| Great Freedom Fighters |
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| Biographies of Great Indians & Hindus |
GANDHIJI |
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| Gandhi as a
Student Young Gandhi had his primary education up to the seventh year at Porbandar. Then his education continued at Rajkot. Gandhi was a very shy boy. He never found fault with elders. He was very obedient. Once an Inspector of Schools visited the school. The teacher dictated someEnglish words. Gandhi had miss-spelt the word 'Kettle'. The teacher noticed this, and made signs to the boy to correct it by copying from his neighbor. But Gandhi did not do so. He also felt that the same teacher, who had taught him that copying was bad, was not right in prompting him to do so. Still, the respect he had for his teacher did not grow less. At that time, Gandhi had occasion to see two plays. They were 'Shravana Pitribhakti' and 'Harishchandra'. These two plays left a deep impression on his mind.The devotion of Shravana to his aged parents was a model in itself. Harishchandra suffered great misery for the sake of truth. Gandhi began to consider if he could not also live like them. On the plastic mind of the young, example and company act as powerful forces. When Gandhi joined the High school in his thirteenth year, he fell into evil company. But he soon realized his folly and returned to the right path. Sheik Mehtab, a classmate of Gandhi, was a strong boy. He always excelled all the boys in games and sports. Gandhi came to believe that, in order to expel theEnglish rulers from our country, it was necessary that one should become strong like Sheik by eating meat. This false belief took deep root in his mind. He tried to eat meat in secret. He found it distasteful. In the same way, he smoked cigarettes. He also stole a piece of gold to pay his brother's debts. He felt sad because he had not the free- dom to act as he wished. In a moment of despair, he tried to kill himself, by swallow- ing Matura seeds (an effective poison). But he lost courage and could not do so. At last he felt sorry for his conduct. He confessed his guilt in a letter and, with trembling hands, handed it to his father. The father did not say even a word, and simply shed tears of sorrow. This melted Gandhi's heart. He touchingly refers to this incident in his autobiography: 'Those pearl-drops of love cleansed my heart, and washed my sin away.' Gandhi was only an ordinary boy both in the Primary School and in the High School. No special qualities were seen in him. At school he never took part in any games. He would not even freely mix with his companions. The fear that somebody would make fun of him always filled his mind. |
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