's river yamuna and this is my story. Like river Thames in england, I also carry out my journey in the midst of Delhi city. But in this journey, I am getting polluted day by day. and this pollution has posed a question for my survival. At one end, a campaign has been launched by Sri Sri Ravishankar to clean and save me and on the other end delhi people are making me dirty, as stated in above incident. I have been considered a pride of Delhi for many years and today my survival is in danger.

Let's see how I am getting polluted.

1. The plastic bags which people drop are non-renewable and keep on lying on my river bed. These polythene bags release chemicals in water, which are harmful for aquatic life, living in me and make my water polluted also. As these bags stops the incoming oxygen in river, hence the aquatic life gets deprieved of oxygen.

2. People living on my bank also use me for bathing and cleaning purposes, that also adds to my misery.

3. Another problem is the narrowing of my river bed. Due to the rapid urbanization of Delhi, my river bed has been narrowed down. This narrowing of my river bed has made my journey more difficult.

4. The sewage drainage from various areas is also dumped in my water.

Problems are many, but they do have solutions also. Following these steps can help to save me :

1. The people of Delhi need to understand that I am not a dumping ground, into which they can dump anything. Generally, people drop things such as flowers, that have been offered to god. People should realize that by doing so, they are polluting me. Instead of dropping these things in me, they can bury these things in earth / soil.The basic aim is that these things should not be misplaced here and there. By burying them in soil the aim will be fulfilled and I will be saved from pollution.

2. The government should try to remove the urbanization situated on my bank.

3. Government should take measures to restrict the access to my banks / bed by putting fences on the exposed areas to my bed / banks.

4. Nukkad Nataks can also be organized by NGOs, emphasizing on my importance and steps to save me.

5. An Ad campaign can also be launched giving information to saving me.

6. The government should keep a check on the sewages which are being dumped in me.

7. The awareness should be spread among the citizens of Delhi, that I am pride of Delhi and not the dumping ground. It should be the civic duty of all Delhi people to save me and keep my purity intact, otherwise I would lose my purity.The government has taken many steps to save me; like creating fences, putting awareness messages; but they have not been effective.

8. Media in today's time is playing a very big role in spreading messages. I would like to request media people and organizations to focus on this issue and spread the awareness of saving me.

I am the water source of Delhi and if anything wrong happens to me, the people of delhi will also suffer in turn.

Finally, I would like to say that it should be a collective responsibility of the government and citizens of Delhi to save me and help me to survive. A lot of campaigns have been done, a lot of posters have been published and put up on wall, but proper actions are still to come or missing.

I would like to request all readers of this blog to understand my value and spread the message of not polluting me. A lot damage has been done, but you can control the further damage.

If you have any idea or thought to save me, do not hesitate to write here.

~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~

THINK EVER,

DO EVER,

SAVE RIVER

~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~

PLATONIC RELATIONSHIPS or LOVE - THE NOT SO REALIZED REALITY OF TODAY's TIME, THEY DO EXISTS.

Disclaimer: Below thoughts are purely mine and have been taken from certain sites. I am not writing this article to criticize anyone or any organization but to bring the common problems in front, existing in our day to day life.

The not so realized reality of today's time is the PLATONIC RELATIONSHIPS. Out of us many are in such relationships. The word or term has been used in many author's books, but is not popular in general life. An attempt to get familiarize with this term.

Though a little different from Plato’s original concept of love, in modern times the terms “platonic love” and “platonic relationship” have come to mean a relationship between individuals of the opposite sex marked by the absence of romance or sex.

So to put it simply, a platonic relationship is a close friendship between a man and women.

Platonic relationships are those relationships between men and women where there is 'no physical desire'. However, this isn't always true.

The only times a relationship between a man and a woman is truly platonic is when:

1. They've been in a relationship and it's ended, and after a period of time for adjustment, they have moved on and accepted the relationship is over
2. The man is gay and therefore has no desire for the woman.
3. The man is in a satisfying relationship already, and therefore has no desires for the woman who is his friend.
4. The man finds her sexually unattractive to him, and there is no feelings of desire.

If any of these conditions are met, then there is a platonic relationship.
Many women believe that they can have purely platonic relationships with men, but quite often those men are simply holding back the expression of their desires. This is because they know that she is either uninterested in them sexually or romantically, or she's unavailable; or he's unavailable himself - and yet he still desires her. And so she's completely surprised when, after months or years of what she's considered to be a 'platonic relationship', he suddenly blurts out his desire for her. It usually ends in the end of the friendship, or it becomes friendship that just isn't as good as it used to be.

Very rarely does it turn out positively, where it results in a romantic relationship. Sometimes the friendship can become stronger, but it certainly requires hard work and maturity from all concerned.
One of the biggest reasons a man will find himself attracted to a woman is often because she simply talks to him, and gives him her time and attention. To the man, this is an 'obvious' sign that she likes him!. However, the man is conflicted when she doesn't give out any of the other signals that he expects from a woman who is attracted to him. She doesn't act shy around him, or doesn't touch him, or doesn't do any of the other things that he'd expect from a woman attracted to him. So he keeps his feelings to himself, hoping that one day he'll either have the courage to talk to her about those feelings, or that she'll 'recognise' her own 'true feelings' and declare her undying love for him. This is the fantasy of the platonic man.

If you find yourself in the situation where the only reason you're friends with a woman is because you think you love her but you know she doesn't feel the same way about you, you owe it to both of you to stop seeing her as much as you currently do. Change your relationship so that while she might still be in your life, she's not the one you're looking to for that hoped-for relationship. Look elsewhere. When you find someone who is actually interested in you romantically, only then can you go back to the first woman and really be her friend. You'll find better friendships this way, and more fulfilling relationships. It starts with being true to yourself.

Of course, there is the possibility that the woman is waiting for you to make the first move, that maybe she can't read the signs either. Love between two people can arise in many ways, including one person declaring their feelings and then the other realising that they feel the same way. The concept of this article isn't about building hope that this happens though, it's instead about building strength and confidence in yourself so that you don't feel the need to latch onto those women who give you their attention.
It's about finding the strength in yourself to do what's best for you. The way you apply your own strength is up to you, but you need to start today.

Why Should There Be A Problem ?

The reason platonic friendships can be difficult is genetics. For a good portion of us, attraction to the opposite sex is genetically “hardwired” into our psyche. There’s no way to avoid it. We find the physical form of the opposite sex attractive, the opposite sex exudes pheromones that we find attractive, even something as simple of the timbre of the voice of a member of the opposite can trigger a romantic response in us.

Add to that the fact that nothing makes a romantic relationship more successful then when the people involved are “friends first”, and it’s easy to see why platonic relationships can be difficult to keep strictly platonic.

Are They Possible?

Of course they are. George Washington and Betsy Ross where close platonic friends as well as other historical figures. Platonic relationships abound, and I'm sure that if you think about your own circle of acquaintances, you will discover platonic relationships that are working quite well.

But many platonic relationships do not work well. When romantic feelings spring up in both parties, then the friendship turns into a romantic relationship and everyone is happy. But a good portion of the time only one of the friends becomes attracted to the other, and then the platonic relationship is in trouble.

When the Friendship Goes Awry

Anyone who has ever been in love with someone who does not share that feeling knows the pain and frustration that comes with that situation. If the friend whose feelings have shifted towards romance can suppress or ignore those feelings, the platonic friendship can continue on as before. But often times that’s not possible and as sad and painful as it, sometimes friendships end.

So, can platonic relationships work? Yes they can. Romantic feelings between the sexes don't always exist, leaving room for a very fulfilling and lasting friendship.

Is it the Convenience or the Inconvenience ???

Disclaimer: This experience that I am sharing with you is a personal one. Below thoughts are purely mine and have not been taken from a site or any other source. I am not writing this article to critiscize anyone or any organization but to bring the common problems in front, existing in our day to day life.

The article below provides a description of the pathetic condition of traffic in East Delhi.

All those who are residents of East Delhi, would have atleast once used the newly constructed / opened ITO Chungi flyover.

This flyover connects Main Delhi (especially ITO area) with the East Delhi areas such as Laxmi Nagar, Noida and Akshardham.

The flyover has been constructed to ease the traffic conditions of East Delhi and make it easier for people to connect to important delhi areas.

The flyover construction is ok, but the problem of traffic has not resolved at all, especially in the peak hours, as felt by me as I am using the flyover everyday to commute to Gurgaon via ITO and India Gate.

The basic problem lies in the planning that has gone into this. The traffic conditions have not got easier after such construction.

The problem lies in the fact that, the number of people commuting from the different areas like Laxmi Nagar, Noida, East Delhi has increased due to this flyover, which was meant to be happen. But the road at the at the ITO has not been broaden. It is still narrow and is incapable of handling the traffic coming from different areas. And the traffic light at the ITO flyover adds to the misery of the commuters. Thus, the result is the traffic jam in peak hours at the ITO.

It can be seen like as a Funnel, which is wide at the top (traffic coming from different area like Noida, East Delhi etc) and narrow at the bottom (road narrowing at the ITO).

Well, the government has provided the Convenience by constructing the flyover for the public, but the lack of proper planning has brought Inconvenience in return also.

Well, I think of few solutions to this problem, which are:

1. People should be encouraged for car pooling, that will reduce the traffic.

2. People need to understand that lane driving is the one of the best form of driving. So driving in lanes can reduce the problem a lot.

Well problems do exist in one form or the other, but we need to tackle them in right manner. In this case if it is handled properly, then the time, money and most important FUEL will be saved to a lot extent.

Does Love Require Words ? ? ?

This experience that I am sharing with you is a real one. Below thoughts are purely mine and have not been taken from a site or from any other source.

On January 23, 2010, I was standing at the Jhandewalan metro station, New Delhi; waiting for someone. Suddenly I saw a couple below the station's stairs. The girl was sitting on bike and the boy was standing near her.

At the first look, they seem to be a normal couple spending their time with each other. But as I observed them, they both turned out to be Dumb (speechless). Both were using the sign language to communicate with each other. The way they were communicating, it cannot be put into words.

For sometime, I was observing them. I saw that the boy planted a kiss on the girl's forehead. They were holding their hands. Well, this incident answered many questions about love. It also proves that love has no medium of communication, only medium is Heart. Love does not requires words or language. It is a feeling that can be developed and prevailed even without exchange of words.

I would not like to conclude this experience of mine as the love does not have any end and the defintion of love is different for everyone. I would like you to take this incident and put it in your life and feel this.

Remembering the "Father Of Nation" - 30th January

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Hindi: मोहनदास करमचंद गाँधी, Gujarati: મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી, pronounced [moːɦənˈdaːs kəɾəmˈtʂənd ˈɡaːndʱiː] 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of satyagraha—resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, a philosophy firmly founded upon ahimsa or total nonviolence—which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi is commonly known around the world as Mahatma Gandhi (Sanskrit: महात्मा mahātmā or "Great Soul", an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore), and in India also as Bapu(Gujarati: બાપુ, bāpu or "Father"). He is officially honoured in India as the Father of the Nation; his birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence.

Gandhi first employed non-violent civil disobedience while an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, during the resident Indian community's struggle for civil rights. After his return to India in 1915, he organized protests by peasants, farmers, and urban labourers concerning excessive land-tax and discrimination. After assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns to ease poverty, expand women's rights, build religious and ethnic amity, end untouchability, and increase economic self-reliance. Above all, he aimed to achieve Swaraj or the independence of India from foreign domination. Gandhi famously led his followers in the Non-cooperation movement that protested the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (240 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930. Later, in 1942, he launched the Quit India civil disobedience movement demanding immediate independence for India. Gandhi spent a number of years in jail in both South Africa and India.

As a practitioner of ahimsa, he swore to speak the truth and advocated that others do the same. Gandhi lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhotiand shawl, woven with yarn he had hand spun on a charkha. He ate simple vegetarian food, eventually adopting a fruitarian diet, and also undertook long fasts as a means of both self-purification as well as social protest.

Early life and background

A young Gandhi c. 1886.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar, a coastal town in present-dayGujarat, India. His father, Karamchand Gandhi (1822–1885), who belonged to the Hindu Modh community, was thediwan (Prime Minister) of Porbander state, a small princely state in the Kathiawar Agency of British India. His grandfather's name was Uttamchand Gandhi, fondly called Utta Gandhi. His mother, Putlibai, who came from the Hindu Pranami Vaishnava community, was Karamchand's fourth wife, the first three wives having apparently died in childbirth. Growing up with a devout mother and the Jain traditions of the region, the young Mohandas absorbed early the influences that would play an important role in his adult life; these included compassion for sentient beings, vegetarianism, fasting for self-purification, and mutual tolerance between individuals of different creeds.

The Indian classics, especially the stories of Shravana and Maharaja Harishchandra from the Indian epics, had a great impact on Gandhi in his childhood. The story of Harishchandra, a well known tale of an ancient Indian king and a truthful hero, haunted Gandhi as a boy. Gandhi in his autobiography admits that it 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 his identification with these epic characters.

In May 1883, the 13-year old Mohandas was married to 14-year old Kasturbai Makhanji (her first name was usually shortened to "Kasturba," and affectionately to "Ba") in an arranged child marriage, as was the custom in the region. Recalling about the day of their marriage he once said that " As we didn't know much about marriage, for us it meant only wearing new clothes, eating sweets and playing with relatives." However, as was also the custom of the region, the adolescent bride was to spend much time at her parents' house, and away from her husband.^[8] In 1885, when Gandhi was 15, the couple's first child was born, but survived only a few days; Gandhi's father, Karamchand Gandhi, had died earlier that year. Mohandas and Kasturba had four more children, all sons: Harilal, born in 1888; Manilal, born in 1892; Ramdas, born in 1897; and Devdas, born in 1900. At his middle school in Porbandar and high school in Rajkot, Gandhi remained an average student academically. He passed the matriculation exam for Samaldas College at Bhavnagar, Gujarat with some difficulty. While there, he was unhappy, in part because his family wanted him to become a barrister.

Gandhi and his wife Kasturba(1902)

On 4 September 1888, less than a month shy of his 19th birthday, Gandhi traveled to London, England, to study law at University College London and to train as a barrister. His time in London, the Imperial capital, was influenced by a vow he had made to his mother in the presence of the Jain monk Becharji, upon leaving India, to observe the Hindu precepts of abstinence from meat, alcohol, and promiscuity. Although Gandhi experimented with adopting "English" customs—taking dancing lessons for example—he could not stomach the bland vegetarian food offered by his landlady and he was always hungry until he found one of London's few vegetarian restaurants. Influenced by Salt's book, he joined the Vegetarian Society, was elected to its executive committee, and started a local Bayswater chapter. Some of the vegetarians he met were members of the Theosophical Society, which had been founded in 1875 to further universal brotherhood, and which was devoted to the study of Buddhist and Hindu literature. They encouraged Gandhi to join them in reading the Bhagavad Gita both in translation as well as in the original.Not having shown a particular interest in religion before, he became interested in religious thought and began to read both Hindu as well as Christian scriptures.

Gandhi was called to the bar on June 10, 1891 and left London for India on June 12, 1891, where he learned that his mother had died while he was in London, his family having kept the news from him. His attempts at establishing a law practice in Mumbai failed and, later, after applying and being turned down for a part-time job as a high school teacher, he ended up returning to Rajkot to make a modest living drafting petitions for litigants, a business he was forced to close when he ran afoul of a British officer. In his autobiography, he refers to this incident as an unsuccessful attempt to lobby on behalf of his older brother. It was in this climate that, in April 1893, he accepted a year-long contract from Dada Abdulla & Co., an Indian firm, to a post in the Colony of Natal, South Africa, then part of the British Empire.

Civil rights movement in South Africa (1893–1914)

Gandhi in South Africa (1895)

Main article: Gandhi's work in South Africa

M.K. Gandhi while serving in the Ambulance Corps during the Boer War.

In South Africa, Gandhi faced discrimination directed at Indians. He was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to move from the first class to a third class coach while holding a valid first class ticket.Traveling farther on by stagecoach he was beaten by a driver for refusing to travel on the foot board to make room for a European passenger.He suffered other hardships on the journey as well, including being barred from several hotels. In another incident, the magistrate of a Durban court ordered Gandhi to remove his turban - which he refused to do. These events were a turning point in his life, awakening him to social injustice and influencing his subsequent social activism. It was through witnessing firsthand the racism, prejudice and injustice against Indians in South Africa that Gandhi started to question his people's status within the British Empire, and his own place in society.

Gandhi extended his original period of stay in South Africa to assist Indians in opposing a bill to deny them the right to vote. Though unable to halt the bill's passage, his campaign was successful in drawing attention to the grievances of Indians in South Africa. He helped found the Natal Indian Congress in 1894, and through this organization, he molded the Indian community of South Africa into a homogeneous political force. In January 1897, when Gandhi landed in Durban he was attacked by a mob of white settlers and escaped only through the efforts of the wife of the police superintendent. He, however, refused to press charges against any member of the mob, stating it was one of his principles not to seek redress for a personal wrong in a court of law.

In 1906, the Transvaal government promulgated a new Act compelling registration of the colony's Indian population. At a mass protest meeting held in Johannesburg on 11 September that year, Gandhi adopted his still evolving methodology of satyagraha (devotion to the truth), or non-violent protest, for the first time, calling on his fellow Indians to defy the new law and suffer the punishments for doing so, rather than resist through violent means. This plan was adopted, leading to a seven-year struggle in which thousands of Indians were jailed (including Gandhi), flogged, or even shot, for striking, refusing to register, burning their registration cards or engaging in other forms of non-violent resistance. While the government was successful in repressing the Indian protesters, the public outcry stemming from the harsh methods employed by the South African government in the face of peaceful Indian protesters finally forced South African General Jan Christiaan Smuts to negotiate a compromise with Gandhi. Gandhi's ideas took shape and the concept ofsatyagraha matured during this struggle.

Some of Gandhi's early South African articles are controversial. On 7 March 1908, Gandhi wrote in the Indian Opinion of his time in a South African prison: "Kaffirs are as a rule uncivilized - the convicts even more so. They are troublesome, very dirty and live almost like animals."Writing on the subject of immigration in 1903, Gandhi commented: "We believe as much in the purity of race as we think they do... We believe also that the white race in South Africa should be the predominating race." During his time in South Africa, Gandhi protested repeatedly about the social classification of blacks with Indians, who he described as "undoubtedly infinitely superior to the Kaffirs". It is worth noting that during Gandhi's time, the term Kaffir had a different connotation than its present-day usage. Remarks such as these have led some to accuse Gandhi of racism.

Two professors of history who specialize in South Africa, Surendra Bhana and Goolam Vahed, examined this controversy in their text, The Making of a Political Reformer: Gandhi in South Africa, 1893–1914. (New Delhi: Manohar, 2005). They focus in Chapter 1, "Gandhi, Africans and Indians in Colonial Natal" on the relationship between the African and Indian communities under "White rule" and policies which enforced segregation (and, they argue, inevitable conflict between these communities). Of this relationship they state that, "the young Gandhi was influenced by segregationist notions prevalent in the 1890s." At the same time, they state, "Gandhi's experiences in jail seemed to make him more sensitive to their plight...the later Gandhi mellowed; he seemed much less categorical in his expression of prejudice against Africans, and much more open to seeing points of common cause. His negative views in the Johannesburg jail were reserved for hardened African prisoners rather than Africans generally."

Former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela is a follower of Gandhi, despite efforts in 2003 on the part of Gandhi's critics to prevent the unveiling of a statue of Gandhi in Johannesburg. Bhana and Vahed commented on the events surrounding the unveiling in the conclusion toThe Making of a Political Reformer: Gandhi in South Africa, 1893–1914. In the section "Gandhi's Legacy to South Africa," they note that "Gandhi inspired succeeding generations of South African activists seeking to end White rule. This legacy connects him to Nelson Mandela...in a sense Mandela completed what Gandhi started."

Role in Zulu War of 1906

Main article: Bambatha Rebellion

In 1906, after the British introduced a new poll-tax, Zulus in South Africa killed two British officers. In response, the British declared a war against the Zulus. Gandhi actively encouraged the British to recruit Indians. He argued that Indians should support the war efforts in order to legitimize their claims to full citizenship. The British, however, refused to commission Indians as army officers. Nonetheless, they accepted Gandhi's offer to let a detachment of Indians volunteer as a stretcher bearer corps to treat wounded British soldiers. This corps was commanded by Gandhi. On 21 July 1906, Gandhi wrote in Indian Opinion: "The corps had been formed at the instance of the Natal Government by way of experiment, in connection with the operations against the Natives consists of twenty three Indians". Gandhi urged the Indian population in South Africa to join the war through his columns in Indian Opinion: “If the Government only realized what reserve force is being wasted, they would make use of it and give Indians the opportunity of a thorough training for actual warfare.”

In Gandhi's opinion, the Draft Ordinance of 1906 brought the status of Indians below the level of Natives. He therefore urged Indians to resist the Ordinance along the lines of satyagraha by taking the example of "Kaffirs". In his words, "Even the half-castes and kaffirs, who are less advanced than we, have resisted the government. The pass law applies to them as well, but they do not take out passes."

In 1927 Gandhi wrote of the event: "The Boer War had not brought home to me the horrors of war with anything like the vividness that the [Zulu] 'rebellion' did. This was no war but a man-hunt, not only in my opinion, but also in that of many Englishmen with whom I had occasion to talk."

Courtesy: www.wikipedia.org